RULES AND REGULATIONS
[22 PA. CODE CH. 403]
Compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
[34 Pa.B. 3358] The Department of Education (Department) amends Chapter 403 (relating to compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001) to read as set forth in Annex A.
Contact Person
Questions regarding these standards should be directed to Ethan R. Cancell, Office of the Secretary, Department of Education, 333 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333, (717) 346-3291.
Effective Date
The standards will be effective upon final-form publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
Statutory Authority
The Department acts under the authority of section 2603-B(d)(10)(i) of the Public School Code of 1949 (code) (24 P. S. § 26-2603-B(d)(10)(i)), which was added by section 31 of the act of June 29, 2002 (P. L. 524, No. 88) (Act 88) and was amended by section 37 of the act of December 23, 2003 (P. L. 304, No. 48) (Act 48). Section 2603-B(d)(10)(i) of the code empowers the Department, with the approval of the State Board of Education (State Board), to adopt standards to comply with the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) (Pub. L. No. 107-110, 115 Stat. 1425) to maintain the eligibility of the Commonwealth to receive Federal funding for education programs. Acting under section 2603-B(d)(10)(i) of the code, the State Board approved these amended standards at its meeting of June 18, 2004. Prior thereto, as required by section 2603-B(d)(10)(iv) of the code, the State Board submitted the standards to the Office of the Attorney General, which determined that the standards are necessary to comply with the provisions of the NCLB and thereby to maintain the eligibility of the Commonwealth to receive Federal funding for education programs. Notice of the Attorney General's determination was provided to the State Board.
Standards promulgated by the Department under section 2603-B(d)(10)(i) of the code must be deposited with the Pennsylvania Bulletin for publication, see section 26-2603-B(d)(10)(ii) of the code. Standards adopted under section 2603-B(d)(10)(i) of the code on or before June 30, 2004, are exempt from the following laws:
(a) Sections 201--205 of the act of July 31, 1968 (P. L. 769, No. 240) (45 P. S. §§ 1201--1205), known as the Commonwealth Documents Law (CDL).
(b) The Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. §§ 745.1--745.15).
See section 26-2603-B(d)(10)(iii) of the code.
In light of these exemptions, the Attorney General's determination of necessity under section 2603-B(d)(10)(iv) of the code and the express approval of the State Board under section 2603-B(d)(10)(i) of the code, the Department is depositing these standards for publication in final-form.
Description of Process
On November 13, 2002, the Department presented proposed standards to the State Board addressing the highly qualified teacher requirements necessary to comply with the NCLB. Included in the proposed standards were elements of the State Plan required for compliance with the NCLB (20 U.S.C.A. §§ 6301--6578 and 6801--7014). At its November 14, 2002, meeting, the State Board publicly voted to approve the proposed standards presented by the Department. On November 14, 2002, the chairperson of the State Board signed the resolution approved by the State Board and it was published at 32 Pa.B. 6030 (December 7, 2002). As required by section 2603-B(d)(10)(i) of the code, the Department deposited the standards for publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, see 32 Pa.B. 6359 (December 28, 2002). The standards now appear in Chapter 403.
On June 8, 2004, the Department submitted proposed amendments to the standards to the Attorney General for review under section 2603-B(d)(10)(iv) of the code. On June 3, 2004, the Attorney General determined that the proposed amendments to the standards satisfy the legal necessity test prescribed by section 2603-B(d)(10)(iv) of the code. The Department presented the amendments to the State Board for consideration and approval under section 2603-B(d)(10)(i) of the code. At its meeting held on June 18, 2004, the State Board adopted a resolution approving the changes to the standards as proposed by the Department.
Background and Need for Standards
President George W. Bush signed the NCLB into law on January 8, 2002. The NCLB, inter alia, amends Titles I and III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) (Pub. L. 89-10, 79 Stat. 27) (Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged), 20 U.S.C.A. (section 9532 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001) et seq. Title I's purpose is to ensure that all children have the opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging state achievement standards and academic assessments. In furtherance of this purpose, Title I provides grants to state education agencies and subgrants to local educational agencies. To remain eligible for funding under Title I, state and local educational agencies must comply with the NCLB.
