Assessment/Accountability No Child Left Behind
Highly Qualified Teachers and Paraprofessionals

NCLB Parent Notification Provisions Related to Teacher Qualifications

At the request of district and school leaders working in Title I schools, the Department has developed sample notification letters that district and school leaders can use use to meet the parents' "right to know" provisions related to teacher qualifications. These provisions are divided into two categories.

1. The first "right to know" provision, shown below, allows parents to request and receive essential information about the professional and educational background of the teacher(s) instructing their child(ren):

Districts that receive Title I, Part A funds are required to notify the parents of students attending any school that receives funds under Title I, Part A that a parent may request, and the district will provide the parent on request (and in a timely manner), information regarding the professional qualifications of the student's classroom teacher(s), including, at a minimum the following:

• Whether the teacher has met State qualification and licensing criteria for the grade levels and subject areas in which the teacher provides instruction.
• Whether the teacher is teaching under an emergency license or waiver through which the State qualifications or licensing criteria have been waived.
• The baccalaureate degree major of the teacher and any other graduate certification or degree held by the teacher, and the field or discipline of the certification or degree.
• Whether the child is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications.

Stated differently, any district that receives any amount of Title I funding must send this notification letter to all parents in schools that receive Title I funds - regardless of whether the school has a school-wide or targeted assistance program.

2. The second "right to know" provision centers on notifying parents in Title I schools when their child is taught for four or more weeks by a teacher who is not highly qualified:

"…schools that receive Title I funding shall provide each individual parent timely notice that the parent's child has been assigned or has been taught for four or more consecutive weeks by a teacher who is not highly qualified."

This provision of the law requires that all schools that receive Title I funds - regardless of whether the school has a school-wide or targeted assistance program - must provide this notification to every parent in the school whose child is being taught for four or more weeks by a teacher who is not highly qualified regardless of whether or not the teacher is being paid with Title I funds.

To meet these parent notification requirements we offer, below, two sample notifications letters that can be customized to your specific needs.

If you have questions about the parent notification provisions related to teacher qualifications, please contact the HQT help desk at HQTHelp@doe.mass.edu).

Sample Letter A

[LETTERHEAD]

The Federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires school districts that receive federal Title I funding to notify parents of their right to know the professional qualifications of the classroom teachers who instruct their child.

As a recipient of these funds, (School district name) will provide you with this information in a timely manner if you request it. Specifically, you have the right to request the following information about each of your child's classroom teachers:

• Whether the teacher meets the state qualifications and licensing criteria for the grades and subjects he or she teaches.
• Whether the teacher is teaching under emergency or provisional status because of special circumstances.
• The teacher's college major, whether the teacher has any advanced degrees, and the field of discipline of the certification or degree.
• Whether paraprofessionals provide services to your child and, if so, their qualifications.

(School district name) is committed to providing quality instruction for all students and does so by employing the most qualified individuals to teach and support each student in the classroom. If you would like to receive any of the information listed above for you child's teacher, please contact [insert name] at [insert telephone number].

Sample Letter B

(LETTERHEAD)

September 15, 2003

Dear Parent or Guardian,

On January 8, 2002, President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 into law. The law brings sweeping changes to public schools throughout the nation. One of these changes requires that any school in receipt of Title I fund must now inform parents if their child is assigned a teacher for four or more consecutive weeks who is not yet "highly qualified" under the terms and criteria outlined in the Act.

According to the No Child Left Behind law, a "highly qualified" teacher is one who:

1. Has obtained a Bachelor's degree or higher;
2. Has obtained full State certification - in Massachusetts this means that the teacher has either a preliminary, initial, or professional teaching license; and
3. Has demonstrated competency in the core academic subject area(s) that he/she teaches.

Please know that all teachers who teach the core academic subjects have until June 30, 2006 to meet all three standards.* This transition was deliberately written into the law to acknowledge that many states have certification and licensure requirements that differ from the new federal standards for teacher quality. This true of Massachusetts. Although our state has some of the most demanding certification requirements in the country, these requirements do not automatically mean that every teacher meets the highly qualified standard, even if he or she has been teaching for years and has been performing at high levels. Certain teachers, even outstanding veteran teachers, may need to take the time between now and 2006 to comply with the new expectations.

As of this writing, your child's teacher (Mr./Ms._____) has met the (Select: Bachelor's degree requirement/State certification requirement/subject matter competency requirement), but has yet to complete the (Select: Bachelor's degree requirement/State certification requirement/subject matter competency requirement). He/she is, however, currently working to meet the new requirement and we have full confidence in (his/her) ability to teach effectively in this assignment between now and 2006.

If you have any questions regarding (teacher's name) qualifications, please feel free to contact me. For additional information about the federal highly qualified teacher requirements and Massachusetts policies related to them, please visit the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's website at http://www.doe.mass.edu/nclb.

Sincerely,

(Principal's Name)
Principal

* Title I teachers hired after January 8, 2002 should have met the requirements as a condition of employment. Commonwealth charter school teacher do not need to meet the certification requirement since Massachusetts charter school law does not require these teachers to be certified.