THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

December 20, 2002

To:	District Superintendents of Schools Superintendents of Public Schools Charter Schools Nonpublic School Administrators Deans, Directors and Chairs of Teacher Education Regional Certification Officer
From:	James A. Kadamus Office of Elementary, Middle, Secondary and Continuing Education Johanna Duncan-Poitier, Deputy Commissioner Office of Higher Education and Office of the Professions
Subject:	Update on the NCLB’s Requirements for Teachers and Paraprofessionals

The U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) has issued final regulations implementing Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). These regulations have the force of law. They are available on USDOE’s Web site under the topic of Elementary and Secondary Education at http://www.ed.gov/topics/topicsTier2.jsp?top=Policy&type=T&subtop=Regulations.

The USDOE has also issued non-regulatory, draft guidance on requirements for paraprofessionals in programs funded under Title I, Part A. This guidance does not have the force of law and goes beyond the language of the final Title I regulations. Because the guidance is still in draft, we anticipate that there will be an opportunity for further discussion with the USDOE on its contents, particularly the guidance on tests for paraprofessionals (C-1 through C-6 on pages 6-8) which is of concern to SED. The guidance is available at: http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/paraguidance.pdf

We will provide updated information about implementing the NCLB’s requirements in light of the USDOE’s final regulations and final guidance. Until then, please be guided by NCLB NYS Field Memo #01-2002 (available on the NYS Education Department’s Web site at: www.highered.nysed.gov), as well as the two documents noted above.

Please continue to direct questions about the NCLB to nclbnys@mail.nysed.gov.