The newly approved reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) clarifies the requirements for special education teachers to become "highly qualified" under No Child Left Behind (NCLB).
A. All special education teachers:
- Must hold a state special education certification or license.
- Must hold at least a bachelor's degree.
- May not have had a waiver of licensing requirements "on an emergency, temporary, or provisional basis."
B. New and veteran special education teachers who are "teaching to alternate achievement standards," must meet the requirements in the above section A plus either of the following options:
- Must meet NCLB requirements for an elementary school teacher (i.e., test of basic skills in multiple core content subjects, which may be the test taken as part of special education licensure);
- Or, in the case of instruction above the elementary level, must have subject matter knowledge appropriate to the level of instruction being provided (as determined by the state) and needed to effectively teach to those standards.
C. Veteran special education teachers who are teaching multiple subjects (two or more core academic subjects) must meet the requirements in the above section A, plus either of the following options:
- Comply with NCLB as is;
- Or go through a state High Objective, Uniform, State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE), "which may include a single, high, objective, uniform state standard of evaluation covering multiple subjects." [This language allows states to develop a multi-subject HOUSSE for veteran special ed teachers.]
D. New special education teachers teaching multiple subjects (two or more core content subjects) must meet the requirements in the above section A, be highly qualified in one core area (math, language arts, or science), and either of the following options:
- Comply with NCLB, as is, for demonstrating competency in other core subjects they teach;
- Or go through a state HOUSSE procedure "covering multiple subjects, not later than two years after the date of employment." [This new language allows states to develop a multi-subject HOUSSE that can be used by new special ed teachers and gives them two years from the date of hire to go through it.]
Special education teachers who are not providing core content, but are instead providing consultative services to a highly qualified core content teacher are exempt from the subject matter requirements for that subject under the "highly qualified" definition in NCLB and IDEA, according to language that reiterates the guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Education. This most often occurs when special education teachers go into general education classrooms to adapt instruction or give other instructional or behavioral supports to students with disabilities