Teachers Achieving 'Highly Qualified' Status on the Rise

Poorer schools still not getting their share, state data shows

By Vaishali Honawar

Teachers meeting the “highly qualified” standard their states set were teaching core subjects in 94 percent of the nation’s classrooms in the 2006-07 school year, but poorer schools were still less likely than their wealthier counterparts to employ them.

That year, 96 percent of core-subject classes in low-poverty schools were taught by highly qualified teachers, compared with 91 percent in high-poverty schools, according to the U.S. Department of Education, which recently released the data (requires Microsoft Excel) that states are required to submit to the federal agency.

In some states, the gap was glaring. In Maryland, 95 percent of elementary classes in low-poverty schools were staffed with highly qualified teachers, compared with only 66 percent in poorer schools.

But the overall picture showed progress. According to the data, there was an increase of 7 percentage points in the total number of highly qualified teachers nationwide who were teaching core-subject classes since 2003-04.

The “highly qualified” teacher requirement is a provision of the 6-year-old No Child Left Behind Act. All states must report annually the percentage of core-subject classes taught by highly qualified teachers and break down the numbers for classes in high-poverty and low-poverty schools.

Only one state—North Dakota—met last year’s deadline to have highly qualified teachers in 100 percent of its core-subject classes.

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