Source: https://www.scribd.com/document/1330316/description-tags-mt
Timestamp: 2018-07-19 21:53:23
Document Index: 350567145

Matched Legal Cases: ['§9304', '§9302', '§9101', '§1111', '§9101', '§1119', '§9101', '§1111', '§9101', '§1119', '§9101', '§1119', '§2123', '§9101', '§9101', '§9101', '§9101', '§9101', '§9101', '§1119', '§1119', '§1119', '§1119', '§2121']

description: tags: mt | Elementary And Secondary Education Act | Special Education
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Montana Office of Public Instruction December 14-16, 2004
U.S. Department of Education Monitoring Team: Robert Stonehill Elizabeth Witt Allison Henderson (Westat) Montana Office of Public Instruction: Linda McCulloch, Superintendent Linda Atwood, Data Manager Nancy Coopersmith, Assistant Superintendent Julia Dilly, Fiscal Services Administrator Linda Gardner, Application BJ Granbery, Division Administrator Al McMilin, Educator Quality Program Manager Linda Peterson, Division Administrator Pat Johnson, Title II A Specialist Bud Williams, Deputy Administrator Representatives from various stakeholder organizations, including deans of colleges of education, union representatives, district superintendents, the executive director of the rural schools association, etc., also attended. State Agency for Higher Education Jan Clinard, Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, Montana University System Overview of Montana: Number of Districts: ......................................................................................................450 Number of Teachers: ..................................................................................................10,300 Total State Allocation (FY 2003):......................................................................$13,965,246 Allocation for Local Educational Agencies: (LEAs):.......................................$13,134,314 State Educational Agency (SEA) State Activities Allocation:................................$345,640 State Agency for Higher Education Allocation: .....................................................$345,640
Page 2 – Montana Highly Qualified Teachers – ESEA Title II Monitoring Report Scope of Review: Like all State educational agencies (SEAs), the Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI), as a condition of receiving funds under Title I, Part A and Title II, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), provided an assurance to the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) that it would administer these programs in accordance with all applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, including those in Title I, Part A that concern “Highly Qualified Teachers” and those that govern the use of Title II, Part A funds. See §9304(a)(1) of the ESEA. One of the specific requirements the Department established for an SEA’s receipt of program funds under its consolidated state application (§9302(b)) was submission to the Department of annual data on how well the State has been meeting its performance target for Performance Indicator 3.1: “The percentage of classes being taught by ‘highly qualified’ teachers (as the term is defined in §9101(23) of the ESEA), in the aggregate and in ‘high-poverty’ schools (as the term is defined in §1111(h)(1)(C)(viii) of the ESEA).” The Department’s monitoring visit to Montana had two purposes. One was to review the progress of the State in meeting the ESEA’s highly qualified teacher (HQT) requirements. The second was to review the use of ESEA Title II, Part A funds by the SEA, selected districts, and the State agency for higher education (SAHE), to ensure that the funds are being used to prepare, retain, and recruit high-quality teachers and principals so that all children will achieve to a high academic achievement standards and to their full potential. The monitoring review was conducted on December 12-14, 2004, at the offices of the OPI. As part of the review, the Department monitoring team met with Superintendent Linda McCulloch and Jan Clinard, SAHE Coordinator, Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, Montana University System. The monitoring team visited the Great Falls School District and conducted conference calls with the Box Elder and Shepherd School Districts.
