No Child Left Behind

Secondary Special Education Multi-Subject HOUSSE

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Under NCLB, all teachers who teach a core subject were required to be highly qualified (HQ) by June 30, 2006. This includes Special Education (SPED) teachers providing instruction in core academic areas, even to alternate achievement standards.

For secondary SPED teachers of multiple subjects there is flexibility for acquiring HQ designations. Rather than attaining “regular” HQ designations in each of the content areas being taught, a secondary SPED teacher may be eligible to use the SPED Multi-Subject HOUSSE (High Objective Uniform Standard of Evaluation). An eligible teacher using this form can acquire highly qualified content designations by earning 50 points per content area.

By federal law, only those employed as a teacher prior to July 1, 2002 are eligible for HOUSSE consideration. The only exception to this is for the SPED teacher who, at the time of hire, is already HQ in one of three core areas. The three core content areas are: (1) English or Language Arts, (2) Math, or (3) Science. The teacher fitting this scenario has an additional two years from the date of hire to apply for HQ status using the SPED Multi-Subject HOUSSE form.

In order to meet federal and state HQT requirements, a secondary teacher of multiple subjects that is not eligible for the SPED Multi-Subject HOUSSE (as described above) would need to be HQ in each core content area being taught.

In order to be considered highly qualified under the SPED Multi-Subject HOUSSE, a teacher must earn a total of 50 points per content area. In the ASD, submit a separate My SPED HQT form for each content area under your MyLearningPlan.com account.

Note: Secondary SPED teachers whose students are assessed against alternate learning standards (i.e. those students on the alternate assessment) can take one of the approved elementary level Praxis II exams to be designated HQ. In the ASD, use the My HQT form under your MyLearningPlan.com account for submitting this HQ request.

Secondary Special Education Multi-Subject HOUSSE Point Matrix

Definitions

HOUSSE (High Uniform State Standard of Evaluation)

Qualified professional development activity means an event, sponsored by a government
agency or a recognized professional organization that was held to improve the quality of teaching
and education. Qualified professional development activity includes:

• service on a committee that developed, selected, or evaluated content or performance standards or content area curriculum
• service on a committee that aligned local content or performance standards with state standards
• service on a committee that developed, validated, or evaluated content or performance assessments
• attendance at a regional, state, or national professional educator conference, seminar, or workshop
• completion of the requirements for National Board Certification, even if the certification was not awarded

Qualified award or grant means an award or grant given to the teacher, or the teacher's school on behalf of the teacher or for use by the teacher in the teacher's classroom, by a reputable organization; these include:

• being a state finalist or recipient of the presidential math or science award
• being a finalist or recipient of the state teacher of the year award
• receiving the district teacher of the year award
• receiving or being a nominee for the British Petroleum Teacher of Excellence award
• receiving the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award

Teacher in-services may account for no more than 10 points. A teacher in-service will qualify as a professional development activity only if it was for more than one day, provided information or skills related to classroom instruction, was taught by a person who held credentials to instruct the professional development, required the teacher to study or participate outside the time set aside for the in-service, and resulted in a certificate or other documentation that certified that the participant had obtained significant professional development.

Qualified award or grant means an award or grant given to the teacher or the teacher’s school on behalf of the teacher or for use by the teacher in the teacher’s classroom, by a reputable organization. Qualified award or grant includes:

• being a state finalist or recipient of the presidential math or science award
• being a finalist or recipient of the state teacher of the year award
• receiving the district teacher of the year award
• receiving or being a nominee for the British Petroleum Teacher of Excellence award
• receiving the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award

Qualified presentation means a presentation of at least thirty minutes’ duration about educational issues to a public or private organization.

Qualified publication means writing an academic article or book of more than 700 words that is published for distribution outside the district for which the teacher works. Qualified publication does not include a letter to the editor or an opinion piece, but it does include:

• an article published in a regional, state, or national journal
• a contribution to or writing of a published textbook

Qualified service activity means a service provided to other educators in a leadership or mentor capacity. Qualified service activity includes:

• serving as department chair or team leader
• serving as a mentor teacher or the cooperating teacher for a student teacher
• serving as an officer or director of a regional, state, or national professional content organization
• serving as an instructor at an Institute of Higher Education
• serving as a fellow in the Alaska Science Consortium, Alaska Math Consortium, or the Alaska State Writing Consortium

Sample documentation

Teachers work with designated district personnel to complete and verify the information on the form. Teachers would provide:

• Copies/originals of transcripts to verify content coursework and degrees
• Copies of contracts or other employment verification to verify teaching experience
• Copies of NTE score report sheets
• Other documents to verify content area activities, service to content area, awards, presentations, etc. List is not all-inclusive but meant to give an idea of what constitutes acceptable documentation.
  • curriculum document page showing membership committee
  • certificates of attendance from regional, state, national workshops/conferences
  • page from published text showing contribution to text
  • copy of journal, etc. with published article
  • letters of congratulation to recipients of awards and grants
  • copy of program or agenda from national, regional or state meetings where presentations were given
  • membership card from national, regional, state professional content organization
  • copy of publication from national, regional, state professional content organization showing office held