U.S. Department of Education Releases Guidance on Highly Qualified Teachers

Press Release, National Association of Secondary School Principals
March 19, 2004
http://www.nassp.org/advocacy/frr/031904frr.cfm

In March, the U.S. Department of Education provided extra flexibility in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act by outlining guidelines for certain teachers. These new guidelines specifically affect rural, multi-subject, and science teachers. Under NCLB, teachers have to pass certain performance standards in order to remain certified. Typically, the three types of teachers mentioned above teach a variety of subjects, and they are under more pressure to meet the newly adopted standards of excellence. As a consequence of this added pressure, they have been given more time to meet the new standards. School districts have also been given more flexibility to become a part of the process of creating evaluation methods for these types of teachers that are difficult to put into specific categories.