News Releases for January 2005
January 18, 2005
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Hoeven: U.S. Department Of Ed To Send Team To Review NCLB Teacher Qualifications
BISMARCK, N.D. - Gov. John Hoeven today announced that he has arranged to have a special team of high-level U.S. Department of Education officials visit the state to help resolve the issue of qualifying North Dakota elementary school teachers under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Janet Welk, executive director of the state Education Standards and Practices Board, joined the Governor at the news conference.
The education team visit is the culmination of ongoing talks Hoeven and his staff have had with White House and Department of Education officials, including Assistant Secretary of Education Ray Simon.
“North Dakota teachers are among the most effective in the world, which is evidenced by the academic achievement of our children,” Hoeven said. “We are bringing the review team here to demonstrate that North Dakota elementary school teachers have the coursework in their degree necessary to meet the requirements of NCLB.”
“To be considered highly qualified meeting NCLB requirements, North Dakota teachers must hold full state licensure, a bachelor’s degree and a major in the area they are teaching,” Welk said. “Elementary teachers graduating from North Dakota institutions of higher education have documented content knowledge in the four core elementary areas.”
The Education Department team will include Caroline Snowbarger, Special Assistant for Teacher Quality in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, three senior level review team members and the Chief of Staff of Legal Counsel to the secretary. Snowbarger is a senior policy advisor on teacher quality for the Assistant Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The group will meet on January 25 with Janet Welk, director of the Education Standards and Practices Board; William Goetz, Hoeven’s Chief of Staff; and officials from the Department of Public Instruction. They will review the procedures for evaluating the qualifications and educational background of North Dakota teachers, and work to reconcile North Dakota teacher credentials with the definition of highly qualified teacher as outlined in No Child Left Behind.
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