DC
PREP
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND (NCLB)
HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHER STATUS
All teachers must fulfill state requirements to achieve “Highly Qualified”
(HQ) status under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal law. While
teachers at District of Columbia public charter schools are exempt from
licensure requirements, teachers must meet certain criteria to be
considered Highly Qualified per the definition below. DC Prep teacher
applicants should be “Highly Qualified,” or prepared to become so before
or immediately after beginning employment with DC Prep.
Highly Qualified (HQ) Teacher Definition for
Public Charter Schools in Washington, DC
Elementary Teachers (Grades K-6)
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Must have a Bachelor’s degree; AND
Pass an Elementary content test; OR
Achieve HQ status via a High Objective Uniform State
Standard Evaluation (HOUSSE) process.
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Secondary Teachers (Grades 7-12)
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Special Needs Resource Teachers
Must have a Bachelor’s degree; AND
Pass the appropriate content test; OR
Have a major or its equivalent in the content area; OR
Have an advanced degree in the content area; OR
National Board Certification in the content area; OR
Achieve HQ status via a High Objective Uniform State
Standard Evaluation (HOUSSE) process.
Special Education resource teachers must have a
Bachelor’s degree.
English Language Learner (ELL) resource teachers must
have a Bachelor’s degree AND be able to demonstrate
qualifications to teach ELL students.
Exemptions
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Early Childhood (preschool and prekindergarten) teachers
and Health and Physical Education teachers are not subject
to the Highly Qualified Teacher requirements.
Content Tests
Listed below are the Highly Qualified content tests and the minimum passing scores for the District of
Columbia. To register, or for additional test information, please visit www.ets.org/praxis.
Subject Area
BIOLOGY
CHEMISTRY
ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
ENGLISH
FRENCH
GENERAL SCIENCE
MATHEMATICS
SOCIAL STUDIES
SPANISH
ART
MUSIC
Test Name and Code
Praxis II Content Knowledge (20235)
Praxis II Content Knowledge (20245)
Praxis II Elementary Content Knowledge (10014)
Praxis II English Language, Literature, and
Composition Content Knowledge (10041)
Praxis II Content Knowledge (20173)
Praxis II Content Knowledge (10435)
Praxis II Content Knowledge (10061)
Praxis II Content Knowledge (10081)
Praxis II Content Knowledge (10191)
No Content Knowledge Test Adopted Yet
No Content Knowledge Test Adopted Yet
Required Score
150
152
145
142
155
157
141
145
153
N/A
N/A
For questions or more information about Highly Qualified Teacher requirements, please contact the Office of the State
Superintendent of Education (OSSE), Educator Licensing and Accreditation, at (202) 741-5881 or at www.osse.dc.gov.