Section 1119 of Title I, as added by the NCLB (20 U.S.C.A. § 6319 (relating to qualifications for teachers and paraprofessionals)) provides that each state education agency receiving assistance under the act must ensure that all teachers teaching in core academic subjects within the state are highly qualified by the end of the 2005-2006 school year. The NCLB defines a highly qualified middle or secondary school teacher as a teacher who has a bachelor's degree and has either passed a core content area test or has an academic major, graduate degree or coursework equivalent to an undergraduate major in the subject area to be taught.
In Non-Regulatory Guidance issued by the United States Department of Education dated January 16, 2004, states were advised of the opportunity to use a process called High, Objective, Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE) to determine when experienced middle and secondary school teachers and teachers of multiple core subjects can be considered highly qualified as required by the NCLB. The purpose of this evaluation process is to permit states to consider experienced teachers who meet designated criteria as highly qualified under the NCLB.
In November 2002, based on the guidance then available, the State Board adopted a resolution providing that teachers who are fully certified in this Commonwealth are highly qualified, with the exception of teachers teaching grades seven and eight without content area certification. This latter group of teachers were required to obtain content area certification by the end of the 2005-2006 school year. However, the Non-Regulatory Guidance, issued in January, clarified the United States Department of Education's requirements regarding highly qualified teachers. As a result, certain special education teachers, teachers in alternative education programs, certain English-as-Second Language teachers and others may now be considered highly qualified under an alternative evaluation system.
Description of Standards
The standards in § 403.4 (relating to highly qualified teachers) address compliance with the highly qualified teacher requirements of the NCLB. They also provide additional certification avenues for individuals wanting to become fully certified as well as for currently certified teachers, who because of their classroom assignment, are not considered highly qualified. The standards, as amended by the Department with the approval of the State Board, reflect changes consistent with the NCLB. Subsection (d) is added to § 403.4 to establish an additional pathway for certain currently certified teachers to be designated as highly qualified to meet the NCLB requirements by obtaining certification in the instructional area in which they teach.
This change is necessary for the Commonwealth to comply with the NCLB and, thereby, to remain eligible for Federal funding under Federal law.
Fiscal Impact
The standards in Chapter 403 are necessary to ensure that the Commonwealth and its LEAs remain eligible to receive Federal funding under the ESEA. The amended standard will result in additional costs to the Commonwealth to review and process an undetermined number of applications for NCLB Bridge Certificates. Since currently certified teachers, who are eligible for the NCLB Bridge Certificate, may also pursue one of the other pathways to certification and the resulting designation as being highly qualified, or schools may reassign teachers to classroom assignments where they are considered highly qualified, it is not possible to accurately estimate the number of applications that will be submitted for the NCLB Bridge Certificate nor the corresponding cost.
Paperwork Requirements
These amended standards do not impose additional paperwork requirements.
Regulatory Review
Under section 2603-B(d)(10)(iii)(C) of the code, these standards are exempt from the Regulatory Review Act.
Findings
The Department finds that:
(1) Proposed rulemaking in advance of the promulgation of standards is not required under section 2603-B(d)(10)(iii)(A) of the code, as added by section 31 of Act 88 and amended by section 37 of Act 48, which expressly provides that the standards are exempt from the requirements of the CDL.
(2) The State Board approved the amendments to the proposed standards by public vote at its June 18, 2004, meeting.
(3) The promulgation of these standards is necessary for compliance with the NCLB.
Order
The Department, acting under the authorizing statute, orders that:
(a) The standards of the Department, 22 Pa. Code Chapter 403, are amended by amending § 403.4 to read as set forth in Annex A with ellipses referring to the existing text of the regulation.
(b) The Secretary of Education will certify this order and Annex A and deposit them with the Legislative Reference Bureau as required by law.
(c) This order is effective upon publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
VICKI L. PHILLIPS,
SecretaryFiscal Note: 6-292. (1) General Fund; (2) Implementing Year 2004-05 is $117,000; (3) 1st Succeeding Year 2005-06 is $39,000; 2nd Succeeding Year 2006-07 is $39,000; 3rd Succeeding Year 2007-08 is $39,000; 4th Succeeding Year 2008-09 is $0; 5th Succeeding Year 2009-10 is $0; (4) 2003-04 Program--$2.458 million; 2002-03 Program--$2.458 million; 2001-02 Program--$2.458 million; (7) General Government Operations; (8) recommends adoption. The fee submitted by each applicant will cover the additional administrative costs incurred by the Department to process the applications.
