Notwithstanding any other individual right of action that a parent or student may maintain under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), nothing in this framework shall be construed to create a right of action on behalf of an individual student or class of students for the failure of a particular State educational agency or school district employee to be highly qualified.
Core academic subjects are English, reading or language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography.
A special education teacher who is highly qualified under this framework will be considered highly qualified for purposes of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
A current valid State certificate, a special assignment permit, a nonrenewable permit, a non-certified instructor's permit, an emergency teaching permit, or the appropriate licensure from the State;
Receives high-quality professional development that is sustained, intensive, and classroom-focused in order to have a positive and lasting impact on classroom instruction, before and while teaching;
Participates in a program of intensive supervision that consists of structured guidance and regular ongoing support for teachers or a teacher mentoring program;
Demonstrated subject matter competency in each of the academic subjects the teacher is assigned to teach in a manner determined by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to comply with the ESEA.
Provided that any adaptations of the State's HOUSE would not establish a lower standard for the content knowledge requirements for special education teachers and meets all requirements for a HOUSE for regular education teachers:
By passing the appropriate elementary Examination for the Certification of Educators in Texas (ExCET) or Texas Examinations of Educator Standards (TExES) exam; or
Any public elementary school or secondary school special education teacher teaching in a State, who is not teaching a core academic subject, is highly qualified if the teacher has met the requirements for special education teachers in general or holds at least a bachelor's degree and has met the requirements under an alternative certification program.
A special education teacher who teaches two or more core academic subjects exclusively to children with disabilities may demonstrate subject matter competency either:
In the case of a teacher who is not new to the profession, by demonstrating competence in all the core academic subjects in which the teacher teaches, which may include a single HOUSE covering multiple subjects; or
In the case of a new special education teacher who teaches multiple subjects and who is highly qualified in mathematics, language arts, or science, by demonstrating competence in the other core academic subjects, which may include a single HOUSE covering multiple subjects, not later than two years after the date of employment.
A fully certified general education teacher who subsequently becomes fully certified or licensed as a special education teacher is a new special education teacher when first hired as a special education teacher.
When used with respect to a special education teacher who teaches core academic subjects exclusively to children who are assessed against alternate achievement standards (TAKS-Alt), highly qualified means the teacher, whether or not new to the profession, may either:
Have subject matter knowledge appropriate to the level of instruction being provided and needed to effectively teach to those standards, as determined by the TEA.
For any special education teacher teaching in a public charter school, highly qualified means that the teacher meets the certification or licensing requirements set forth by the State.
The requirements in this framework do not apply to teachers hired by private elementary schools and secondary schools including private school teachers hired or contracted by LEAs to provide proportionate share services to parentally-placed private school children with disabilities.
Secondary teachers in rural LEAs who are highly qualified in at least one subject area have three years from date of hire for any teachers hired after the 2003-2004 school year to become highly qualified in the additional core subject areas.
Beginning with 2007-2008, the LEA must submit the Highly Qualified Teacher Compliance Report to TEA electronically at the beginning of the school year.
The principal of each Title I, Part A campus must annually attest in writing whether the campus is in compliance regarding with teacher and paraprofessional qualifications.
