Teachers can either show proof of coursework they've completed in their subject area or take an exam, called the Praxis, to demonstrate their content knowledge.

Education officials are quick to point out that just because a teacher is not designated as "highly qualified" in their subject area doesn't mean he or she is not a qualified teacher.

At the beginning of the school year, a private contractor hired by DOE identified nearly 6,200 teachers who lacked the required documentation to be designated highly qualified. After months of verification and one-on-one consultations with teachers, that number has decreased to 2,500.

TEACHER BACKLASH

One effect of the effort, however, was a backlash from teachers and their union.

Part of the federal law requires that parents be notified if their child's teacher is not highly qualified. That has the Hawai'i State Teachers Association worried that parents could draw inaccurate conclusions about their children's teachers.

Letters were sent to parents about the 6,200 teachers who initially were not highly qualified. Many teachers have since proved they meet the standard, invalidating that initial letter, said Roger Takabayashi, president of the HSTA.

"We want parents to know that just because they got this letter doesn't mean their teacher is not qualified to teach," Takabayashi said.

The HSTA recently published an advertisement in local newspapers highlighting one example of a teacher with 19 years of experience in elementary education who failed to meet the standard.

"It is devastating for teachers who work so hard at their craft to get this unfortunate label," he said.

Dhane Pierce, a math teacher at 'Ilima Intermediate School, said he is leaving the teaching profession because of the demands of No Child Left Behind, including the "highly qualified" standard.

Pierce said his status "should have never been questioned."

Pierce has a master's degree in middle grade math education from Georgia State University and also passed the Praxis exam, which demonstrates his competency.

Pierce called the process "frustrating" and said he plans to leave teaching at the end of the school year and go back to school for nursing.

PROGRESS REPORTED

"The whole No Child Left Behind thing is the reason I am leaving teaching," he said. "It's no longer about the kids. It's about making them good test takers."

Dawn Billings of School Synergy, the private outside consultant hired by the DOE to assist the state in reaching its highly qualified teacher goals, said more teachers are meeting the standard.

"Every single day teachers are sending in documentation that allows us to designate more and more of them highly qualified. Every day the number (who are not highly qualified) is going down," Billings said.

School Synergy's contract with DOE is worth $250,000.

"Here's the dilemma a teacher might face: You might have a bachelor's degree, graduated from UH to be a science teacher ... and four classes a day you teach science. But your fifth period, you teach algebra. All of a sudden, for math you have not demonstrated that core competency. So your name then shows up as 'non-highly qualified teacher,' " said Robert Campbell, director of Program Support and Development for the DOE.

That's the situation for Waipahu High School English teacher Kel Hirohata. While he has both a bachelor's and master's degree in secondary education, his area of core competency is in consumer education, not English.

Hirohata, like most teachers who are not "highly qualified," now either has to take a test to demonstrate competency in English, or take professional development classes and university courses in his subject area.

"One option was to take the Praxis exam, but I actually want to go back to school to get a better understanding," said Hirohata, who has been teaching for five years.

He said it would likely take him to the end of the next school year to complete the courses necessary to become highly qualified.

Billings said that many more teachers in Hawai'i probably are highly qualified, but the teachers must provide proof.

'Ilima Intermediate School principal Jon Kitabayashi said 23 teachers at his school were identified as not being highly qualified.

"Some of them were my veteran teachers with 25 years or more teaching experience," Kitabayashi said.

MORE WORK REQUIRED

While most of those teachers were able to verify their competency in their subject area, about 10 teachers could not, he said. They are expected to take college courses or attempt to pass an exam to prove they have core competency.

Sean Saturnio, a Waipahu High School English teacher, was an elementary school teacher when he started in 1993. Even though he has been teaching at Waipahu High for the past six years, he is not considering highly qualified as a high school English teacher.

"It's subjective. How do you rate what highly qualified is?" Saturnio said.

After going through the verification process, Saturnio learned he nearly made the cut.

"At first, it looked like I was short three classes. The trouble with that is, I have a family. I don't really have that type of time and money," he said.

But after further verification of other college courses he took on the Mainland, it looks as if he may have to take just one extra college course, he said.

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.