Annex A
TITLE 22. EDUCATION
PART XVI. STANDARDS
CHAPTER 403. COMPLIANCE WITH THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT OF 2001 § 403.4. Highly qualified teachers.
(Editor's Note: For the text of the amended § 403.4(a)--(c), see 34 Pa.B. 3357 (June 26, 2004).)
* * * * * (d) NCLB Bridge Certificates.
(1) Teachers holding a level I or II certificate issued prior to July 1, 2004, and who are employed in one of the following listed circumstances may be awarded an NCLB Bridge Certificate if qualified therefore under paragraph (4):
(i) Teaching in grades seven, eight or nine in a middle/junior high school.
(ii) Teaching in a Department-approved Alternative Education Program.
(iii) Teaching direct core academic content on the secondary level and possess either an English as a Second Language or Special Education certificate.
(2) NCLB Bridge Certificates will not be issued to applicants after July 1, 2005. The Secretary of Education may extend this deadline on an individual, case-by-case basis, when exceptional situations warrant.
(3) The NCLB Bridge Certificate is valid for 3 years or until an earlier time at which the individual is awarded an Instructional I Certificate under paragraph (5). The NCLB Bridge Certificate cannot be renewed.
(4) Qualification for issuance of an NCLB Bridge Certificate shall be based on an evaluation system developed by the Department. The evaluation system shall be used to determine whether the applicant is highly qualified in the academic discipline or disciplines in which the applicant is teaching using the following criteria:
(i) Satisfactory teaching experience in delivering instruction in the academic content area at the appropriate level.
(ii) Professional education activities credited under section 2603-B(d) of the Public School Code of 1949 (24 P. S. § 2603-B(d)) (Act 2003-48) in the direct academic content area in which the applicant teaches. This may include college credit, postsecondary degrees and approved continuing professional education hours.
(iii) College credits earned in the academic subject area in which the applicant teaches.
(iv) Academic scholarship in the academic content area in which the applicant teaches, including the following:
(A) Recognition as school district or State teacher-of-the year.
(B) Recipient of a State or National teaching award.
(C) Authorship of an article in a peer review journal.
(D) Authorship of a published textbook.
(E) Teaching a credit-based course at an approved postsecondary institution.
(v) Tutoring students in the academic content area in which the NCLB Bridge certificateholder seeks full certification in a satisfactory manner on a sustained basis in a structured, Department-approved tutoring program.
(5) An individual who holds an NCLB Bridge Certificate, awarded through the procedure outlined in paragraph (1), may be awarded an Instructional I Certificate based on evaluation of the applicant's experience, professional education and related professional criteria while engaged in teaching under the NCLB Bridge Certificate. The evaluation shall include the following:
(i) Satisfactory teaching experience in delivering instruction in the content area or areas at the appropriate level since receipt of their NCLB Bridge Certificate.
(ii) Professional education activities credited under sections 1205.1 and 1205.2 of the Public School Code of 1929 (24 P. S. §§ 12-1205.1 and 12-1205.2) in the direct content area or areas since receipt of their NCLB Bridge Certificate. This may include college credit, postsecondary degrees and approved continuing professional education hours directly in the content area or areas in which the applicant seeks certification.
(iii) College credits achieved in the academic subject area being taught or assessed.
(iv) Academic scholarship in the academic content area that one teaches including:
(A) School district or State teacher-of-the-year.
(B) Recipient of a State or National teaching award.
(C) Authorship of a published textbook in the content area.
(D) Authorship of an article within the academic field the individual instructs published in a peer review journal.
(E) Teaching the content area in a credit-based postsecondary institution.
(F) National board certification during the period in which the individual held the NCLB Bridge Certificate.
(6) The Department will develop and submit for the approval of the State Board the applicant evaluation and NCLB Bridge Certificateholder evaluation systems described in paragraphs (3) and (4) prior to November 1, 2004.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 04-1185. Filed for public inspection June 25, 2004, 9:00 a.m.]
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