A Policymakers Guide to Identifying and Supporting Highly Qualified Teachers of English Language Arts from the National Council of Teachers of English
 
The National Council of Teachers of English believes that every student deserves an English language arts teacher who is highly qualified. While federal law defines highly qualified teachers as those who are fully credentialed and who have a degree in an appropriate academic major, it allows the states to determine what other criteria may be used to define further the characteristics of what constitutes “highly qualified”.

As you review legislation pertinent to the definition of highly qualified teachers of English, reading, or literacy, we urge your consideration of the following:

• Highly qualified teachers of English language arts possess and maintain a broad base of knowledge about both the content of English language arts and the pedagogical practices needed to help diverse student populations excel. They not only know what to teach, but how to teach it, and can vary their strategies to meet the needs of all learners.
  
  
• The field of essential knowledge for teachers of English language arts is constantly expanding through research and analysis of new approaches to teaching and assessing learners. Any program or legislation that attempts to define or support highly qualified literacy/English language arts teachers must require, foster, and support life-long learning.
  
  
• While there are levels of pedagogical and content knowledge that no English language arts teacher should fail to meet, how this knowledge is expressed will vary with the individual characteristics of teachers, their career levels, and school settings. Thus, effective assessments of teacher quality take into account multiple measures of content knowledge, teacher decision-making, and influence on student performance. Any standard that relies solely on high-stakes knowledge tests of teachers or simple correlations of teaching to student performance on mandated tests is inherently flawed.
  
  
• Highly qualified English language arts teachers maintain a wide knowledge of reading methods, literatures and critical/cultural analyses of a range of genres and texts, systems of grammar and language structures, and approaches to teaching writing for a range of purposes. They understand how the “new literacies” -- including digital (multi-modal) composition, technologies, critical thinking, collaborative decision-making and critical/cultural analysis of a range of texts/genres -- enhance student learning.
  
  
• Effective schools build outstanding English language arts programs by employing and tapping the strengths of teachers of various ages, experiences, and cultural backgrounds, and by reaching out to parents and community members. Thus, programs and regulations designed to promote school excellence and achievement in literacy must take into account the need to foster teamwork and collaboration.
  
  
• Highly qualified English language arts teachers/leaders help design, have access to, and participate willingly in on-going professional development opportunities.  Public policy measures must support teacher access to high-quality professional development programming.
  

Created in consultation with the Teacher Quality Subcommittee of the NCTE Executive Committee.  National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 West Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801--April 2004