With the passage of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, new requirements went into effect for teacher assistants in Title I schools. Specifically, NCLB requires all teacher assistants in Title I school-wide schools to be "highly qualified." This requirement is also in effect for those teacher assistants paid out of Title I funds in targeted assistance schools.
To meet the "highly qualified" designation, a teacher assistant would need to have either two years (48 hours) of college credit, an associate's degree, or pass the ParaPro Assessment Test. Currently employed teacher assistants in Title I school-wide and targeted assistance schools must become highly qualified no later than January 8, 2006.
Virginia Beach City Public Schools' Office of Organizational Development developed a plan to help teacher assistants reach "highly qualified" status. For the convenience of staff, ParaPro preparatory classes and the online assessment test are available for qualifying staff through the Office of Organizational Development. The Fall 2009 Staff Lines includes dates, times, and locations for the classes and the online test. Since June 2003, 125 ParaPro Assessments Tests have been administered to staff seeking a "highly qualified" status.