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 Teacher Certification News Flash

Volume I Issue I                                                                                                                  August 17, 2004

 

We Can Beat the July 1, 2006 Deadline for Compliance…………."No CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT"

 

Martin County School Teachers don't be left behind.  Time is winding down for all teachers to become "highly qualified" as defined by the “No Child Left Behind Act.” 

 Please note all teachers who teach core academic subjects must meet the NCLB "highly qualified" requirements by the end of the 2005-2006 school year, regardless of where you teach.

 The eight (8) core academic subject areas as defined in the “No Child Left Behind Act” are: English, reading, language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics, government, economics, history, and geography and the arts (visual arts, drama and music).

 

Elementary Teachers (regular elementary teachers, self contained class, ESE, and all areas of the arts).

·         Must hold a valid professional certificate in the appropriate certification area for each assignment; OR a valid temporary certificate in the appropriate certification area for each assignment in addition to a passing score on the Florida Subject Area Exam.  Teachers in Gifted programs must hold a certificate in Elementary Education and the gifted endorsement.

 

Certification in elementary will be appropriate to teach reading at the elementary level

·         If you hold certification in Elementary 1-6 or K-6 and you teach at an elementary school, you will not be required to add the Reading Endorsement to your certificate.

 

Middle School Sixth Grade Teachers

·         Must hold a valid professional certificate OR a valid temporary certificate in the appropriate middle grades or secondary certification area for each core academic assignment.  The certification area of Elementary 1-6 or K-6 will not be appropriate for middle school sixth grade teacher effective July 1, 2006.  Middle school teachers who teach more than one academic subject can pass the subject area exam(s) or the Middle Grades Integrated Curriculum exam to be eligible to add the area(s) to the certificate.  Middle Grades Integrated Curriculum allows a middle school teachers to teach English, math, science and social sciences at  the middle grades level.

 

Middle School Sixth Grade Reading Teachers

·         Certification in Elementary 1-6 and K-6 will be appropriate to teach reading at the sixth grade level only.  You will not be required to add the Reading Endorsement to your Elementary Education certificate as long as you only teach reading to grades K-6.

 

Middle and High School Teachers (all core academic subjects as defined above)

bullet Must hold a valid professional certificate OR a valid temporary certificate in the appropriate certification area for each assignment.

 

Middle and High School ESE Teachers

bullet Must hold certification in the appropriate ESE area AND the specific core academic subject area(s) if teaching a basic academic course.  At the middle school level, ESE teachers can pass the subject area exam for Middle Grades Integrated Curriculum to be eligible to add this subject to the certificate.  This certification subject allows a middle school teacher to teach English, Math, Science and Social Science.  Teachers are strongly encouraged to add this specific academic subject to their ESE certification even if teaching a 78-coded course.  A high school ESE teacher will need to pass each specific subject exam for the core academic subjects being taught and add those areas to their current ESE certificate.
bullet This requirement does not pertain to ESE academic course code numbers beginning with 78 or 79, excluding gifted courses.

 

 

Dropout Prevention Teachers

bullet Must hold a valid professional or temporary certificate in the appropriate certification area for each core academic subject being taught.  The “any field” designation, for Dropout Prevention teachers who are teaching core academic subjects, will be discontinued July 1, 2006.

 

Vocational/Career Education Teachers

bullet Only vocational education teachers who teach core academic subjects are required to meet the highly qualified standards.  For example, if a vocational education teacher teaches a trade, such as auto mechanics, the teacher would not need to meet the requirements since the law does not treat that area of study as core academic subject.  The law exempts some vocational education teachers from the highly qualified requirements.

 

Reading Endorsement   

The U.S. Department of Education has recently announced increased flexibility regarding the ”Highly Qualified” teacher provision under the “No Child Left Behind Act.”

 

Certification in Elementary continues to be appropriate to teach reading at the elementary level grades K-6.

·         If you hold certification in this area and you teach at an elementary school, you will not be required to add the Reading Endorsement to your certificate.

 

Sixth Grade Reading Teachers

The reading endorsement is no longer a requirement for 6th grade teachers teaching only reading to sixth grade middle school classes, as long as the teacher is certified in elementary education, either 1-6 or K-6.  this change will be reflected in the 2004-2005 State Course Code Directory.

 

·         Sixth grade teachers are still encouraged to take advantage of the add-on reading endorsement program.

 

·         Middle School (Seventh and Eight Grade) and High School Reading teachers will be required to add the reading endorsement to their certificate to   be “Highly Qualified.”

 

ESE teachers

·         ESE teachers who are teaching reading at a middle or high school will be required to add the reading endorsement to their certificate.  The exception is for ESE middle and high school teachers who are teaching reading under a course  number that begins with a 78 or 79, excluding Gifted.

 

 

Martin County Teachers offer facts about children’s literacy

 

Access to books is fundamental to reading success:

bulletIncreasing access to print material is the most successful way to improve the reading achievement of low-income children. Communities ranking high in achievement tests have several factors in common: an abundance of books in public libraries, easy access to books in the community at large, and a large number of text books per student.1
bulletIn a study comparing reading literacy in the U.S. with other countries, the National Center for Education Statistics2 found that nearly two-thirds of the low-income American families they studied owned no books for their children.

