High-Needs School Districts

noyce smtri logoA recipient of the NOYCE scholarship grant must commit to teach mathematics or sciences for two years for every of NOYCE scholarship funding they receive.  Service must be completed within 8 years after graduation from the program for which the scholarship was awarded and must be performed in a high-need local educational agency as defined in section 201 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021). 

For the purposes of this grant, a high-needs district is one that serves a school that meets one or more of the criteria:

  1. The district has at least one school which school serves students not less than 50 percent of whom are eligible for a free or reduced price school lunch under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act.
  2. The district has at least one school in which: (i) more than 34 percent of the academic classroom teachers at the secondary level (across all academic subjects) do not have an undergraduate degree with a major or minor in, or a graduate degree in, the academic field in which they teach the largest percentage of their classes; or (ii) more than 34 percent of the teachers in two of the academic departments do not have an undergraduate degree with a major or minor in, or a graduate degree in, the academic field in which they teach the largest percentage of their classes.
  3. The district has at least one school that where the teacher attrition rate is greater than 15% over the last three years.

Based on the above criteria the following districts in 2009-2010 school year would be consider high-need for the purposes of the Sonoma State University NOYCE program.

High Needs School District List
Bellevue Union Piner-Olivet Union
Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified Roseland
Healdsburg Unified Santa Rosa City High
Kelseyville Unified Shoreline Unified
Konocti Unified Ukiah Unified
Lakeport Unified Willits Unified
Napa Valley Unified Windsor Unified
Old Adobe Wright Elementary
Petaluma Joint Union High  

 

US CODE  TITLE 20 > CHAPTER 28 > SUBCHAPTER II > § 1021 Section 10  defines the term “high-need local educational agency” as a local educational agency:

  1. for which not less than 20 percent of the children served by the agency are children from low-income families;
  2. that serves not fewer than 10,000 children from low-income families;
  3. that meets the eligibility requirements for funding under the Small, Rural School Achievement Program under section 7345 (b);
  4. that meets the eligibility requirements for funding under the Rural and Low-Income School Program under section 7351 (b);
  5. for which there is a high percentage of teachers not teaching in the academic
  6. subject areas or grade levels in which the teachers were trained to teach; or
  7. for which there is a high teacher turnover rate or a high percentage of teachers with emergency, provisional, or temporary certification or licensure.

US CODE TITLE 20 > CHAPTER 28 > SUBCHAPTER II > § 1021 Section 11 defines a “high need” as a school which school serves students not less than 45 percent of whom are eligible for a free or reduced price school lunch under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act”