Get ready for No Child Left Behind to intrude on your life, either a lot or a little, depending on where you are in your career and what university courses you took along the way to get there. No matter that California teachers are among the best educated and the best qualified (through the existing credential process) in the nation, you are still going to have to jump through several hoops to prove you are highly qualified to teach. No matter that in Burbank, as in most of California, this will not result in any tangible gain for you or your students. No matter that this has created a huge new bureaucracy with mountains of new forms and paperwork. This is mostly not about education, and almost completely about politics.
First, the good news — most of you are going to be compliant based on your experience, education, and pre-credential examinations. Second, the bad news — we will all have to fill out the paperwork, obtain copies of examination and professional development documentation, and submit the NCLB Certificate Of Compliance to the District for an authorized signature.
Here are the highlights! The goal is to have this completed by the end of school in June. The first thing you need to do is sign up for one of the two BTA Teacher Requirements workshops at the Buena Vista Library. By the time you read this the first one on April 26 will have passed ( it was announced in a flyer delivered to every teacher’s box the week prior to Spring Break). But there still may be time to sign up for the May 3 workshop. If you miss the workshops you can still call the BTA office at 818 240-9180 to obtain copies of the handouts from the workshop. You can also go on-line to the California Department of Education (www.cde.ca.gov) and click on NCLB Teacher Requirements Resources Guide. This 71 page document contains all the forms and information you will need to complete your Certificate of Compliance.
Next, find all of your documentation for exams you took for your credential and courses and professional development you have completed since you received your credential. You will need copies of all qualifying exams and course records. For Multiple Subject credential holders the qualifying exams are: CSET:MSMSATNTE: General Knowledge Section of the Core Battery.
For Single Subject credential holders a complete listing of qualifying exams is on the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC) website at www.ctc.ca.gov.
If you have not taken a qualifying exam, you will need to go through the HOUSSE (High Objective Uniform State Standard of Evaluation) process. This is a point system for which you are awarded points for experience (up to 50 points), core academic course work, standards aligned professional development, and leadership and service to the profession. You must have 100 points to qualify. You also have the option under HOUSSE to choose classroom observation (up to 40 points), and/or a portfolio assessment (100 points, no partial credit).
In addition to help from our BTA office (remember we are only a staff of three, shared with Glendale Teachers Association), you have these additional resources for help: Direct your questions to CDE staff at: [javascript protected email address]. You can also find a complete listing of CDE staff who will help you with specific questions on page 2 of the NCLB Teacher Requirements Resource Guide on the CDE website: www.cde.ca.gov.