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Finding Recommendation Findings
Monitoring Area 2: Administration of ESEA Title II, Part A Description Status Does the SEA allocate funds according to the statute, using the most recent Census data as described in the Non-Regulatory Guidance? Finding
Page 4 – Montana Highly Qualified Teachers – ESEA Title II Monitoring Report Critical Element II.A.2. Critical Element II.A.3. Critical Element II.A.4. Does the SEA require an application from each LEA before providing Title II funding? Does the SEA require each LEA to describe how the activities to be carried out are based on the required local needs assessment? Does the SEA have a procedure to determine the amount of funds each LEA expended during the appropriation period and to regularly review the drawdowns of the LEAs? Does the SEA have written procedures governing the amount of funds that a district may carry over? If an LEA cannot obligate funds within the 27 months of availability (which includes the extra year of availability permitted under the Tydings amendment), does the SEA have a procedure for reallocating these carryover funds to other LEAs? Does the SEA ensure that it and its component LEAs are audited annually, if required, and that all corrective actions required through this process are fully implemented? Do LEAs conduct an annual needs assessment with the involvement of the district’s teachers, including those in schools receiving assistance under the Title I, Part A program? Do LEAs submit an application to the SEA in order to receive their Title II funds? Was the application based on the district needs assessment, and did it describe the activities that would be carried out? Do LEAs use their Title II funds on authorized activities, and are such activities designed to enhance teacher quality and improve student achievement? Do LEAs provide timely consultation with private schools for the equitable provision of services? Met requirements Met requirements NA NA
Page 5 – Montana Highly Qualified Teachers – ESEA Title II Monitoring Report Number Critical Element III.A.1. Critical Element III.A.2.
Monitoring Area 4: State Agency for Higher Education (SAHE) Activities Description Status Did the SAHE manage a competition for eligible partnerships? Does the SAHE have procedures to ensure that eligible partnerships include the required members, i.e., an institution of higher education and the division of the institution that prepares teachers and principals, a school of arts and sciences, and a high-need LEA? Met requirements Commendation Met requirements
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Critical Element I.A.1: Has the State developed procedures to determine whether teachers are highly qualified? Finding: The OPI’s procedure for determining the highly qualified teacher (HQT) status of elementary school teachers who are new to the profession is not consistent with the definition of a “highly qualified” teacher in §9101(23) of the ESEA. In particular, Montana does not have a rigorous State test of content knowledge (see I.A.4 for further information) that new elementary teachers can pass to demonstrate content knowledge. Citation: The ESEA provisions governing teacher quality include basic requirements (§1119(a) and (b)) that all teachers of core academic subjects who teach in Title I programs and who were hired after the first day of the 2002-03 school year first demonstrate that they are highly qualified, and that all other teachers of core academic subjects in all public schools be highly qualified by the end of the 2005-06 school year. §9101(23) of the ESEA expressly defines a “highly qualified” teacher as one who has at least a bachelor’s degree, has full State certification, and has demonstrated competency in each subject he or she teaches in certain statutorily prescribed ways. The ESEA HQT provisions also include important requirements in §1111(h) of the ESEA regarding public reporting to the people of Montana and to the U.S. Secretary of Education (the Secretary) on the extent to which teachers of core academic subjects in the State’s school districts are highly qualified. Together, these several ESEA requirements are a critical part of the framework Congress established in NCLB for how States accepting Title I, Part A funds would be held accountable for providing to all students – and particularly those in Title I programs – teachers with the knowledge they need to help those students not only to meet or exceed their States’ academic achievement standards, but to achieve to their full academic potential. Further Action Required: As discussed more specifically in our determination for Critical Element I.A.4 and I.A.8 below, the OPI must submit a written plan with specific procedures and a timeline the State will implement to ensure that determinations of whether new elementary school teachers are highly qualified conform to the definition in §9101(23) and the timeline in §1119(a)(1) and (2). Critical Element I.A.4: Is there a rigorous State test that assesses elementary school teachers’ subject knowledge and teaching skills? Finding: The State has not implemented a rigorous test for elementary school teachers to demonstrate subject-matter competency required to be highly qualified. The State is in the pilot phase for considering the adoption of a test of subject knowledge and teaching skills in reading, writing, and mathematics and the other basic areas of the elementary curriculum for elementary school teachers new to the profession. As a result, Montana has no way for elementary school teachers who are new to the profession and hired to teach in Title I
