August 2013

Dear Title I Principals,

As you are aware, the No Child Left Behind act requires parental notification be sent to parents whose child is being taught by a teacher that has been deemed not highly qualified. In order to remain compliant with this regulation, the Office of Human Capital is working to identify the affected classes and prepare letters for parents. To that end, it is necessary that you verify the accuracy of the data we will use for this task. Highly qualified data for your school is now available on the Principal’s Dashboard and can be accessed on the “HQ Reports” page under Human Capital. By Wednesday, August 28, 2013, please review your school’s report to verify that all teachers are appropriately assigned and/or there are no discrepancies with the certification information.

Below are important steps to remember when reviewing your school’s data:

·  The columns headed in blue are the information that is used to determine highly qualified status (this includes certification information, grade-levels taught, and courses taught). A teacher must meet all qualifications in order to be reported as highly qualified.

·  The last three columns, headed in red, indicate the status of the teacher (only core academic subjects are checked). If the assigned teacher is non-HQ, the reason for their status and suggested action steps which will help the teacher achieve highly qualified status will be provided.

·  If information about the grade-level, course, or MSDE code is incorrect it will need to be corrected in SMS. Corrections to scheduling must be completed by the school scheduler. If assistance with SMS is needed, please contact City Schools Command Center at (443) 984-2000.

·  If information is incorrect for certification, the certification team will work to correct the information. Please forward discrepancies by email to .

This important communication to parents is scheduled to be mailed by the district on September 23, 2013. Parents must be notified by the school of subsequent monthly non-HQ instance(s) throughout SY 13-14. Monthly HQ snapshots will be provided via Principals Dashboard.

Additional information can be found by going to www.bcpss.org/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp and clicking the link for Highly Qualified Resources under the School Information heading. Additionally, your Human Capital Specialist is available to assist you with any questions regarding your report.

Thank you in advance for your assistance with this project.

Tamara Deshields-Burns,

Certification Manager

Office of Human Capital