OGCS/SSCS NCLB Highly Qualified Teachers Plan

The Collaborative Teaching Model

 

Policy

According to the Federal NCLB Highly Qualified Teachers regulations, all our students must be taught by a NCLB certified “Highly Qualified Teachers” (HQT) as “teacher of record” beginning in the 2008 school year.  Each local educational agency (LEA) must develop a plan to ensure that all elementary, middle and high school teachers who are assigned to teach core academic subjects meet the NCLB requirements to ensure they are highly qualified. For IEM schools this means that the assigned ES must either be NCLB certified in each particular subject each of their students are taking, or the student must have another “teacher of record” who is NCLB certified serving the student for that course, or the student is taking that course at a community college, or the course is taken from one of our school approved online vendors.  All ESs must be NCLB-compliant in at least one subject area.

 

The Collaborative Teaching Model

IEM schools will be utilizing a model called the Collaborative Teaching Model to meet the Federal NCLB requirements. 

  • Under this model, each student continues to be served by one ES who is their “supervising teacher” for all subjects.
  • The assigned ES is also the “teacher of record” for all courses their students are taking that they are NCLB certified to teach (See examples below). 
  • For any NCLB subject areas in which the assigned ES is not NCLB-certified, the ES must see that each of their students are being served in another approved way for those courses.
  • All ESs are encouraged to obtain as many NCLB certifications as possible, so that they might be better able to serve all assigned students.
  • ESs with Single Subject credentials only may only serve high school students until they are certified in “multi-subjects”.

 

NCLB Core Academic Subjects for K-8th grades

For IEM schools, K-8th graders can be served in all subjects by a teacher certified in multi-subjects, as 7th and 8th grades have been designated to be a part of our elementary school program. An exception to this would be a junior high student who is taking a high school course for high school credit. Also Algebra 1 has been designated a high school level course for NCLB purposes (even though it is expected to be taken in 7th or 8th grade) that must be overseen by a NCLB math certified HQT.

 

NCLB Core Academic Subjects for 9th to 12th grades

The core academic subjects for California High Schools are:

  • English (which includes Drama and Theater for NCLB purposes)
  • Reading/Language Arts (CLAD certification meets the NCLB requirements)
  • Mathematics
  • Science
  • Social Sciences (which include Civics, Government, Economics, History, and Geography)
  • Foreign language (for a-g and/or Standards courses only)
  • Arts (for a-g and/or Standards courses only)
  • PE and dance courses do not requires a NCLB certified teacher, along with all other electives not in subject areas named above.

 

Ways that a student can be served by a HQT in a subject area in which their ES is not currently certified

Any of the following are recognized ways to meet the NCLB HQT requirements for your students:

  • Take courses through a school approved fully online vendor
  • Take college level, CSU transferrable courses at a community college
  • Enroll in a modified CP course taught by one of our HQT Subject Matter experts (SME) who becomes “teacher of record” for that course. This option is required if one of the other options is not being utilized.

 

CP HQT Subject Matter Experts (SME)

"Subject Matter Experts" (SME) will be identified in each of the following core areas for each charter school:

  • English
  • Reading for EL students
  • Math
  • Science
  • Social Science
  • Arts
  • Foreign Language

 

These SMEs (fully credentialed teachers with a single subject credential in their certified area) will each be available as a resource and support in their field of study and will have "office hours" every week in addition to taking email questions. 

 

Process

On the high school report card layout, the ES must indicate how each high school subject area is being covered by a NCLB HQT.  Choose the correct choice in that space for each course when creating the report card.

 

A CP course will be set up in the CP Webfiles database with each SME for their subject area.  The ES will enroll each student into the course for which you are not certified to be the “teacher of record”, if one of the other options is not being used.

 

The CP SME must also sign the Student Written Agreement each semester, since they are the "teacher of record" as well as the supervising teacher (ES). Use the SME Student Agreement, page 3 for this.

 

The CP SME will be available for questions and support from the ESs and students enrolled in their CP course during the semester, as all students must have access to a HQT in each of their subject areas.  The ES and SME will collaborate on the course of study, the educational materials being used, the grading system for the course, and the SME will make the final determination of the grades and credits earned for each student in their CP course. The ES will enter the grades and credits emailed to them by the SME in webfiles at the end of the semester, then keep the email in their student’s file as verification.

