NCLB’s Highly Qualified Teacher Requirements
All public school teachers with primary responsibility for direct instruction in one or more of NCLB’s core content areas are required to demonstrate that they satisfy the definition of a "Highly Qualified Teacher." This requirement includes:
- Elementary level (grades K-6) teachers who teach all subjects to a particular grade;
- Middle- and secondary-level (grades 7-12) core content area instructors;
- Special education teachers who provide direct instruction in one or more core content areas; English as a second language (ESL) teachers who provide direct instruction in one or more core content areas; and
- Alternative education teachers who provide direct instruction in one or more core content areas.
Pennsylvania’s Definition of Highly Qualified Teacher
To satisfy the definition of a Highly Qualified Teacher, teachers must:
1) Hold at least a bachelor’s degree;
2) Hold a valid Pennsylvania teaching certificate (i.e., Instructional I, Instructional II or Intern certificate but not an emergency permit); and
3) Demonstrate subject matter competency for the core content area they teach.
In Pennsylvania, the NCLB core content areas include English, Reading/Language Arts, Mathematics, Sciences, Foreign Languages, Music and Art, and Social Studies (history, economics, geography, and civics and government).
School-Level Teacher Quality Reporting
| College Degree |
Bachelors |
Masters |
Doctorate |
| Professional qualifications of all public elementary & secondary school teachers in the district |
54 |
112 |
2 |
Percentage of public elementary & secondary school teachers in the district with emergency /provisional certification: 0%
Percentage of core academic subject elementary & secondary school classes not taught by highly qualified teachers: 0%