MSTA Helped Build Maryland’s HOUSSE
With considerable support and input from MSTA, the Maryland State Board of Education issued the final guidelines for the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) option in the fall of 2003. The guidelines are a tool to evaluate whether or not a teacher is “highly qualified” based on a “high, objective uniform state standard of evaluation” (HOUSSE).
At first, the order seemed a difficult, if not impossible task. Maryland, unlike many other states, gives individual local education agencies (LEA) control of evaluation practices. In many states, teacher evaluation standards are state issued and each LEA works from a common standard for evaluation. Thus, Maryland’s HOUSSE needed to be applicable to each of the 24 LEAs.
“We are very pleased that MSDE used our recommendations in preparing the HOUSSE,” said Pat Foerster, MSTA president. “We realized that the state must have a template each county school system could use to effectively and fairly evaluate individual teaching practices. The outcome is something we can all feel good about.”
In remarks at MSTA’s Convention 2003, Larry Leake, former MSDE assistant superintendent for certification and accreditation, likened MSTA and MSDE’s efforts to build the HOUSSE to a Gordian knot. “The issue was very complicated. MSDE could not undo the knot by itself, nor could MSTA. Working together, we constructed a HOUSSE that truly fits the needs of our teachers.”
As allowed
by NCLB, the HOUSSE provides objective information about an existing teacher’s
knowledge of, and ability to teach, a core academic subject. According to the
MSDE, Maryland’s HOUSSE includes many methods of demonstrating
competence including academic coursework, curriculum committee assignments,
work on content standards development, work on content assessments, service
as a department
chair, mentor teacher, cooperating teacher, school improvement team member,
published articles, presentations, and awards. For each activity, points are
awarded with
a total number of points required to be meet the “highly qualified” standard.
