Classroom Teacher Testing Options for Displaying
No Child Left Behind Content Area Competency

The No Child Left Behind Act is the most significant legislation to impact K-12 education since the previous Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The new legislation calls for every "core academic class" to be taught by a "highly qualified" teacher.

"Highly Qualified" is a specific term defined by NCLB. The law outlines the following minimum requirements that teachers of core academic classes must meet in order achieve highly qualified status:

1. hold a bachelor's degree,
2. achieve full state certification, and
3. demonstrate competency for each core academic content area they teach.

For the third requirement, teachers must now prove they are "competent," or capable of instructing, each academic subject they are assigned to teach. The law provides states with the flexibility to determine how to define and measure content area competency, so the options for displaying competency may vary from state to state.

All states provide a testing option for displaying content area competency. Teachers must earn a minimum score on a particular test (which tests must be taken and the minimum passing scores are defined by each state) to qualify as meeting the "competency" requirement of that state's highly qualified standards.

Links to SREB State and Related Resources

State Resource AL Alabama Department of Education AR Arkansas Department of Education FL Florida Department of Education GA Georgia Professional Standards Commission KY Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board LA Louisiana Department of Education MD Maryland State Department of Education MS Mississippi Department of Education NC North Carolina State Board of Education OK Oklahoma State Department of Education SC South Carolina Department of Education - Division of Teacher Quality TN Tennessee Department of Education TX Texas State Board for Educator Certification VA Virginia Department of Education WV West Virginia Department of Education