What Constitutes a Highly Qualified Special Education Teacher Under The Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004

Narrative Description

The following is a narrative description of the steps involved in determining if a teacher is considered to be a Highly Qualified Special Education Teacher under IDEA:

STEP 1: Are you a special education teacher who teaches at the elementary level or any of the following: English, reading, language arts, mathematics, science, foreign language, civics and government, economics, arts, history or geography?
If NO, exit flowchart.
If YES, proceed to step 2.

STEP 2: Do you have a bachelor's degree?
If NO, you are not considered "highly qualified" under IDEA.
If YES, proceed to step 3.

STEP 3: Do you have a state special education certification or license, or have you passed a state special education licensing exam?
If NO, you are not considered "highly qualified" under IDEA.
If YES, proceed to step 4.

STEP 4: Have you had your license waived on an emergency, temporary or provisional basis?
If YES, you are not considered "highly qualified" under IDEA.
If NO, proceed to step 5.

STEP 5: Is it your sole responsibility to provide consultative services to a core content teacher who meets the NCLB highly qualified teacher requirement?
If NO, proceed to step 6.
If YES, you are considered "highly qualified" under IDEA as long as your assignment doesn't change.

STEP 6: Are you a new or veteran special education teacher who teaches core academic subjects exclusively to students who are assessed against alternate achievement standards?
If YES, proceed to step 7.
If NO, proceed to step 10.

STEP 7: Do you teach at the elementary school level?
If NO, proceed to step 8.
If YES, proceed to step 13.

STEP 8: Do you teach above the elementary school level?
If YES, proceed to step 9.
There is no NO branch shown in the flowchart for this step.

STEP 9: Can you demonstrate competence in all the core subject areas that you teach by successfully completing your state's high objective uniform standard of evaluation (HOUSSE) covering multiple subjects or can you demonstrate subject matter knowledge appropriate to the level of instruction being provided as determined by your state?
If NO, you are not considered "highly qualified" under IDEA.
If YES, you are considered "highly qualified" under IDEA.

STEP 10: Do you teach at the elementary level?
If NO, proceed to step 13.
If YES, proceed to step 11.

STEP 11: Have you passed a state test of subject knowledge and teaching skills in reading, writing, math and other areas of the basic elementary school curriculum?
If NO, proceed to step 12.
If YES, you are considered "highly qualified" under IDEA.

STEP 12: Can you demonstrate competence in all the core subject areas that you teach by successfully completing your state's high objective uniform standard of evaluation (HOUSSE) covering one or more subjects?
If NO, you are not considered "highly qualified" under IDEA.
If YES, you are considered "highly qualified" under IDEA.

STEP 13: Are you a veteran special education teacher teaching two or more core academic subjects to students with disabilities?
If YES, proceed to step 12.
If NO, proceed to step 14.

STEP 14: Are you a new special education teacher teaching two or more core academic subjects to students with disabilities?
If YES, proceed to step 15.
There is no NO branch shown in the flowchart for this step.

STEP 15: Are you highly qualified in math, language arts or science?
If NO, you are not considered "highly qualified" under IDEA.
If YES, proceed to step 16.

STEP 16: Will you complete current HOUSSE
or NCLB requirements for other subjects you teach within two years employment?
If NO, you are not considered "highly qualified" under IDEA.
If YES, you are considered "highly qualified" under IDEA.

The flowchart is dated February 3, 2005 at 4:00 PM.