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No Educator Left Behind is a series providing answers from the U.S. Department of Education to questions about the federal No Child Left Behind Act and how it will affect educators. If you have a question about No Child Left Behind, send an e-mail to Ellen Delisio, and we will submit your question to the Department of Education.

Question:

What requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act will educators have to meet this academic year?

U.S. Department of Education:

This academic year, aspects of the "highly-qualified teacher" provisions are taking effect:

All paraprofessionals who work in a program supported with Title I funds (regardless of their hiring date) must have a secondary school diploma or its equivalent. This is a change from the previous statute, which permitted the hiring of paraprofessionals without high school diplomas or the recognized equivalent to work as translators.

In addition, each local education agency (LEA) must ensure that all teachers of core academic subjects who are teaching in a program supported with Title I, Part A funds, and who were hired after the first day of the 2002-2003 school year, meet the highly qualified requirements. Each LEA also must have a plan for ensuring that all teachers are highly qualified no later than the end of the 2005-2006 school year. (For more information on the highly qualified requirements, see No Educator Left Behind: Standards for Teachers.)

Read previous questions and answers in our No Educator Left Behind archive.