Children who read frequently are better readers and better students:

bulletThe National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)3 2000 national reading assessment of fourth-grade students found that reading for fun had a positive relationship to performance on NAEP reading scores. The 87% of students who reported reading for fun on their own time once a month or more performed at the Proficient level, while students who never or hardly ever read for fun performed at the Basic level. Students who read for fun every day scored the highest.
bulletThe NAEP3 also found that fourth-graders who reported reading 11 or more pages daily for school and for homework had higher reading test scores than students who read fewer pages daily. Sixty percent of fourth-graders reported reading 11 or more pages daily for school and for homework in 2000, compared to 54% in 1994 and 56% in 1992.

NEA's Read Across America reminds parents of the crucial role they play in their children's education. Taking time to read with a child is one of the most important lessons that adults can share with their children:

bulletMore than half (51%) of young people say that their parents do not encourage them to read other than for schoolwork. These findings provide evidence that this type of parental involvement is important—children who report that their parents encourage them to read are more likely to read a high volume of books (63% read more than 10 books a year) than those who say their parents leave it up to them (51% read more than 10 books a year)6.
bulletWhen asked to compare the amount of time that they spend reading with the amount of time their parents spend reading, more than a third (36%) of young people, including 42% of young women and 30% of young men, report that they read more in their spare time than their parents4.



1America's Child Care Crisis: A Crime Prevention Tragedy, Sanford Newman, T. Berry Brazleton, Edward Zigler, et al., Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2000.
2U.S. Department of Education, Office of Education Research and Improvement, 1996. Reading Literacy in the United States: Findings from the IEA Reading Literacy Study.
3The Nation's Report Card: Fourth-Grade Reading 2000, P. L. Donahue, R. J. Finnegan, A. D. Lutkus, N. L. Allen, and J. R. Campbell, U. S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP), 1992-2000 Reading Assessments, April 2001.
4Poll commissioned for the National Education Association by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, February 2001.

DROP AT A GLANCE

 

What is DROP?

 

DROP is an acronym for the Deferred Retirement Option Program, which was implemented on July 1, 1998 by the Florida legislature to provide an alternative method for payment of retirement benefits. It is administered by the Florida Retirement System Pension Plan (FRS).

 

How does DROP work?

 

DROP participants can choose to retire from the FRS but must continue to work with the state for a period of no more than 5 years after entering the program. During the 5 years, retirement earnings are directed into a state interest-bearing DROP account until the employee terminates his or her service.

 

When is a Regular-Class FRS employee eligible to enter DROP?

 

When the employee is:

Ø      Is at least 62 years of age and has been in the system for six years; or

Ø      Has worked in the system for 30 years.

 

What makes the DROP decision so important?

 

For many participants, it is the single largest sum of money they will ever have. Average sum of money accumulated is between $50,000- $200,000 dollars.

 

What is the deadline, and what are my options?

 

In June 2003, the first group of Florida public employee participants who have signed up for DROP will be retiring. A decision must be made and specified to the FRS of how DROP funds will be distributed within 60 days of termination date.

 

Options include:

1.      Take a lump-sum payment,

2.      Roll the full amount into a tax-qualified plan such as a 401(a), 403(b), 401(k), 457(b) or an IRA, or

3.      Roll part of the DROP account into a tax-qualified plan and take the remainder in cash.

 

For more information, call toll-free 1-866-FLA-DROP (1-866-352-3767), or log on to www.fldrop.com.

 

 

DROP question, we have answers.

 

 

In life, we all have decisions to make. Some are easy: Chocolate or vanilla. Black shoes or brown shoes. Broiled or fried. Other decisions, well they are not so easy, especially when money is involved.

 

Retiring participants in Florida’s Deferred Retirement Option Program (“DROP”) will very soon be faced with what for many is the single most important financial decision they will ever make. For them, it’s an exciting – but also challenging time. Charting a new personal course in life presents many opportunities; deciding what to do with DROP money raises many questions:

 

Ø      What are my filing deadlines?

Ø      What options do I have?

Ø      What choices are right for me?

Ø      Will I be taxed on this money?

Ø      Should current market conditions affect my decision?

Ø      How do I stay ahead of inflation?

Ø      Who can I trust?

 

“It’s important to realize that your decision cannot be made in a vacuum,” said Ed Baum, Regional Vice President, for AIG VALIC, a financial services and retirement planning company. “You have to factor your overall financial and retirement goals and realities into your decision.”

 

Think about the sources of your retirement income, such as distributions from any retirement savings accounts, Social Security, pensions, etc., Baum said. And think about how much money you will need in your retirement – or if you’re even ready to retire.

 

Ask yourself what kind of lifestyle you want to maintain in retirement – do you want to maintain your existing lifestyle or travel the world? Have you thought about future income needs?

 

If you are a retiring DROP participant, you must tell the Florida Retirement System how you want your DROP funds distributed within 60 days of your termination date. Participants can take a lump-sum payment, roll the full amount into a tax-qualified plan such as an IRA, or roll part of the DROP account into a tax-qualified plan and take the remainder in cash.

 

“It’s critical that people fully understand the tax ramifications of each choice,” cautioned Baum. “If they don’t, they could be in for a surprise come tax time.”

 

If you choose to roll over your account, deciding which provider to roll it to is important. You must have confidence in that company to provide the kind of service you prefer and you should consider a company with a variety of investment options to meet your retirement goals and objectives. Your provider also must have the knowledge and experience to help you manage your retirement assets.

 

Be wary of any person or company that does not listen to you or tries to push one investment product over another without regard to your personal situation, Baum said. “You are an individual and you deserve to be treated like one,” he said. “A good financial adviser will help you see how your decision fits into your overall financial picture.”

 

For answers to specific DROP questions, call toll-free 1-866-FLA-DROP (1-866-352-3767), or log on to www.fldrop.com.

 

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