No Child Left
Behind Act (NCLB)
State Baseline
Data Survey
Academic Year
2003-2004
DIRECTIONS AND GLOSSARY FOR COMPLETING
THE HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHER SURVEY
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this survey is to provide baseline data for a performance goal of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) which states that by 2005-2006, all students will be taught by highly qualified teachers. Each state is required to collect baseline data and set annual targets for the percentage of classes being taught by “highly qualified” teachers, as defined in Section 9101(23) of NCLB.
This school-based survey must be
completed by each school (both Title I and non-Title I) on a paper form
(attached). Local education agencies (LEAs) are required to make copies of the
paper survey form and transmit a copy to each of their schools along with a
copy of the Directions and Glossary for
Completing the Highly Qualified Teacher Survey.
Completed survey forms must be returned to the district’s central office, where the school-level data will be entered into the online Title IIA Highly Qualified Teacher (HQT) survey by a designated personal user who will have access the LEA’s secure Title II A account. This web-enabled survey will be online in January 2004 at http://homeroom.state.nj.us. Chief school administrators and charter school lead persons will receive an email announcing the opening date of the online survey and the deadline for completion.
Responses to the survey questions must pertain to the teachers’ present (2003-2004) teaching assignments (please refer to the glossary (page 6) for the definition of teaching assignment). In addition, schools should report solely on teachers who provide direct instruction in the core academic areas, as defined in the glossary on page 3 of this document. Only teachers with primary responsibility for direct instruction in the core content areas are required to satisfy the NCLB definition of a highly qualified teacher.
SCHOOLS
To answer the survey questions, schools should use information gathered from the highly qualified teacher identification process conducted in the fall 2003. More information on the process can be found in the New Jersey Model for Identifying Highly Qualified Teachers, available at http://www.nj.gov/njded/profdev/hqt/house.pdf. Specifically, schools should refer to Assurance Statement Form G, the NJ Highly Qualified Teacher Statement of Assurance, which was completed and signed by your teachers and a school official.
If your school is a Title I school, copies of Title I Form H, the NJ Highly Qualified Teacher Statement of Assurance for New Teachers in Title I Schools and Programs in 2003-2004, should be available while completing the survey.
Schools must forward the completed survey form to their district’s
central office, not to NJDOE. As indicated
above, a designated personal user in the district central office will have
access to the district’s secure Title II A account and will enter all school
data into the on-line survey.
LOCAL EDUCATION AGENCIES (LEAS)
(All Public School Districts, including Charter Schools, Educational
Service Commissions, Jointure Commissions, County Special Services Commissions,
and the Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf)
Once the forms are completed by each of your schools and transmitted to your district’s central office, you must enter the data for each school into the web-enabled online Title IIA HQT system. In order to enter data into the online Title IIA HQT system, you need internet access and a Title IIA account. If you established a Title IIA account for the 2002-2003 Title IIA survey, it is still valid. If you did not establish a Title IIA account last year, now is the time to do so. Contact your Web User Administrator (WUA) who is responsible for creating and maintaining the district’s accounts for all web-based applications. The WUA must create a personal user account for the person who will be entering the data and then add Title IIA authorization to that user’s account. If your district has not yet established a WUA, have the School Business Administrator (SBA) visit the following website: http://homeroom.state.nj.us Have the SBA read the “Important Information” at the top of the page, and then click on “Data Collection Information Center” at the bottom of the page, to obtain the information necessary for creating and maintaining a district’s account for all web-based applications.
GENERAL DIRECTIONS
The survey is divided into five sections:
7-9
Enter data in the school section(s) that correspond to the appropriate grade levels and organization(s) of your school.
Schools that contain both elementary (self-contained) as well as middle school grades (departmentalized) must complete the E. Elementary School section for their elementary grade classes in self-contained classroom settings as well as the M. Middle/Junior High School section for their middle grade classes in departmentalized settings. Intermediate schools are a hybrid of elementary and middle grades and school settings. Therefore, LEAs must complete only the I. Intermediate School section for these schools.
