Previous Story
‘All teachers must be highly qualified’
|
Posted on Jun 05 2006
Education Commissioner Rita H. Inos reiterated that all public school teachers are required to be highly qualified as defined by the Board of Education and by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
For the CNMI, this means that every teacher and school administrator must take and pass PRAXIS I and PRAXIS II tests, Inos said.
“There are no exceptions,” she stressed.
Inos added that PSS will only be hiring highly qualified teachers who show evidence that they have passed both the PRAXIS I and the applicable PRAXIS II test. Teachers who have taken, but not passed PRAXIS, may be offered the opportunity to join the substitute teacher pool and paid a $100 per day for each full day that they teach, she added.
Inos reminded teachers that they have had two years and 14 test date opportunities to take the PRAXIS tests.
The commissioner added that the U.S. Department of Education has reaffirmed that they expect every state and territory to comply with the highly qualified teacher requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
A quick review of federal law shows that what the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires of all elementary and secondary teachers, at a minimum, is:
1. Possess at least a bachelor’s degree or higher;
2. Have attained full State certification;
3. Must be able to demonstrate core subject knowledge on a rigorous state exam (PRAXIS tests).
Inos said that PSS cannot offer a teacher contract to teachers who are not highly qualified.
She added that PSS is actively recruiting teachers online and through newspaper advertisements. So far, over 500 teachers have responded to the online advertisements. The commissioner added that PSS plans on recruiting over 100 teachers for next school year.
She encouraged all teachers to turn in their PRAXIS test results to the PSS Human Resources Office as well as to their school principal. The goal, Inos explained, is for every class to be taught by a highly qualified teacher. (PR)
