No Child Left Behind and Alternative Certification, Special Education

The Federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) places, among other things, an emphasis on ensuring that all of the nation's children have the benefit of a highly qualified teacher. NCLB places an increased emphasis on a teacher's knowledge of the subject matter they are responsible for teaching and requires prospective teachers to demonstrate subject matter competency prior to teaching. Each state is responsible for developing procedures and guidelines to ensure that teachers have subject matter competency before they enter the classroom.

For alternative certification programs in Texas , this has created a need to move the timeline for state testing in subject matter competency to an earlier position in the preparation program. For those certificates that do not require an academic major (all certificates other than grades 8-12 and the following middle level (grades 4-8) certificates: Math, Science, Social Studies, and English Language Arts/Reading.), program participants will complete their subject competency state licensing examination in April preceding their internship experience. As a result, these candidates will begin their program preparation earlier than the secondary level grades 8-12 certificate candidates and will be required to pass their respective licensing examination prior to accepting employment with a school district.

For candidates who are required to test in April, preparation is provided by an online delivery method of coursework. This will require a high level of personal discipline, as candidates will be responsible for managing their time, completing all readings, assignments, and course tests in a timely manner. Prior to the start of the online coursework, an orientation session will be held to introduce candidates to the online course system and to explain course requirements.

For applicants interested in Special Education, the NCLB legislation requires that all teachers be "highly qualified" in their content area. For special education teachers state and federal departments of education are currently leaning toward interpreting this to mean highly qualified in the content they teach, that is math, science, language arts, etc. Therefore, at this time, special education applicants will need to determine the instructional level and/or content area they prefer to teach; EC-4, 4-8, or 8-12. Applicants who indicate the EC-4 will need to take and pass the EC-4 Generalist exam prior to employment. Applicants who indicate 4-8 or 8-12 will need to designate a content area and pass the appropriate content exam. It will be critical that the applicant have a high knowledge of this content, as the state board exam in that content area must be taken and passed prior to employment. For all three of the certificate levels, the online coursework that will start in January will focus on the specific knowledge required for the state board exam and for successful teaching. All Special Education applicants must attend a mandatory information session which will provide additional information about the changes in Special Education certification.