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2005 SESSION

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SB 731 Teachers; qualifications.

Introduced by: Linda T. Puller | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles

SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:

Teacher qualifications.  Allows local school boards, in staffing underfilled or overcrowded classes in secondary schools, to place licensed instructional personnel who do not hold an undergraduate degree in the relevant subject area but are actively enrolled in a program that leads to meeting such degree requirements within three years. "Active enrollment" shall mean earning at least six semester hours of credit per academic year. The Board of Education is to develop procedures, consistent with any federal requirements governing the employment of highly qualified instructional personnel, for implementation by local school boards employing such licensed personnel in underfilled or overcrowded classes in secondary schools. The procedures will establish criteria for determining underfilled or overcrowded classes and require local school boards to regularly report to the Board compliance with active enrollment requirements.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires schools to employ in the core academic areas "highly qualified" teachers by the end of the 2005-06 academic year. Teachers must be fully licensed; new and current teachers must hold undergraduate degrees and meet various state testing and subject matter competency requirements.

In response to these federal requirements, the Virginia Board of Education adopted on February 25, 2004, High Objective Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE) to address the placement of experienced teachers. To be "highly qualified," the experienced teacher has the option of (i) having an academic major or equivalent in the subject area(s) taught; (ii) completing an academic major, graduate degree, or coursework equivalent to an academic major, or advanced certification; or (iii) meeting the HOUSSE requirements, which may include, among other things, completion of three years of successful teaching experience and an academic major or equivalent in the subject areas the teacher teaches or a minimum of 24 semester hours in the areas taught.


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