Teachers

Highlights

No federal requirements for teacher evaluations. To receive a No Child Left Behind waiver, the federal government required states to factor student growth, as measured by state assessments, into teacher and principal evaluations. Every Student Succeeds explicitly prohibits the U.S. Department of Education from choosing or influencing the components of evaluations.

No “highly qualified teacher” requirement. No Child Left Behind required all core subject teachers to be “highly qualified” by the end of the 2005-06 school year. The designation involved obtaining full state certification, holding a bachelor’s degree, and demonstrating content knowledge. Every Student Succeeds eliminates the “highly qualified” requirement at the federal level, and instead only requires that students are taught by fully certified teachers. Although the “highly qualified” requirement has been repealed in federal law, Tennessee’s state licensure requirements still require a bachelor’s degree and demonstrated content knowledge.

Additional options for alternative certification. Under the new law, states may use federal Title II money to create residency programs and preparation academies for teachers and principals as routes to alternative certification.

Qualifications

No Child Left Behind required that all teachers of core subjects be “highly qualified” by the end of the 2005-06 school year. ¹ To be highly qualified, all teachers had to:

• obtain full state certification, with no requirements waived on an emergency, temporary, or provisional basis;
• hold at least a bachelor’s degree; and
• demonstrate subject matter competency. ²

Options for showing content knowledge differed for new and existing teachers. In Tennessee, elementary school teachers hired after 2001 had to pass an NTE or Praxis test in core curriculum areas. In addition to this option, existing elementary school teachers could show competency through highly objective uniform state standards of evaluation (HOUSSE).

New middle and high school teachers demonstrated subject matter competency by either passing an NTE or Praxis test in the subject they taught, majoring in the subject, taking at least 24 semester hours in the subject, or obtaining a graduate degree in the subject. Existing middle and high school teachers also had the option of holding a National Board Certification in the subject or showing content knowledge through HOUSSE. Middle and high school teachers had to be highly qualified in each subject they taught. ³

Tennessee's Waivers and Every Student Succeeds

Tennessee’s waivers relaxed the highly qualified teacher requirement. Under the waiver, the state no longer had to intervene in schools that were not making sufficient progress toward all teachers becoming highly qualified. ⁴

Every Student Succeeds (ESSA) repeals the highly qualified teacher requirement entirely. Under ESSA, teachers must meet state licensing requirements, but are no longer required to hold a bachelor’s degree or demonstrate content knowledge under federal law. ⁵ Although the provision has been repealed in federal law, Tennessee’s state licensure requirements still require a bachelor’s degree and demonstrated content knowledge. ⁶

Evaluations

No Child Left Behind did not set requirements for teacher and principal evaluations. Several federal reforms soon linked teacher evaluations to students’ test scores, however, starting in 2010 with Race to the Top grant applications and continuing with No Child Left Behind waivers in 2012. ^7,  8

In January 2010, Tennessee passed the First to the Top Act. The law created the Tennessee Educator Acceleration Model (TEAM), a teacher evaluation system that factors student performance into teacher evaluations. ⁹ Evaluations under TEAM have three aspects:

• administrator observation, based on rubric components such as motivating students, class activities, and lesson plans, counts for 50 percent;^[10]
• student growth, measured by the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS), counts for 35 percent; and
• student achievement, based on a measure agreed on by the teacher and evaluator – such as state assessments, “off the shelf” assessments, SAT or ACT scores, or schoolwide TVAAS data – counts for 15 percent. ¹¹

Experienced teachers are observed four times a year, and new teachers are observed six times annually. ¹²

Under Every Student Succeeds, the U.S. Department of Education is specifically prohibited from prescribing or influencing either the components of teacher evaluation systems or any measures of educator effectiveness. ¹³ Although the federal requirement has been eliminated, states may continue to require the use of student achievement and growth in evaluations.

Alternative Certifications

Every Student Succeeds provides states with additional options regarding alternative teacher certification. States may now use federal Title II funds to establish residency programs and preparation academies for teachers and principals.

