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Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
Highly Qualified Teacher (HQT) Overview
Highly Qualified Teacher Definition
To be considered highly qualified under ESEA, teachers must:
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Possess a bachelor’s degree, and
Hold full state certification, and
Demonstrate subject matter competence in the subject(s) taught.
These requirements apply to all teachers of ESEA academic content areas. Teachers must
meet the HQT requirement for each ESEA content area that they teach.
Teachers must have the certificate(s) that match the content and students taught.
ESEA Academic Content Areas
The ESEA academic content areas are:
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English
Reading/language arts
Mathematics
Science
Foreign languages
Arts (defined in Delaware as music and art)
History
Civics/government
Economics
Geography.
Elementary school teachers (including regular and special education elementary school
teachers, teachers of classes of gifted and talented students, and ESL/bilingual teachers who
are teaching the elementary curriculum) meet the HQT requirement as elementary
generalists.
Teacher Quality Survey
Teachers who fall under the HQT requirement take the on-line Teacher Quality Survey
through DEEDS. After teachers complete the Survey, they print out their responses,
assemble necessary documentation, and send a copy of the completed Survey and the
supporting documentation to the personnel office or follow the procedure established by their
district/charter school. Personnel office staff verify the Survey and documentation.
patricia bigelow … updated 30 March 2010
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HQT Reporting
The HQT reporting to the US Department of Education is at the classroom level, that is, the
number and percent of classes taught by HQTs. The credentials of the teacher, the
academic content area of the class, and the students in the class all factor into the HQT
decision.
For example, for a special education high school English class to be considered as taught by
a highly qualified teacher, the teacher must hold a special education certificate that includes
the grade taught and must demonstrate content area competence for English.
Options for Meeting the HQT Requirement
Under ESEA, the options for teachers to meet the academic content area competence
requirement vary depending on their years of experience, ESEA content area taught, and the
students in their classes.
The following are the options for meeting the academic content area competence
requirement.
New elementary school teachers are those with less than one full year of teaching
experience (that is, new to the profession). Their only option is passing Praxis II in
elementary education (test 0014, Elementary Education: Content Knowledge).
Experienced elementary school teachers are those with at least one full year of teaching
experience (that is, those not new to the profession). Their options are:
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Praxis II in elementary education, OR
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HOUSSE (a combination of academic course work in the elementary curriculum,
pedagogy course work, professional development, and years of experience).
HOUSSE is a US Department of Education acronym for High Objective Uniform State
Standard of Evaluation. Teachers must have a minimum of 18 semester credit hours
in academic course work. Within these credit hours, teachers must have at least one
course in reading/language arts, and science, and social studies, and mathematics.
OR
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Certification through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards that
matches the grade taught: either early childhood generalist (K-3) or middle childhood
generalist (grade 3 – 6 in an elementary school).
New teachers of art, music, and world languages in elementary schools have the same
options as those for new middle and high school teachers (see this section on the following
page). New teachers are those with less than one full year of teaching experience.
Experienced teachers of art, music, and world languages in elementary schools have
the same options as those for experienced middle and high school teachers (see this section
on the following page). Experienced teachers are those with more than one full year of
teaching experience.
patricia bigelow … updated 30 March 2010
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New middle and high school teachers of one ESEA academic content area are those with
less than one full year of teaching experience (that is, new to the profession). Their options
are:
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Praxis II in the academic content area taught, OR
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An academic major in the academic content area taught, OR
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The equivalent of an academic major (30 credit/semester hours) in the academic
content area taught, OR
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A graduate degree in the academic content area taught.
Experienced middle and high school teachers of one ESEA academic content area are
those with at least one full year of teaching experience (that is, those not new to the
profession). Their options are:
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Praxis II in the academic content area taught, OR
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An academic major in the academic content area taught, OR
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The equivalent of an academic major (30 credit/semester hours) in the academic
content area taught, OR
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A graduate degree in the academic content area taught, OR
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HOUSSE (a combination of academic course work, pedagogy course work,
professional development, and years of experience), OR
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Certification through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in the
academic content area and the grade level taught.
Experienced middle and high school teachers using HOUSSE must have a minimum of 18
semester credit hours in the academic content area taught.
Other than a M.Ed. in reading, education degrees are not considered academic degrees;
however, teachers can use relevant academic and pedagogical course work within the
education degree to meet the HQT requirement.
New middle and high school teachers of more than one ESEA academic content area
must take the Teacher Quality survey for each ESEA academic content area that they teach.
These teachers have the same options as those who teach one academic content area.
Refer to preceding information about new middle and high school teachers of one core
academic content area.
Experienced middle and high school teachers who teach more than one ESEA content
area have the same options as those who teach one academic content area. Refer to
information above about experienced middle and high school teachers of one core academic
content area.
Additionally, experienced teachers who teach more than one academic content area may use
a multi-subject HOUSSE if they are HQ in one subject currently taught. Teachers For the
must have a minimum of 15 semester credit hours to meet the HQT requirement.
patricia bigelow … updated 30 March 2010
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HOUSSE Overview
Category
Points
Academic course
work in the
content area
taught
Pedagogy course
work
3 points per
semester credit
hour
Professional
development
Teaching
experience
Clusters (90
hours)
Science Coalition
Unit Courses
1 point per
experience
2 points per year
3 points per
semester credit
hour
9 points each
5 points each
Comments
Maximum
18 semester credit hours
required. Additional requirements
for elementary teachers; see
below.
Must be appropriate for students
and content area taught.
Methods courses, practicums,
student teaching do not count.
Must be appropriate for students
and content area taught.
Documented out-of-state
teaching experience may count.
Must be appropriate for students
and content area taught.
Must be appropriate for students
and content area taught.
None
9 semester
credit hours (27
points)
10 experiences
(10 points)
8 years (16
points)
None
None
One hundred points are required to obtain the teacher quality status of highly qualified.
Elementary teachers (elementary generalists) must have a minimum of 18 semester credit
hours in academic course work. Within these credit hours, teachers must have at least one
course in reading/language arts, and science, and social studies, and mathematics
Academic course work is courses in the ESEA academic content areas taught (see page 1),
such as art history, music theory, calculus, history of western civilization, contemporary
American drama, composition, biology, and organic chemistry.
Pedagogy course work is courses in how to teach the academic content taught, assessment,
human development, etc. such as educational assessment, educational psychology, human
growth and development appropriate to the age level taught, instructional strategies, methods
classes.
Praxis II Information
For information about Praxis II testing to meet the HQT requirement, teachers can go to:
https://deeds.doe.k12.de.us/forms/praxis_II_chart.doc.
Or, teachers can go to the ETS website at www.ets.org/praxis and select “Delaware” from the
pull-down menu in the center of page. The pull down menu shows testing requirements by
state. Also on this page are links to information about the Praxis II tests.
patricia bigelow … updated 30 March 2010
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Grade Configuration of the School and the HQT Requirements
Classes for grades K-5 will be treated as elementary classes based on the students’
homeroom teacher. Procedures for handling students without a homeroom are presented in
the detailed instructions.
Classes involving sixth graders in a school where sixth grade is the highest grade will be
treated as elementary classes based on the students’ homeroom teacher.
Classes involving sixth graders in a school where there are higher grades in the school
will be treated as secondary classes (i.e., middle, high, or extended grade charter) based on
the students’ schedules within the Master Schedule in eSchoolPLUS.
patricia bigelow … updated 30 March 2010