Based upon the school organization options that are checked in G.1, an LEA will be able to enter data for a particular school according to the appropriate grade levels and school settings that are contained within that school. For instance, if both a. Elementary and c. Middle or Junior High are checked off for a school, then the LEA will be able to complete section E. and section M. for that school. Please see School Organization in the Glossary below for more information regarding the organizational structures of schools.
GLOSSARY
CLASS
A class is defined as an individual group of students. In a self-contained setting, an elementary
school teacher, teaches only one class of the same students throughout the
school day/year. In a departmentalized
setting, a social studies middle school teacher, or a social studies high
school teacher, for example, may teach as many as five or more different social
studies classes throughout the school year, each class containing a different
group of students. Even though the
social studies teacher may teach each of the five classes of students five
times a week, the teacher still only teaches five social studies classes.
CORE ACADEMIC SUBJECTS
According to Section 9101 of NCLB, core academic subjects include English,
reading or language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and
government, economics, history, geography, and the arts. These subjects
correspond to the following NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards: language arts
literacy, science, social studies, mathematics, world languages and the visual
and performing arts. Only teachers with
primary responsibility for direct instruction in these content areas must
satisfy the federal definition of a highly qualified teacher.
DIRECT INSTRUCTION
Direct instruction occurs when the teacher provides the sole or primary
instruction in the core academic subject(s).
This includes special education
or basic skills replacement instruction. This does not include in-class
support, pull-out support, or support provided through an inclusion program.
HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHER
By June 2006, for new,
newly hired, and veteran teachers in non-Title I schools and for veteran
teachers in Title I schools, a highly qualified teacher must:
·
Hold at least a
Bachelors degree;
·
Be fully
licensed/certified (traditional or alternate route) with no waivers (i.e., no emergency certificates); and
·
Elementary-
Demonstrate content expertise by either:
1.
Passing a
rigorous State test of Elementary content knowledge and teaching skills; or
2.
Fulfilling the
requirements of the NJ HOUSE Standard.
·
Middle/Secondary-
Demonstrate content expertise in each of the core academic subject(s) taught
by:
1. Passing a rigorous State test; or
2. Completing an academic major, coursework equivalent
to a major, or a graduate degree; or
3.
Earning an
advanced certification or credentials (i.e.,
National Board Certification); or
4. Fulfilling the
requirements of the NJ HOUSE Standard.
HIGHLY
QUALIFIED TEACHER
By September 2003, for New and Newly Hired Teachers
in Title I schools, a highly qualified teacher must:
·
Hold at least a
bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher education;
·
Be fully
licensed/certified (traditional or alternate route) with no waivers (i.e., no emergency certificates); and
·
Elementary- Demonstrate
content expertise by passing a state test of elementary content knowledge and
teaching skills.
· Middle/Secondary- Demonstrate content expertise in each of the core academic subject(s) taught by doing the following:
1. Passing a rigorous state test; or
2.
Completing an
academic major, coursework equivalent to a major, or a graduate degree; or
3.
Earning an
advanced certification or credentials (i.e.,
National Board Certification).
Note: Newly hired teachers may use the NJ HOUSE Standard,
if needed. New teachers may not use the
NJ HOUSE Standard.
NJ HOUSE STANDARD
Under NCLB, each state is required to develop a High Objective Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE) to provide teachers with an alternative means of demonstrating their content knowledge of the core academic subject(s) they teach. To meet this requirement, NJDOE developed the NJ HOUSE (High Objective Uniform State Evaluation) Standard. Teachers can qualify by meeting the federal highly qualified teacher specifications or the NJ HOUSE Standard. The NJ HOUSE Standard is the means by which teachers can document their content expertise in the core academic subject(s) they teach. The NJ HOUSE Standard uses a Content Knowledge Matrix to document college coursework, professional activities, teaching activities, and successful teaching performance. The NJ HOUSE Standard is provided in the New Jersey Model for Identifying Highly Qualified Teachers, which is available at http://www.nj.gov/njded/profdev/hqt/house.pdf .
·
Elementary (K-5,
K-6, K-8 self contained), bilingual and special education teachers who provide direct content instruction of an
elementary curriculum must document 10 points on the matrix across elementary
academic content areas in order to satisfy the definition of a highly qualified
teacher as an Elementary Generalist.