 

Examples

1. 9th grade Student A is assigned to multi-subject ES Ms C.  Ms C is NCLB certified in Multi-subjects, and because she is a “not new” teacher and has a supplemental authorization on her credential for English and Social Sciences, she is also NCLB certified to teach all grades levels in these subject areas. Student A is taking these 35 credits in these ways as indicated on Student A’s report card form in Webfiles:

 

    • Geometry (Doing an online course, since it is qualified, and Ms. C is not)
    • English (Ms. C is teacher of record, due to her English NCLB certification)
    • World History (Ms. C is teacher of record, due to her Social Science NCLB certification)
    • Biology (Taking this course at the community college, due to Ms C not being NCLB certified)
    • PE (Ms. C is teacher of record, as no NCLB certification is necessary for this subject)
    • Visual Arts (Signed up with a CP SME for this course, since Ms C is not NCLB certified)
    • Computer 1 (Ms. C is teacher of record, as no NCLB certification is necessary for this subject)

 

In this situation above, Ms C will need to ensure that:

·         She let’s her student know where to send her college concurrent enrollment forms so that she can be enrolled in the classes she needs to take from the college.

·         Then the ES needs to let the guidance office know that ES approval is being given for college enrollment.

·         The ES signs her student up in a timely manner with the CP SME for Visual arts, emails the SME with what curriculum will be used, works out an agreeable grading system between the parent/ES/SME, and provides work samples to the SME as requested. 

·         During the semester, the ES needs to provide the SME with work samples/etc as agreed upon.

·         At the end of the semester, the ES will submit the grades and credits agreed to by the SME at the end of the semester on the report card. 

·         In the case of a disagreement about the grades and credits, the SME is the teacher of record, and has the authority under California law to award the grades and credits.

 

2. 12th grade Student B has Mr. W as an ES.  Mr. W has a single subject credential and is NCLB certified in Mathematics. He also has his CLAD, and is certified in Reading . Student B is taking these 25 credits in these ways:

·         Basic English 12  (Mr. W is teacher of record, due to his Reading NCLB certification, and most of this course is CAHSEE prep)

·         Algebra 1 (Mr. W is teacher of record, due to his Math NCLB certification)

·         Government (Signed up with a CP SME for this course, since Mr. W is not NCLB certified, and the student did not qualify to take this course at the community college due to their low GPA)

·         Health (Mr. W is teacher of record, as no NCLB certification is necessary for this subject)

·         Life Choices (Mr. W is teacher of record, as no NCLB certification is necessary for this subject)

 

3. 8th grade Student C is enrolled with Mrs. H as the ES.  Mrs. H is NCLB certified in the multi-subject area only, and only accepts students in grades K to 8. Student C is taking some 8th grade classes, and some high school courses in these ways:

 

·         8th grade English (Mrs. H is teacher of record, due to her Multi-subject NCLB certification)

·         High School Foreign Language 1 (Signed up with a CP SME for this course, since Mrs. H is not NCLB certified, and the student did not qualify to take this course at the community college due to age and grade level)

·         Algebra 1 (Doing an online course, since it is qualified, and Mrs. H is not, since Algebra 1 is considered to be a high school level course requiring Math NCLB certification)

·         8th grade History (Mrs. H is teacher of record, due to her Multi-subject NCLB certification)

·         8th grade Science (Mrs. H is teacher of record, due to her Multi-subject NCLB certification)

·         Karate (Mrs. H is teacher of record, as no NCLB certification is necessary for this subject)

·         8th grade Drama (Mrs. H is teacher of record, due to her Multi-subject NCLB certification.  Had the student desired high school credit, Mrs. H would have had to use other options, as high school drama required English certification)

 

ES Procedures

Each semester after discussing with the parent the courses the student will be taking the next semester, determine if you will be able to officially be the “teacher of record” for each of those courses based on your NCLB certifications.  For those courses you may not “oversee”, identify alternative options for those courses.  Discuss the options with your parents/students and select the best choice for that student.  Enroll in the option ASAP.