Title I, No Child Left Behind, & Highly Qualified

1. Title I, No Child Left Behind, & Highly Qualified LISD New Teacher Training 2013 - 2014

2. NCLB Title I / No Child Left Behind • Began in the mid 1960’s as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 • Largest federal assistance program for our public schools • Most recent reauthorization was the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, which expanded the scope of Title I and imposed sweeping requirements in areas such as testing & teacher credentialing in all public schools

3. Title I / No Child Left Behind • Main Title I program, is Part A, which distributes funds to school districts based on census counts of children from low-income families • In exchange for that financial support, schools, districts and states are held accountable for raising academic performance of all students, narrowing the achievement gap between underachieving groups and their more advanced peers, and enabling those most at risk to reach state academic standards

4. Title I Requirements Under Title I, states and districts are required to close the achievement gap by the following methods: • Targeting dollars to low-performing students • Placing a “highly qualified” teacher in every classroom • Improving the qualifications of paraprofessionals

5. Title I Requirements Additional methods: • Offering professional development for staff • Using instructional practices and programs based on research • Involving the parents in their child’s education

6. Purpose of Title I To provide supplemental services to help children who are low achievers meet high academic standards

7. Title I Funding • Determined by number of low-income students in the district • Districts allocate their funds to schools based on the poverty level • Schools serve the lowest-performing students to help them achieve academically

8. Role of Teachers Teachers play a pivotal role in the process and successful implementation of No Child Left Behind: • First line of contact/main link with parents • Assess students’ needs and performance on a daily basis • Evaluate success of programs and activities • Direct the activities of paraprofessionals

9. Teacher Quality – Does it Really Matter? Good teaching lasts a lifetime – and bad teaching limits dreams and opportunities. Compelling evidence confirms what parents have always known: A teacher’s mastery of the academic content of what he or she teaches is critical to engaging students and inspiring them to academic excellence.

10. Highly-Qualified Teachers The Highly Qualified Teacher Initiative is a federal mandate that requires states to demonstrate the alignment between teachers’ academic preparation and their content-area teaching assignments through each state’s licensing system: • Teachers’ content expertise is the strongest predictor of student achievement • Highly qualified applies to all public elementary or secondary school teachers employed by a local educational agency who teach a core academic subject

11. NCLB Highly Qualified Teacher Requirements • Under NCLB, a “Highly Qualified” teacher meets ALL of the following three criteria: • Holds a Bachelor’s degree, and • Holds full state certification as defined by the state, and • Demonstrates competency, as defined by the state, in each core academic subject he or she teaches

12. Texas Highly Qualified Teacher Requirements • In Texas, a “Highly Qualified” new teacher is one who: • Holds a Bachelor’s degree, and • Holds full Texas certification (one who holds a valid Texas standard teacher’s certificate, lifetime teacher’s certificate, or Texas temporary teaching certificate), and • Is competent to teach the subject(s) taught as demonstrated by: • Passing the appropriate ExCET or TExES subject matter test or • In the case of secondary school teachers: academic major or graduate degree or coursework equivalent to an academic major* • *TEA, in collaboration with the SBEC and THECB has defined “coursework equivalent to an academic major” as 24 semester hours in the subject area, with 12 of those hours being upper-division (junior- and senior-level) coursework.

13. Texas Highly Qualified Teacher Requirements • In Texas, a “Highly Qualified” experienced teacher is one who: • Holds a Bachelor’s degree, and • Holds full Texas certification (one who holds a valid Texas standard teacher’s certificate, lifetime teacher’s certificate, or Texas temporary teaching certificate), and • Is competent to teach the subject(s) taught as demonstrated by: • Passing the appropriate ExCET or TExES subject matter test or • In the case of secondary school teachers: academic major or graduate degree or coursework equivalent to an academic major*, or • if eligible, using the Texas high, objective, uniform State standard of evaluation (HOUSE) • *TEA, in collaboration with the SBEC and THECB has defined “coursework equivalent to an academic major” as 24 semester hours in the subject area, with 12 of those hours being upper-division (junior- and senior-level) coursework.

14. Which Teachers Must Be Highly Qualified? • Language Arts • Reading • English • Science • Mathematics • History • Government • Geography • Economics • Arts* • Civics • Foreign Languages • Teacher of record and • One who provides direct instruction to students in any of the core academic subject areas: *TEA has defined “Arts” as music (including band & choir), art, theater & dance

15. How Title I Can Help You • Provide high-quality professional learning • Highly-Qualified Reimbursement program

16. High-Quality Professional Learning • Provides guidance to enhance parental involvement • Provides training on how to utilize data and assessments to improve classroom practice and student learning • Involves collaboration between teachers and administrators • Addresses the needs of all students • Provides training to improve classroom management

17. HQ Reimbursement & Submission Guidelines • Only tuition for SBEC-approved alternative certification programs (ACPs) and test certification fees will be reimbursed; additional fees, applications, books, supplies or travel costs are not reimbursable. • Expenses must have occurred during applicant’s dates of employment with LISD, and should be submitted for current budget year only (July 1 – August 31). • Tuition fees are generally reimbursed twice a year (January/February and August), and participant must earn a letter grade of “C” or higher in each course for which reimbursement is sought. • If participant is having payments deducted from your LISD pay for an alternative certification program, participant must still fill out a reimbursement request with proper documentation in order to be reimbursed. • LISD will reimburse up to two (2) attempts at tests that are required for certification; all other tests will be taken at participant’s expense.

18. HQ Reimbursement & Submission Guidelines • Reimbursement will not be made for any courses wherein any tuition reimbursement is received under any scholarship, fellowship, or other subsidized program. • Late fees are the responsibility of the participant. • Incomplete courses/tests or withdrawal from courses/tests will not be reimbursed and are the responsibility of the participant. • All reimbursement checks will be mailed to participant’s home address, so please verify that the address remains updated in our system.

19. HQ Reimbursement & Submission Guidelines • For all reimbursement requests, proper documentation must be attached: • A copy of an official bill/invoice for the course or test with either a zero balance or official proof of payment (canceled check, credit card receipt or copy of bank statement showing proof of payment); • A copy of final grade and/or test score. • Please submit all requests for reimbursement to: • Sheri Broadwater • Director of Federal Programs • Longview ISD – ESC • sbroadwater@lisd.org • 903-381-2260 (o) • 903-236-3696 (f)

20. Thank you… Have a great year!