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10/21/2004 12:00 PM Minnesota easily meets NCLB requirement that teachers teach in their field of study. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (St. Paul, MN…) Minnesota Education Commissioner Alice Seagren announced today that ninety-six percent of Minnesota’s teachers automatically meet the federal government’s requirements on teacher quality under No Child Left Behind. She made the announcement at the opening of Education Minnesota’s annual meeting. No Child Left Behind requires states to certify that teachers in core academic subjects have a bachelor’s degree, a state license and competence in the subjects they teach. “While other states struggle with this requirement, Minnesota once again leads the nation because of our excellent teaching corps,” Seagren said. “We have also developed a clear, but rigorous, process so those few teachers who may be assigned outside their area of formal education can show competence in the subjects they teach.” To ensure Minnesota students receive the best instruction, Minnesota’s licensing standards already require teachers to hold a bachelor’s degree in the subject areas for which they apply. In fact, the most recent national “Quality Counts” report from Education Week showed more Minnesota secondary-level teachers had degrees in the subjects they taught in 2000 than those in any other state. Districts also report teacher assignments annually. Teachers who do not automatically meet these requirements may demonstrate their competence through Minnesota’s High Objective Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE) process. Using a combination of demonstrated student achievement, experience, training, professional activities and performance on teacher tests, those core academic subject teachers not already highly qualified need to meet HOUSSE standards by the end of the 2005-06 school year. However, teachers in rural school districts have until the end of the 2006-07 school year to meet these standards. More information on Minnesota’s highly qualified teacher standards, the HOUSSE process and No Child Left Behind can be found on the MDE Web site. - 30 - | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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