Teacher Standards and Practices Commission
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February 9-11, 2011 |
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ITEM: |
REVIEW OF NCLB ALTERNATIVE
ROUTE TEACHING LICENSE |
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ACTION: |
INFORMATION ITEM |
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INFORMATION: |
In September 2010, the 9th
Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that regulations passed by the U.S.
Department of Education requiring states to create an alternative route to
licensure and declaring the holder of the license to be “highly qualified” to
violate the language in the law contained within the No Child Left Behind Act
(NCLB). At the November 2010
meeting, the Executive Director proposed amendment to TSPC’s administrative
rules related to the NCLB Alternative Route Teaching License. The Executive Director
also suggested that if the Department did not take action on the ruling, the
Commission would be poised to take action on the rules and repeal those
provisions contained in the Commission’s administrative rules. |
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In December, Congress amended
Title I of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act as part of its Continuing
Resolution to fund the government to allow the U. S. Department of Education’s
regulation on Alternative Route licenses to remain valid through 2013.
The issue is expected to be
addressed whenever Congress reauthorizes the NCLB former ESEA
(Elementary-Secondary Education Act) sometime in the next two years.
Therefore, there is no
immediate need to amend TSPC’s current administrative rules related to
alternative route licensure. And all current people with the license
remain highly qualified as well as any future licenses issued under these
rules.
There are currently 34 NCLB
Alternative Route Teaching Licenses (six license holders hold two endorsements). These licenses are issued to persons who
would otherwise qualify for the Restricted Transitional Teaching License, but
also meet the definitions of “highly qualified” teacher by virtue of a major or
a test in a core academic subject.
4 Advanced Math 2
French
3 Art 2
Language Arts
1 Basic Math 9
Multiple Subjects Self-Contained
1 Biology 9 Music
2 ESOL 4
Spanish
3 ESOL/Bilingual