Houston’s local ABC news affiliate recently ran a report that the Houston Independent School District, Texas’s largest, has more than 2,000 uncertified teachers (out of a teaching force of approximately 10,000). The story implied that certified teachers in the district had been replaced by an unsavory crew that includes former paralegals, baristas, and fast-food workers—jobs that have “nothing to do with being in a classroom.” I found the suggestion to be offensive—not because I’m an erstwhile McDonald’s cashier, but as a former teacher and policymaker who’s long been skeptical of the historically tenuous link between certification and effectiveness. At the same time, it’s understandable for folks to ask questions about the spike in unlicensed teachers in Houston, which mirrors a shift that is happening statewide.
One reason for concern is that new research coming out of Texas Tech suggests teacher licensure does seem to matter. In a policy brief titled, “Amid Rising Number of Uncertified Teachers, Previous Classroom Experience Proves Vital in Texas,” Jacob Kirksey found that Texas students with new uncertified teachers lost up to four months of learning in reading and three months in math. (“New” is defined as “first few years of experience.”) The study also found significant disparities in the rates of dyslexia diagnoses for students with new uncertified teachers, as well as higher rates of absenteeism among students assigned to such teachers. However, the data also showed that if an uncertified teacher had classroom experience, say working as a paraprofessional or a substitute, students performed on par with those taught by certified teachers.
Notably, Kirksey’s study excluded charter schools, whose hiring practices have been imported into Houston by former Dallas and current HISD superintendent Mike Miles, himself a former charter leader (more on that below). Kirksey writes:
While the findings of this brief highlight significant challenges associated with uncertified teachers in traditional public schools, it is important to note that these trends do not hold for charter schools… Preliminary data suggest that absenteeism and underdiagnosis of dyslexia are less pronounced issues in charter schools. This contrast suggests that charter schools may be implementing additional supports or hiring practices that address some of the deficiencies associated with uncertified teachers.
The last sentence is worth underscoring, as charter schools often take an intentional approach to their selection and hiring processes. In Texas, charters are exempt from the requirement to hire certified teachers, but they post better academic results in Houston and nationally.
Districts would do well to emulate some of the best recruitment practices from charter schools to quickly screen out the worst unlicensed teachers and keep the best. Prime among these is the use of performance tasks—something Miles and his team took to heart in Dallas and now in Houston—that cut to the chase vis-à-vis the essential knowledge, skills, and mindsets required to lift student achievement. When I was principal of a high-performing charter school, a key feature of my teacher recruitment process was the presentation of a sample lesson—usually done in person, but sometimes remotely or as a pre-recorded video—that allowed me to see candidates interact with real students and to gauge their reflections on strengths and weaknesses. This step allowed me to expeditiously sort the wheat from the chaff.
While Miles had his hands on the tiller in Dallas, students there saw immediate and very large increases in student achievement after he installed a teacher appraisal system that clearly differentiated levels of performance by, in part, employing a “targeted distribution” screening to protect against inflation and non-rigorous evaluations. Miles prioritized keeping top-performing instructors and pushing out less-effective ones. Districts have traditionally not pursued this tack because of an absence of both will (i.e., establishment intransigence) and skill (i.e., robust teacher evaluation systems).
Not lacking for either, Miles now has his shoulder to the wheel in Houston and is borrowing heavily from the same winning playbook to ensure that every HISD classroom has an effective teacher, regardless of certification status. When I sat with him or other team members as they conducted interviews, I saw candidates put through a gauntlet of short and long scenarios, as well as performance tasks aligned with Miles’s vision of a “high-performance culture.” He minces no words in establishing an environment that attracts talent and, conversely, repels mediocrity. Not surprisingly, HISD’s recruitment and retention numbers suggest that his no-nonsense approach is working.
As an experienced educator and leader in both the traditional public and public charter systems, Miles’s record of raising student achievement is par excellence. Looking ahead, the media and others should trust but verify that Miles has a strategy in place to help all of the district’s teachers—certified or not, experienced or not—be effective or be swiftly shown the door.