Page 7 – Montana Highly Qualified Teachers – ESEA Title II Monitoring Report schools or hired to reduce class-size with Title II funds, to demonstrate subject-matter competency as required by ESEA. Citation: §9101(23)(B)(i)(II) of the ESEA permits elementary school teachers new to the profession to demonstrate subject-matter competency needed to be highly qualified only by passing a rigorous State test of subject knowledge and teaching skills in reading, writing, mathematics, and other areas of the basic elementary curriculum. §1119(a)(1) of the ESEA requires all teachers who are hired to teach in a Title I program after the first day of the 2002-03 school year to be highly qualified. §2123(a)(2)(B) of the ESEA allows districts to use ESEA Title II, Part A funds to recruit and hire highly qualified teachers to reduce class size. Further Action Required: The OPI must submit a written plan with specific procedures and a timeline for implementing a rigorous State test of content knowledge and teaching skills that can be used to determine the highly qualified status of elementary school teachers who are new to the profession. The OPI must also require LEAs in the State to ensure that all elementary school teachers who are new to the profession who will be hired for the 2005-06 school year to teach in a Title I program or for the purpose of class-size reduction, if paid with ESEA Title II, Part A funds, demonstrate the required subject-matter competency by passing a rigorous State test before they can be hired for these purposes. Beginning with the 2006-07 school year, all elementary school teachers who are new to the profession, including special education teachers who provide instruction in the core academic subjects must pass the State test prior to teaching. Critical Element I.A.5: Has the SEA developed procedures for determining the subject-matter competency of new middle and secondary school teachers? Finding 1: To be considered highly qualified, the State requires all secondary teachers to hold a major in their primary assignment area. However, secondary teachers may add an additional endorsement with 20 semester credits in an approved minor. By itself, a minor does not meet the minimum requirements of a subject-area major, or coursework equivalent to a major, that the ESEA establishes for secondary teachers. Citation: §9101(23)(B)(ii) of the ESEA requires secondary school teachers new to the profession to demonstrate subject-matter competency in each of the core academic subjects they teach by passing a rigorous State academic subject test or by successfully completing an academic major, coursework equivalent to an academic major, a graduate degree, or advanced certification or credentialing. Further Action Required: Secondary teachers who are new to the profession, including special education teachers who teach core academic subjects, who are hired before the end of the 2005-06 school year (when the State will begin to require secondary teachers to meet the ESEA requirements for highly qualified teachers) would not be highly qualified only on the basis of holding a minor in the subject(s) they teach. For secondary teachers who are new to the profession who were hired to teach in Title I programs or to reduce class size with ESEA Title II, Part A funds must meet the requirements for teacher who are new to the profession prior to teaching, see Critical Element I.A.8. For all other middle school
Page 8 – Montana Highly Qualified Teachers – ESEA Title II Monitoring Report teachers new to the profession, the OPI must ensure that, no later than the end of the 200506 school year, they either pass the required State subject test or meet one of the other criteria for demonstrating the required subject-matter knowledge that §9101(23) (B)(ii) of the ESEA requires in order to be highly qualified. Note: Secondary teachers hired in LEAs that are eligible for the Small, Rural School Achievement (SRSA) program (part of the Rural Education Achievement Program) and who teach multiple core academic subjects, and who are highly qualified in at least one core academic subject when hired may have three additional years to become highly qualified in each of the other core academic subjects they teach. Finding 2: To be considered highly qualified, the State does not require new middle and secondary school teachers of history, geography, civics/government, or economics to demonstrate subject-matter competency in each of those subjects they