In 2014, with public schools in Texas clamoring for a way to bring in new teachers more quickly, officials allowed alternative teaching certification programs. As staffing shortages have continued to rise, so too has there been a rise in the number of teachers without any certification at all.
More recently, concerns have grown over whether there’s a correlation between declines in student achievement and the high number of uncertified teachers in Texas. This is the focus of new research from Texas Tech University.
Jacob Kirksey, associate Director of the Center for Innovative Research in Change, Leadership, and Education at Texas Tech University, spoke with Texas Standard about the report. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: What do you mean by “uncertified, inexperienced teachers”?
Jacob Kirksey: So there’s a lot of different ways into the teaching profession in Texas, including having what’s called an emergency permit. And that would be one route where a school district identifies that they have a need and they can quickly get a permit issued by the Texas Education Agency’s, State Board for Educator Certification.
And so when I’m talking about “uncertified teachers” who it’s their first time in the classroom, I’m talking about folks who, for all intents and purposes, the state has no record of having an emergency permit, let alone an alternative certification or what’s called an “internal credential.”
So you wanted to find out whether or not there’s anything that shows a connection between lack of certification of teachers and declines in student achievement. What did you find?
That’s right. So for our uncertified teachers and just in general, we know that having classroom experience matters, whether that is being a paraprofessional or even being a former substitute teacher.
And so we find that for these teachers who have none of that experience and have no formal training prior to becoming the full-time teacher in front of a big classroom of kids, these teachers are linked to a decline in about 3 to 4 months in student achievement, in math and reading, respectively.
Is this across all grade levels or where do you start to see this decline?
So the best grades that we’re able to really ascertain student achievement from classroom teachers is in those STAAR-tested grades, grades 4-8. And that’s the annual exam that is administered to get an idea of where our students are in terms of achievement. And so those are the grades that I focus on in this study.
I see. Of course, there’s been a lot of controversy about the way those tests are graded, and that only seems to have increased since computers were brought in to the grading process. What would you say to criticisms that perhaps that’s not the best index?
Yeah, absolutely. And it is just one metric that we have to assess the effectiveness of teachers in the classroom. What I would say to that is absolutely there’s valid criticism, and even the extent to which academic performance is the sole thing that we care about.
But I would say that also what the study found is that these teachers are not just teaching in these academic grades 3-8. These teachers are about just as represented across the grade levels that our first-time certified teachers are. And that includes about 1 in 10 of these teachers teaching in early childhood grades.
And so, you know, as somebody who was not diagnosed with dyslexia, my own specific learning disability, I was interested in that first grade group of kids, many of whom it’s their first time spending in and having public school experience. And what’s really critical about that grade is that that is the grade that if you’ve not been in public school before, teachers are required or somebody in the school is required to screen you for dyslexia.
And so that’s just another metric of some basic training – of having a teacher who can identify learning supports that can better equip students to be successful in the classroom. What I find is that those students with these uncertified teachers are just half as likely to be diagnosed with dyslexia. And, you know, this isn’t something that is caused by uncertified teachers, or certified teachers, for that matter.
And so that was another metric, because I agree with this idea that academic performance isn’t the only thing we should care about. But as somebody who experienced significant challenges, not just in my academics, but in my general educational trajectory, that was a little personal for me to see that, you know, these folks who have no formal experience are not only found in early childhood classrooms, right? If I was a parent, would cause some great concern for me and we see that even one of the most critical things that some of these teachers, that often falls on their shoulders, that they’re clearly not doing well.
Now, something else worth noting in this research is that uncertified teachers with experience, you’re not seeing the same kind of learning loss. Do I read that correctly?
That is absolutely right.
So, you know, we work with a lot of school districts very closely, and having teacher shortages is something that is felt across the state. And so one of the things that our district partners were telling us is that they were actually having a lot of their former paraprofessionals step into these classrooms who were working on their certification during the year, but they didn’t have, whether for one reason or another at the time, to get fully certified.
What I find is when you have that type of uncertified teacher, you don’t see the same declines in learning loss. And in fact, those teachers are about just as effective as your average new teacher in the classroom.
