More students have educators without a state certification as Texas schools need to fill classrooms.A study by Texas Tech University’s Jacob Kirksey examined the ramifications stemming from an explosion of uncertified teachers across the state.Students with new uncertified teachers lost the equivalent of about four months of learning in reading and three months in math, Kirksey’s research found.
“Qualified teachers are trained to recognize early signs of dyslexia, administer screening instruments, and understand the importance of accurate and timely diagnoses for early intervention and support,” he wrote. “The hiring of uncertified teachers has likely resulted in significant underdiagnoses of dyslexia.”
But Kelsey Kling, a policy analyst with the teacher union Texas AFT, said the fact that uncertified teachers are the largest category of new hires across the state is “more than a little alarming.” Different regions of the state also had striking disparities in the percentage of certified vs. uncertified teachers hired in recent years. In Region 10, which includes Dallas as well many other smaller districts, about 46% of new hires were uncertified.In Region 3, which is headquartered in Victoria, roughly 7 in 10 new hires lacked certification. On the other end of the spectrum was El Paso’s Region 19, where about 23% of new, first-time teacher hires were uncertified.