'Highly Qualified' Definition for Special Education Teachers

The final Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) reauthorization bill requires the following:

A. For ALL special education teachers:

• State special education certification or license;
• At least a bachelor's degree;
• Has not had a waiver of licensing requirements "on an emergency, temporary, or provisional basis"

B. For new and veteran special education teachers who are "teaching to alternate achievement standards," the above (A), plus:

• Meet the "No Child Left Behind" Act (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, has subject matter knowledge appropriate to the level of instruction being provided, as determined by the state, needed to effectively teach to those standards.

C. For VETERAN special education teachers teaching multiple subjects (two or more core academic subjects), the above (A), plus the options of:

• Complying with NCLB as is; OR
• Going 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." (Translation: allows states to develop a multi-subject HOUSSE for veteran special ed teachers.)

D. For NEW special education teachers teaching multiple subjects (two or more core content subjects): the above (A), plus be highly qualified in one core area (math, language arts, or science) AND THEN:

• Comply with NCLB, as is, for demonstrating competency in other core subjects they teach; OR
• Go through a state HOUSSE, "which may include a single, high, objective, uniform state standard of evaluation covering multiple subjects, not later than two years after the date of employment." (Translation: NEW addition to NCLB — 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.)

There is also report language that reiterates the guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Education, which states that 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) of the "highly qualified" definition in NCLB and IDEA. 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.