Teacher Preparation

Housse Rules

By Michelle R. Davis — November 10, 2006 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Veteran teachers take note: States’ alternate routes to becoming “highly qualified” under the No Child Left Behind Act might not be on the books much longer.

A provision of the law called the High Objective Uniform State Standard of Evaluation, which allows states to use their own systems to determine which experienced teachers are highly qualified, is likely to hit the cutting-room floor when NCLB is reauthorized, which could happen as early as next year.

See Also

Read the related story,

Leveling the Field

In the meantime, the U.S. Department of Education is pressuring states to limit the option, which was designed to give educators already working in schools a way to demonstrate their content knowledge without having a degree in their teaching subject or passing an exam.

In May, the department told states to develop plans for restricting HOUSSE usage by recent hires to three very narrow circumstances. In September, though, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings backed off that order and announced that the phaseout would be delayed until NCLB is reauthorized.

HOUSSE requirements differ significantly from state to state. West Virginia, for example, allows teachers to become highly qualified based on an administrator’s evaluation, while Pennsylvania uses a point system that gives credits for college coursework, years in the classroom, and other experience.

Spellings has complained that some states’ alternatives fail to ensure teachers’ subject-matter knowledge. Too often, she says, schools use HOUSSE as a shortcut to get the “highly qualified” designation for experienced teachers assigned to new subjects they don’t know well. She also claims “the vast majority” of experienced teachers have already completed the process.

But Joel Packer, the National Education Association’s director of education policy and practice, argues that in states that have only recently finalized their HOUSSE programs, veteran educators haven’t had enough time to make use of the option.

Those teachers may want to take advantage of the HOUSSE rules as soon as possible because, for now at least, the writing seems to be on the wall.

A version of this article appeared in the December 01, 2006 edition of Teacher Magazine

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Teacher Preparation Opinion 3 Ways to Give Preservice Teachers Meaningful Classroom Experiences
A veteran teacher offers guidance on how to support teacher-candidates.
Allison Kilgore Thompson
3 min read
A novice teacher shadow is cast across an empty classroom.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + DigitalVision vectors + Getty Images
Teacher Preparation AI Is Coming to Teacher Prep. Here's What That Looks Like
One preparation program is banking on AI to transform new teacher training.
4 min read
Collage illustration of computer display and classroom image.
F. Sheehan for Education Week / Getty
Teacher Preparation Few Teachers Learn About 'Science of Reading' in Their Prep Programs. Some Colleges Are Working on That
As states and districts mandate evidence-based literacy practices, the burden of training in this approach falls primarily on teachers.
6 min read
A female teacher of Asian ethnicity is helping her multi ethnic group of students with a book to read. They are all dressed casually and are at their school library.
E+/Getty
Teacher Preparation Q&A Teach For America's CEO Is Stepping Down. What's Next for the Organization?
Elisa Villanueva Beard reflects on her journey leading the organization through several periods of change.
8 min read
Image of looking to future path options.
Tetiana Lazunova/iStock/Getty