Most of New Hampshire's public school teachers are already certified to teach in the state.
Since the Bush Administration revamped federal education law, teachers across the country will be required to meet new standards.
They must achieve "highly qualified" teacher status.
As New Hampshire Public Radio's Raquel Maria Dillon reports, many Granite State teachers are somewhat skeptical about the new requirements.
MACLEOD (reading from book) …edging forward he aimed the light down the toilet hole.
KIDS EWWW!
Leah Macleod reads novels aloud to her 6th graders to get them excited about reading. She’s a teacher at Concord’s Rundlett Middle School.
Macleod admits middle school is an acquired taste. The students can be goofy, but she loves 12-year-olds because they’re open to learning. She’s been teaching 6th and 7th grade for 17 years.
MCLOUD :?? What do you think?
KIDS Alligators!
Macleod says she doesn’t need anyone to tell her she’s a qualified teacher. She teaches at Plymouth State University; she serves as a mentor for new teachers; she’s received a distinguished Educator award from the Concord School Board; she completed the coursework for her Masters degree; and she was invited to serve as a model classroom for U-N-H undergraduate education majors.
But under the new federal education law, the No Child Left Behind Act, Macleod had to dig through her old transcripts to prove she’s a “highly qualified teacher”
MACLEOD :08 I am now officially “highly qualified” my transcripts will do that for me.
The Highly Qualified status is a new level of federal certification, in addition to state certification. In two years, teachers at schools that receive federal aid will have to reach that status. The new law has middle school teachers caught in a unique bind.
High school teachers usually have a degree in the subject they teach. But middle school teachers often teach several subjects, and state rules require only a general certificate to teach kindergarten through 8th grade. now the new federal rules require middle and secondary school teachers to be highly qualified in each academic subject they teach. That means getting certified, having a degree in that subject, or demonstrating competency through a long, complicated process.
MACLEOD :20 I feel that I’ve really proved myself over the years, I have a good reputation with people in Concord. With my admin. I worked hard to make myself a highly qualified teacher. And to be told that because of a certain law, I’m not. It is kind of insulting.
Down the hall in another 6th grade classroom, a group of teachers are discussing lesson plans and students’ progress. Just the mention of “highly qualified teachers” sets them off. It’s a sensitive subject. They don’t want to speak on record.
They say they’re worried that good, experienced teachers will quit rather than jump through bureaucratic hoops.
One classroom veteran has been teaching for 19 years. He didn’t want to give his name because he’s just beginning the complicated process of becoming highly qualified. He’ll have to do a “self-assessment” and with administrators devise a professional development plan to meet the requirements by 2006.
TEACHER :07 according to somebody else’s standard set somewhere else, probably somebody who’s never been in a classroom.
He might pair up with a mentor, prepare a portfolio, or document all the training and classes he’s attended in the past. If administrators decide that a teacher isn’t making adequate progress on their plan, they’ll notify parents that their child’s teacher doesn’t meet the “highly qualified” standard.
These teachers say that was obviously on the minds of parents at an open house last Spring.
TEACHER 91/:06 First question a parent asks, are my child’s teachers going to be qualified. And whether they were trying to be a stickler or trying to prove a point, I dunno. My response was I think I am, what do you think.
Other parents say they pay more attention to a teacher’s reputation and experience than to state and federal paperwork. Vanessa Ghiden says her three sons did well at Rundlett Middle School. Her youngest is in 7th grade there.
GHIDEN 111 if the teachers were qualified to teach a year ago, they’re probably still qualified now w/o this certification. Basically what I think is the certification that’s in place right now is enough.
Ghiden thinks parental involvement is more important that what degrees a teacher has. And she says that’s where schools and federal policy makers should be focusing their efforts.
Education Commissioner Nick Donohue says parents might be confused by the entire process.
DONOHUE 2:50 there will be notification where you’ll get a surprising letter about some teacher who you thought was darn good b/c they taught your neighbors kids or you maybe. There’ll be some confounding and confusing results, not fault of teacher or school. Fault of system.
Donohue says he sees the new rules as an opportunity to identify areas where teachers can improve. The state Department of Education designed the rules so that important decisions are made on the local level, with some state oversight.
The teachers union says the Department of Ed has been helpful, despite limited resources. Grace Jeffery-Nelson is in charge of professional development for the New Hampshire branch of the National Education Association. She says teachers are concerned and confused about the complicated rules and options. Her message to them is simple.
JEFFERY-NELSON 35/:21 you can calm down take a deep breath because you are highly qualified and we’ll tell you how you can do that and have it be an appropriate process.
Jeffery-Nelson says the No Child Left Behind Act focuses on academic subject matter, but in her experience teaching and training teachers, understanding children and classroom management is just as important.
JEFFERY-NELSON 40/:20 This law, this NCLB, talks a great deal about content. Not the children in classroom. Teachers go into education because they have a passion for children. They want to not only help them in a content area, but teach them to be life-long learners and good citizens.
She says rural schools might suffer. For example, a high school Biology teacher might decide not to teach a Physics class because he can’t get prove he’s highly qualified in Physics.
Concord Schools Superintendent Dr. Chris Rath wants to reassure the worried 6th grade teachers at Rundlett. She started meeting with teachers over the summer so they wouldn’t be blindsided by the new “highly qualified” requirements.
RATH 103 I think we’re in a good place in Concord, we have someone dedicated to professional development. I worry about urban areas, rural schools. We have to get the resources, we could not do what we did without resources.
When policy makers in Washington rewrote the rules, Rath says they didn’t think through the particular needs of middle schools.
For NHPR News, I’m RMD.
