SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Department of Education's approval of California's plan to meet the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) goal for highly qualified teachers.

"The most important factor in student success is a well-trained teacher, and the most important thing we can do to improve student achievement is to make sure there is excellent instruction in every classroom," O'Connell said. "I agree we have not gone far enough, fast enough in California to meet this goal. My concern is not with complying with a federal requirement but with making sure every student in every classroom is taught by a highly qualified, dedicated professional. I have directed staff at the California Department of Education to work aggressively with local educational agencies to ensure that all our schools will meet the NCLB goal for Highly Qualified Teachers by June 2007."

Background:

On May 12, 2006, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) requested that California submit a revised Highly Qualified Teacher (HQT) plan detailing the actions that the California Department of Education (CDE) would take to ensure that, during the 2006-07 school year and beyond, all teachers of core academic subjects are highly qualified, and that poor and minority children are taught by HQTs at the same rates as other children. Similar requests were made to all states because the DOE had determined that, although most States have made significant progress over the past four years, none was likely to meet the NCLB requirements. Recently all the state plans were peer reviewed by panels of readers with expertise in teacher quality and education reform.

The peer reviewers found that California was to be commended for recent and ongoing efforts in this area. However, the reviewers did find that the plan had a number of deficiencies, including sufficient strategies to ensure that California will reach the goal of having all classes taught by highly qualified teachers by the end of the 2006-07 school year and that poor and minority children are taught by HQTs at the same rates as other children.

To address this, the CDE is currently working closely with districts, county offices, and other educational programs to ensure that all schools within California will meet the NCLB goal for HQT by June 2007. Beginning August 21 and running through September 29, CDE staff will schedule regional meetings to meet with staff from approximately 1,755 schools to offer targeted technical assistance. Over the next nine months, CDE staff will be working continuously throughout the state to ensure equitable distribution of HQTs as outlined in NCLB. The Professional Development and Curriculum Support Division, which oversees NCLB High-Quality Teacher Requirements, immediately began working to revise the HQT plan to address the DOE and peer reviewer concerns.