Residency Programs

States may now use Title II funding to develop residency programs for teachers and principals. ¹⁴ As part of the residency program, prospective teachers spend at least a year in the classroom alongside an effective teacher. In addition to hands-on classroom time, future teachers take courses in the areas of their content knowledge; the classes may be taught by the school district or the teacher preparation program. ¹⁵

Similarly, prospective principals divide their time between coursework and leadership responsibilities in a school setting. During the one-year residency program, prospective principals work with a mentor principal or other school leader. ¹⁶

Teacher and Principal Preparation Academies

At their discretion, states may also use Title II funds to create teacher and principal “preparation academies.” ¹⁷ These academies may be housed in institutes of higher education, but are not required to be affiliated with colleges and universities. Similar to some alternative certification programs, prospective teachers and principals take classes in their content areas, but also partner with effective teachers and principals in the classroom for a “significant” portion of their instruction. ESSA’s academy authorization also includes a competency requirement: before receiving their full certification, prospective teachers must prove effective at raising student performance as student teachers or teachers of record. ¹⁸

Unlike other alternative certification programs, however, ESSA’s teacher and principal academies may receive a small portion of states’ Title II funding. Academy students must also be eligible for state financial aid. ¹⁹ Additionally, states cannot place "unnecessary restrictions" on the academies’ methods – for example, states may not require academy faculty to hold advanced degrees, or place restrictions on the coursework offered. At their discretion, states may recognize academy certifications as “at least” equivalent to a master's degree with regard to hiring, promotion, and pay. ²⁰

¹ Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, U.S. Code 20 (2012), § 6319(a)(2).

² Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, U.S. Code 20 (2012), § 7801(23).

³ Tennessee Department of Education, Tennessee Plan for Implementing the Teacher and Paraprofessional Quality Provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, August 18, 2005, pp. 3-5, https://www.tn.gov/assets/entities/education/attachments/lic_nclb_implementation_plan.pdf (accessed Dec. 29, 2015).

⁴ Tennessee Department of Education, Tennessee ESEA Flexibility Request, July 2015, p. 8, http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/esea-flexibility/flex-renewal/tnrenewalreq2015.pdf (accessed Dec. 5, 2015).

⁵ Steven Sawchuk, “ESSA Loosens Reins on Teacher Evaluations, Qualifications,” Education Week, January 5, 2016, http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/01/06/essa-loosens-reins-on-teacher-evaluations-qualifications.html (accessed Feb. 25, 2016).

⁶ Rules of the Tennessee State Board of Education, Chapter 0520-02-03-.01(1), General Information and Regulations, Prospective Educators, Requirement B, effective January 25, 2016.

⁷ Tennessee Department of Education, Race to the Top Application for Initial Funding, January 18, 2010, pp. 80-81, http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/phase1-applications/tennessee.pdf (accessed Feb. 25, 2016).

⁸ Tennessee Department of Education, Tennessee ESEA Flexibility Request, July 2015, p. 108, http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/esea-flexibility/flex-renewal/tnrenewalreq2015.pdf (accessed Dec. 5, 2015).

⁹ Tennessee Department of Education, Tennessee ESEA Flexibility Request, July 2015, p. 109, http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/esea-flexibility/flex-renewal/tnrenewalreq2015.pdf (accessed Dec. 5, 2015).

¹⁰ Tennessee Department of Education, Tennessee Educator Acceleration Model, General Educator Rubric: Instruction, http://team-tn.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/TEAM-General-Educator-Rubric.pdf (accessed Jan. 16, 2016).

¹¹ Tennessee Department of Education, Tennessee Educator Acceleration Model, Achievement Measure Worksheet, October 23, 2015, http://team-tn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Achievement-Measure-Worksheet_Update-10.23.15.pdf (accessed Jan. 16, 2016).

¹² Tennessee Department of Education, Tennessee ESEA Flexibility Request, July 2015, pp. 109-110, http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/esea-flexibility/flex-renewal/tnrenewalreq2015.pdf (accessed Dec. 5, 2015). 
Most Recent Waiver, p. 109

¹³ Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, Public Law 114-95, §§ 1111(e)(1)(B)(iii)(IX)-(X), 2015.

¹⁴ Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, Public Law 114-95, § 2101(c)(4)(B)(xi), 2015.

¹⁵ Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, Public Law 114-95, § 2002(5), 2015.

¹⁶ Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, Public Law 114-95, § 2002(1), 2015.

¹⁷ Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, Public Law 114-95, § 2101(c)(4)(B)(xii), 2015.

¹⁸ Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, Public Law 114-95, § 2002(4), 2015.

¹⁹ Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, Public Law 114-95, § 2101(c)(4)(B)(xii), 2015.

²⁰ Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, Public Law 114-95, § 2002(4), 2015.