teach. Citation: §9101(11) of the ESEA identifies history, geography, civics/government and economics as individual core academic subjects. §9101(23)(B)(ii) and §9101(23)(C) of the ESEA requires teachers of core academic subjects who are new and not new to the profession to demonstrate subject-matter competency in each core academic subject they teach. Further Action Required: The OPI must ensure that all history, geography, civics/government and economics teachers demonstrate subject-matter competency in each of these subjects that they teach, no later than the end of the 2005-06 school year. (In doing so, if the OPI has determined that the coursework requirement for an academic major in social studies provides coursework “equivalent to a major” in each or in a subset of these specific core academic subjects, it also will need to submit a specific explanation for the basis of its determination.) Finding 3: The State does not require middle and secondary school special education teachers who are new to the profession, and who provide direct instruction in core academic subjects, to demonstrate subject-matter competency. Citation: §9101(23)(B)(ii) of the ESEA requires middle or secondary school teachers who are new to the profession to demonstrate subject matter competency by passing a rigorous State test or successful completion, in each of the academic subjects in which the teacher teaches of an academic major, a graduate degree, coursework equivalent to an undergraduate academic major, or advanced certification or credentialing. Recent amendments to the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which the President signed into law on December 3, 2004, affirm that these requirements apply to special education teachers (while providing some flexibility for special education teachers of multiple subjects and who teach to alternate achievement standards for students with significant cognitive disabilities). Further Action Required: The OPI must ensure that special education teachers who are new to the profession who provide direct instruction in core academic subjects meet the
Page 9 – Montana Highly Qualified Teachers – ESEA Title II Monitoring Report highly qualified teacher requirements consistent with the timelines outlined in §1119(a)(1) and §1119(a)(2). Teachers hired in LEAs that are eligible for SRSA must be highly qualified in one subject and have three additional years to become highly qualified in the additional core academic subjects they teach. (Note: The new IDEA amendments provide that: (1) Special education teachers teaching to alternate achievement standards for students with significant cognitive disabilities must meet the requirements of a highly qualified special education teacher at the elementary level. In the case of a special education teacher teaching above the elementary school level, the teacher must have subject-matter knowledge appropriate to the level of instruction being provided, as determined by the State, to effectively teach those standards. (2) New special education teachers teaching multiple subjects who meet the highly qualified standard in at least one core subject area (mathematics, English language arts and science) have two years from the date of employment to use the State’s HOUSSE to show subject-matter competence in other subjects. (3) Special education teachers who are not new to the profession and teach multiple subjects can use a State’s HOUSSE procedures to demonstrate subject-matter competence in the core academic subjects.) 1 Critical Element 1.A.7: Does the State have a plan that (a) establishes annual measurable objectives for each LEA and school and (b) includes an annual increase in the percentage of highly qualified teachers at each LEA and school? Finding: The State does not have a written plan that establishes annual measurable objectives, and so cannot track annual district progress toward having teachers in all districts and public schools meet the highly qualified requirements by the end of the 200506 school year. Citation: §1119(a)(2)(A) of the ESEA requires each SEA to develop a plan to ensure that all teachers teaching core academic subjects within the State are highly qualified by the end of the 2005-06 school year. This plan must establish annual measurable objectives for each LEA and school that includes an annual increase in the percentage of highly qualified teachers at each LEA and school and the percentage of teachers receiving high-quality professional development. Further Action Required: The OPI must submit a written plan with specific procedures and a timeline for implementing this requirement. The revised plan must include, among other things, annual measurable objectives for each LEA and school that includes an annual increase in the percentage of highly qualified teachers in each LEA and school and in the percentage of teachers receiving high-quality professional development.
Note: The IDEA amendments also require a highly qualified special education teacher to have full State certification as a special education teacher.