·
Middle, secondary, bilingual and special
education teachers who provide direct content
instruction of a middle/secondary curriculum must document 10 points on the
matrix for each content area they teach
in order to satisfy the definition of a highly qualified teacher for each
content area teaching assignment.
SCHOOL ORGANIZATION
The most typical organizational structures in the
state are as follows:
·
Elementary Schools
(K-5, K-6, or K-8) in which classes are self-contained and teachers provide
instruction in the full range of content to a single class, all day;
·
Intermediate Schools (3-6, 4-5, 4-6, 4-8, or 5-6) elementary-middle school hybrid) in which
some teachers in self-contained classrooms provide the full range of content to
a single class, all day; and some teachers in departmentalized settings provide
instruction in one or more content areas to different classes of students
throughout the day;
·
Middle/Junior High Schools (5-8, 6-8, 7-8, or 7-9) in which classes are
departmentalized and teachers provide instruction in one or more content areas
to different classes of students throughout the day;
·
Secondary Schools
(7-12, 9-12, or 10-12) in which classes are departmentalized and teachers
provide instruction in one or more content areas to different classes of
students throughout the day. This also applies to vocational school classes in
which the core academic subjects are taught.
TEACHERS - BASIC SKILLS
Basic skills teachers provide remedial
instruction in language arts literacy or mathematics.
TEACHERS - BILINGUAL ED.
Bilingual teachers provide direct
instruction in one or more content areas in students’ native language and
English as a replacement for content instruction provided in a classroom where
only English is spoken. They must
satisfy the federal definition of a highly qualified teacher for the content
area(s) and level(s) that they teach.
TEACHERS - K-12
CONTENT SPECIALIST
Elementary content specialists provide
direct instruction in specific content areas such as music, art, science, or
world languages. These teachers provide
instruction in the specific content areas to more than one class of
students. They must satisfy the federal
definition of a “highly qualified teacher” for the content areas that they
teach. In
TEACHERS - ESL
ESL teachers provide daily support to
students with limited English proficiency and may co-teach classes with a
Language Arts Literacy instructor. ESL
teachers may also provide direct instruction in English, reading, or language
arts. When ESL teachers provide direct instruction they must satisfy the
federal definition of a “highly qualified teacher” based on the grade level of
the content/curriculum they teach rather than the chronological age of their
students.
TEACHERS - NEW
TO THE PROFESSION
First year teachers are considered new to the
profession.
·
Teachers working in Title I schools are new to the profession if they were hired after
the first day of school in the 2002-2003 school year. They must satisfy the NCLB definition of a
highly qualified teacher at the time of hire.
·
Teachers working in non-Title I schools are new to the profession if they are hired after
the first day of school in the 2005-2006 school year. They must be highly qualified as of the end
of the 2005-2006 school year.
TEACHERS -
NEWLY HIRED
Teachers with prior teaching experience
who are returning to teaching after an absence or changing school districts are
considered newly hired. Teachers
changing building, class, or grade-level assignments within their districts are
not considered newly hired. Newly hired
teachers in Title I schools must be highly qualified at the time of hire. Newly hired teachers in non-Title I schools
must be highly qualified by the end of the 2005-2006 school year.
TEACHERS –
VETERAN
·
Teachers in Title I schools who were hired before the first day of school in 2002-2003
are veteran teachers and may use the NJ HOUSE Standard to satisfy the
federal definition of a “highly qualified teacher”. Veteran teachers who are newly hired
may also be identified as highly qualified by using the NJ HOUSE Standard at
the time of hire.
·
Teachers in non-Title I schools who are hired before the first day of school in
2005-2006 are veteran teachers and may use the NJ HOUSE Standard to satisfy the
federal definition of a “highly qualified teacher”.
TEACHING
ASSIGNMENT
A teaching assignment is the grade level and/or core
academic subject area(s) being taught.
It is not the class schedule.
Multiple sections of the same course (i.e., three classes of freshman composition or two periods of world
history) count as a single teaching assignment.
Teaching all subjects to one class of elementary or special education
(elementary) students all day (i.e., grade
5, grade 2) is a single teaching assignment.