The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) recently informed the Texas Education Agency (TEA) that some elementary teacher certification exams may not meet the “Highly Qualified Teacher” (HQT) requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act.
TEA recently notified districts 
that it is working with Education Department officials to determine what districts need to do to comply with this new HQT interpretation. Up for discussion is whether districts will have to comply for this year and how much time they’ll have, given that the change was announced after teachers were hired and school had started.
The new interpretation affects thousands of elementary teachers hired for the 2009–10 school year who passed a certification exam in a specific subject area. Those teachers might also need to pass a “generalist” exam that tests their subject knowledge in reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. The new interpretation will also affect HQT reporting and parental notification for all districts.
Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott struck a conciliatory note at the October meeting of at the Gulf Coast Association of School Personnel Administrators meeting, saying that he will contact Education Secretary Arne Duncan if need be to resolve the issues the new interpretation has caused. He could ask Duncan to “grandfather” in the HQT status of this year’s affected teachers. Scott said that the agency would work with districts to help them deal with the change as soon as the USDE issues its final word on the matter. TEA plans to schedule a webinar to help administrators get answers to their questions once a final determination is made and will inform districts of the date and time through the NCLB Update listserv.
At this time, the agency will not require districts to change the highly qualified status of elementary teachers. TEA also emphasized that it doesn’t want districts to release the affected teachers because of the change. However, districts may choose to be proactive and begin taking the steps necessary to comply with the new interpretation.
