NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND (NCLB) HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHER PLAN

In accordance with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), which requires that all core subject teachers be highly qualified by the end of the 2006-2007 school year, the Somerset Independent School District has developed the following plan.

NCLB designates the following subject areas as core academic subjects:

Under NCLB, a highly qualified teacher must have the following credentials:

• At least a Bachelor's degree, and
• Full state certification, and
• Demonstrate compentency in the core academic subject area assigned to teach

Somerset I.S.D. Recruitment Strategies

I. Recruitment and hiring of highly qualified teachers

1. The Director for Human Resources or other qualified administrators will attend job fairs to recruit teachers who meet the standards set by NCLB for highly qualified (HQ) status.
2. Advertise on the District and other professional websites for teachers who meet the NCLB HQ requirements.
3. Credentials of all teachers recommended for employment will be reviewed by the appropriate staff to ensure that they meet the criteria for highly qualified in the subject area for which they have been recommended. 

II. Incentives

1. The District offers stipends for special education and bilingual teachers.
2. The District has an established mentor program for 0-1 year experienced teachers.
3. The District publicly recognizes individual campuses for meeting the NCLB HQ standard at 100%.

III. Assessment/Notification

1. Each campus principal is required to complete the "principal attestation" form to verify and record the NCLB HQ status of their campus personnel annually.
2. Each teacher who is not meeting the NCLB HQ standard will be required to meet with their campus principal and the director for human resources to devise a plan to meet the required standards.  Teacher will be provided copy of the plan and a signed copy will be placed in their personnel file.

IV. Ongoing Plans

1. Monitor the progress of all teachers who are working on meeting the NCLB HQ requirements.
2. Continue to stay abreast of all the latest updates with NCLB and review possible incentives that will afford Somerset I.S.D. to maintain our NCLB HQ staff.
3. Review and modify this plan on an annual basis or as needed.

 2008-2009 NCLB HQ Campus Rosters