Teaching Without a License: Historical Lessons and Future Mandates in Texas Education Policy

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 3:45 pm - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Reframing Governance: Policy, Power, and Pathways in Educational Leadership

Abstract

In 2015, Texas created a District of Innovation (DOI) policy, which allowed districts to opt out of specific regulations to increase innovation and flexibility. One set of these provisions regulated teacher licensure. In the decade that followed, districts hired large numbers of uncertified teachers including 40,000 new unqualified hires in the last three years. We use thematic analysis to examine 451 local district plans and quantitative analysis of state human resource data to examine the impact of the former policy and the updated Texas 2025 House Bill, which mandates the certification of core subject teachers by 2030. We examine a focal region to identify policy solutions addressing how districts will get uncertified teachers certified through the state by 2030.

Authors

• Kathryn Dixon, East Texas A&M University

• Sarah Guthery, University of Oklahoma

• Sara Jolly Jones, Houston Endowment

• Carlos Villagrana, Houston Endowment