| Since its passage in January of 2002, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law has been fraught with controversy. The highly qualified teacher provision contained in Title I of this legislation requires teacher to hold a bachelor's degree, be fully licensed by the state in which they teach, and demonstrate competence in the subject matter they teach. In Oregon, the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC) is the state agency responsible for defining highly qualified teachers, and for determining how these definitions relate to licensure. Oregon offers a multi-subject teacher endorsement for grades K-8, but no similar endorsement is offered at the secondary level. Small rural alternative high schools often employ only one or two teachers, making compliance with NCLB challenging. Requiring one teacher to become highly qualified in every subject they teach is burdensome, not only in the financial sense, but in intangible ways as well. A logical solution would be for the state of Oregon to offer a specific alternative education multi-subject endorsement at the secondary level. My research results show that there is support for such an endorsement. It is hoped that the information contained in this thesis will lead to changes in the Oregon TSPC's licensing requirements, and that other states will offer similar options for alternative education teachers. As of this writing, the No Child Left Behind law is under scrutiny and my work is another voice in the conversation on school reform. |
