ORONO – By giving teachers in rural schools more latitude in demonstrating that they are highly qualified, the U.S. Department of Education aims to balance accountability and “real-world challenges,” a federal official said Tuesday.

“We have tried to wring as much flexibility as we can,” said U.S. Deputy Secretary Eugene Hickok, referring to new policy changes issued Monday by the department.

He spoke at the first meeting of a committee created by Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe to examine the problems Maine schools are facing putting into place the new federal education reform law known as No Child Left Behind.

Under No Child Left Behind, all students must be proficient in reading and math by 2014. States set yearly targets to see whether schools are improving.

“Implementing the law doesn’t take place in a vacuum,” Hickok told the 20-member group assembled at the Buchanan Alumni House at the University of Maine. “Our whole plan was to visit schools, gather information, learn, talk with teachers and school board members and come back and make adjustments.”

He added, “We’ll make more.”

Deputy Commissioner Patrick Phillips said after the meeting that while the adjustments appear to have only a “minor” effect, they show that the U.S. Department of Education “is in fact listening to states like Maine who have argued that the law is much too restrictive and really radically changes the traditional balance of federal and state responsibility for public education.”

The committee, which consists of teachers, school administrators, education experts and school board members, also has been charged with recommending improvements to No Child Left Behind.

Members decided Tuesday to issue an interim report by midsummer and to take up the issue of highly qualified teachers at their next meeting at the end of the month. They said future discussions would include:

. Differences between the Maine system that allows periodic testing and No Child Left Behind, which requires annual testing.

. Costs associated with putting No Child Left Behind into place.

. Effect of the federal law on students with special needs.

. Implications of sanctions on schools that don’t meet the annual benchmarks.

. Time annual testing takes out of the class day and the effect it has on the morale of teachers and students.

. Discrepancy between the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and No Child Left Behind.

Under No Child Left Behind, a highly qualified teacher has a bachelor’s degree, is fully certified with either a provisional or a professional license, and can demonstrate competency in the subject area he or she teaches, either by taking a rigorous test or holding a major in that subject.

According to the policy changes announced by the U.S. Department of Education on Monday, teachers in rural districts who are highly qualified in at least one subject have three more years to become highly qualified in the additional subjects they teach.

Also, states get to decide whether science teachers must demonstrate that they are highly qualified under a general science certification or in individual fields of science such as physics, biology or chemistry.

Finally, according to the new policies, multisubject teachers are allowed to demonstrate in a less comprehensive way that they are highly qualified in each of their subjects.

Deputy Commissioner Phillips said during a phone conversation Tuesday evening that the changes provided some flexibility but seemed “rather minor in nature.”

He said the department was still poring over the details, but that it appeared the adjustments would provide teachers only another six and a half months to document their highly qualified status.

On the other hand, Phillips said, the changes will benefit middle school instructors who teach several subjects. Also, allowing teachers to demonstrate only once that they are highly qualified in each of the subjects they teach “takes care of some of the paperwork and makes it more streamlined.”

During an interview after the meeting Hickok said the U.S. Department of Education had an obligation to help rural schools which have unique challenges in implementing No Child Left Behind.

While critics have said the department’s new rules represent a “backing down, I say we’re stepping up,” Hickok said.

“We’re still emphasizing the importance of high quality teachers, we’re just recognizing that how to get there might change.”