Highly Qualified Status

The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 requires that all teachers in core academic subject areas must be highly-qualified no later than the end of the 2005-06 school year. NCLB emphasizes teacher quality as a major factor in improving student achievement and therefore for each class taught the law requires that teachers demonstrate competency in the applicable subject areas.

To comply with No Child Left Behind, all candidates that apply to Memphis City Schools must be considered highly-qualified. A highly-qualified teacher meets all of the following requirements:
•Bachelor’s degree
•Teaching license with no requirements waived
•Demonstrates competency for grade/subject taught. K-6 teachers must demonstrate
   subject knowledge in reading, writing, math and basic elementary curriculum.
   Secondary teachers in grades 7-12 must show competency in the content knowledge
   in each core academic subject assigned to teach.

For more information about certification requirements, click here.