[The assistant secretary]{.smallcaps}
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March 21, 2006

Dear Chief State School Officers:

On October 21, 2005, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings sent each
of you a policy letter recognizing that, despite the substantial
progress many States are making in meeting the goal of having all core
academic subject classes taught by highly qualified teachers (HQT) by
the end of the 2005-06 school year, States are still facing difficulties
in fully meeting this requirement. In her letter, the Secretary stated
that if a State is falling short of the 100 percent HQT goal but meets
the four requirements for implementing *No Child Left Behind* (NCLB)
that constitute a "good-faith effort" to reach the goal, the Department
would request that the State submit a revised plan detailing specific
steps the State will take to reach the HQT goal in the 2006-07 school
year. States are expected to pay particular attention to staffing
schools identified as "in need of improvement" and those with high
concentrations of poor and disadvantaged students with highly qualified
and effective teachers.

Along with strong support from State officials in response to the
Secretary's policy letter, we have received many questions about the
procedures the Department will establish to review the States' progress
in meeting the HQT goal, and -- most importantly -- questions about what
must be included in a revised State plan. Based on our extensive
conversations with States about these issues, we have developed two
documents, both enclosed with this letter, that describe how the
Department will work with the States to revise their plans to ensure
that all teachers can become highly qualified as soon as possible.

The first enclosed document, "**Assessing State Progress in Meeting the
Highly Qualified Teacher (HQT) Goal**," sets out the procedures the
Department will use to review the progress of each State in meeting the
HQT goal and its efforts in meeting the implementation principles
spelled out in the Secretary's letter. The second document, "**Reviewing
Revised State Plans**," describes specific themes States should address
in their revised plans and the criteria the Department, through an
expert review process, will use to determine the sufficiency of the plan
for reaching the HQT goal.

The planned timeline for carrying out our review of State efforts to
attain the highly qualified teacher requirement is given below:

**March 8, 2006:** *States submit their 2004-05 HQT data via Part I of
the Consolidated State Performance Report (CSPR)*.

**March 8-May 12, 2006:** *The Department assesses the submitted CSPR
data for the 2004-05 school year, HQT data for previous years, and
supporting information obtained through State monitoring and review of
publicly available records. The Department then makes determinations
about whether the State is on track to meet the highly qualified teacher
requirement.*

Using the protocol "**Assessing State Progress in Meeting the Highly
Qualified Teacher (HQT) Goal**" that is enclosed with this letter, the
Department will determine whether the State's 2004-05 data indicate that
the State has a reasonable expectation of meeting the 100 percent HQT
goal by the end of the 2005-06 school year and is faithfully
implementing the law. If this is the case, the State may not be required
to submit a revised plan, though it certainly may.

It is likely, however, that the Department will request most States to
submit a revised plan detailing the new steps they will take to reach
the 100 percent HQT goal by the end of the 2006-07 school year. As part
of the plan, each State will explain how and when the SEA will complete
the High Objective Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE) process
for those teachers not new to the profession who were hired prior to the
end of the 2005-06 school year, and how the SEA will limit the use of
HOUSSE procedures for teachers hired after the end of the 2005-06 school
year to those secondary school teachers teaching multiple subjects in
eligible rural schools (who, if highly qualified in at least one subject
at the time of hire, may use HOUSSE to demonstrate competence in
additional subjects within three years), and those special education
teacher teaching multiple subjects (who, if they are new to the
profession and highly qualified in language arts, mathematics, or
science at the time of hire, may use HOUSSE to demonstrate competence in
additional subjects within two years). Peers and teacher quality experts
will review the State's revised plan and evaluate how effectively the
plan addresses the State's challenges in reaching the 100 percent HQT
goal.

Finally, if the Department determines that a State has not fulfilled its
obligations under the statute and is not on track to have all teachers
highly qualified by the end of the 2005-06 school year, the Department
will take corrective actions in addition to requiring the State to
submit a revised plan.

**By May 15, 2006:** *The Department will notify the States, in writing,
of the results of the assessment of their HQT progress and will request
the States, as appropriate, to submit revised plans.*

**July 7, 2006:** *States' revised plans are due to the Department of
Education*.

**July 10 -- August 4, 2006:** *The Department reviews the revised plans
that States submit.*

Using the protocol "**Reviewing Revised State Plans,**" enclosed with
this letter, the Department will determine whether a revised State plan
is sufficient to attain the HQT goal in 2006-07 and beyond.

**August 2006 and thereafter:** *The Department begins a new cycle of
monitoring to ensure that States are implementing their revised plans*.

We look forward to continuing our work with you to fully attain the
national goal to improve student achievement by ensuring that all
children are taught by highly qualified teachers. If you have questions
about this timeline or about either of the enclosed protocols, please
contact Robert Stonehill at 202-260-9737, or via e-mail at
robert.stonehill@ed.gov. Thank you for your continued commitment to
providing a quality education for each child in our Nation.

> Sincerely,
>
> /s/
>
> Henry L. Johnson

Enclosures