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Critical Element I.A.8: Does the State have procedures to ensure that districts are hiring only highly qualified teachers for their Title I programs? Finding: Montana’s Consolidated Application for Federal Funding includes a “Highly Qualified Staff” provision that advises districts on hiring only highly qualified teachers in Title I programs. However, because the State did not have a test in place that could be used as the basis for determining the HQT status of new elementary school teachers (see Critical Element I.A.4), the OPI cannot ensure that Montana school districts hired new elementary school teachers to teach in Title I programs (targeted assistance programs and schoolwide program schools), or to reduce class-size with ESEA Title II funds, who met the highly qualified teacher requirements prior to teaching. Citation: §1119(a)(1) of the ESEA requires that all teachers hired after the first day of the 2002-03 school year to teach in Title I programs must be highly qualified. Further Action Required: The State must submit a written plan with a specific timeline to ensure that all teachers hired from the beginning of the 2002-03 school year through the 2004-05 school year demonstrate subject-matter competency consistent with the applicable ESEA requirements. The OPI may allow those teachers to fulfill these requirements either by passing a test that would be made available for this purpose or by satisfying the requirements of its HOUSSE procedure. As discussed in Critical Element I.A.4, beginning with the 2005-06 school year, Montana must ensure that all new elementary school teachers, including special education teachers providing direct instruction in core academic subjects, hired to teach in a Title I program demonstrate subject-matter competency by passing a rigorous State test prior to teaching. Beginning with the 2006-07 school year, this test must be used to ensure that all new elementary school teachers are highly qualified. (Note: Similarly, teachers who have been hired with ESEA Title II, Part A funds to reduce class size are also required to be highly qualified before they are hired. The State’s corrective action plan should also address how LEAs in the State will ensure that such teachers are highly qualified before they are hired to reduce class size.)
Critical Element II.A.1: Does the SEA allocate funds according to the statute, using the most recent Census data as described in the Non-Regulatory Guidance? Finding: The State is using LEA enrollment data (public and private schools), not the required Census residence data, for the part of the allocation of funds based on numbers of children aged 5-17 who reside within the LEA. Citation: As required in §2121(a)(3), in any year in which the amount available in the State for LEA grants exceeds the sum of the “hold harmless” amounts for LEAs, the SEA distributes excess funds based on the following formula:
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20 percent of the excess funds must be distributed to LEAs based on the relative number of individuals ages 5 through 17 who reside in areas the LEA serves (using data that is determined by the Secretary to be the most current); and 80 percent of the excess funds must be distributed to LEAs based on the relative numbers of individuals ages 5 through 17 who reside in the area the LEA serves and who are from families with incomes below the poverty line (also using data that is determined by the Secretary to be the most current).
Further Action Required: In distributing its FY 2005 funds ESEA Title II, Part A funds (that will be made available to the Montana OPI beginning on July 1, 2005), the OPI must use the most recent available Census data (as determined by the Secretary) on the number of children age 5-17 who reside in the area served by the LEA. The most recent data can be found at http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/saipe/. Critical Element II.A.4: Does the SEA have a procedure to determine the amount of funds each LEA expended during the appropriation period and to regularly review the drawdowns of the LEAs? Commendation: The State has prepared a very detailed yet user-friendly manual (State and Federal Grants Handbook) that addresses the fiscal management of Federal funds, including the administration of Title II, Part A. The manual discusses drawdown and carryover procedures. The State is commended for its thorough oversight and management of Title II, Part A funds. Critical Element II.A.5: Does the SEA have written procedures governing the amount of funds that a district may carry over and procedures governing the reallocation of funds if districts cannot use all of their allocations? Commendation: See commendation under Critical Element II.A.4. Critical Element II.A.6: If an LEA cannot obligate funds within the 27 months of availability (which includes the extra year of availability permitted under the Tydings amendment), does the SEA have a procedure for reallocating these carryover funds to other LEAs? Commendation: See commendation under Critical Element II.A.4.
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Critical Element IV.A.1. Did the SAHE manage a competition for eligible partnerships? Commendation: The SAHE coordinator has conducted extensive outreach, coordinated with the SEA, to underserved areas, particularly in Native American communities and in the under-served northern half of the State. She has been proactive in identifying the service gaps in high-need areas and providing technical assistance to help potential grantees develop high-quality programs.
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