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Below is the HillCo client report from the July 22 Senate Higher Education Committee hearing.

This report of the July 22 Senate Committee on Higher Education hearing focuses only on the following charge:
 
Examine and make recommendations regarding improvements in teacher preparation and certification programs to address any misalignment with school district shortages and problems with retaining new teachers.

First Panel
Raymund Paredes, Commissioner of Higher Education

  • Texas ranks 47th in reading and 42nd in math in SAT scores
  • Increasing teacher quality creates a reduction in teacher quantity
  • Teachers need to be able to perform technological tasks beyond their predecessors’ skill sets
  • 100% of top-performing  countries’ teachers come from top 1/3 of university classes, but only 23% of U.S. teachers come from the top 1/3 of university classes
  • Texas teaching programs have little quality control and are weak in providing individual assistance
  • Should begin field experience early to provide immediate application of educational theory to the classroom
  • The highest performing education systems have rigorous assessment tests that take up to five full class days to complete (i.e. Finland and Singapore)
  • Texas Teacher Residency Program is supporting improvements in education excellence
  • Attrition rate in Texas has been lower than the rate of entry in the workforce

 
Michael Williams, Commissioner of Education

  • 150 educational preparation programs are in the state – 53% are university programs and the rest are from alternative teaching programs
  • 44% of new teachers come from university teaching programs and have a 5-year retention rate of 77% – 11% of new teachers come from outside of Texas and have a 61% retention rate
  • There were 1,100 less new teachers hired in 2012 based on education funding cuts – bilingual education services have continuously experienced shortages
    • 400 Austin ISD teaching positions are still unfilled for the upcoming school year
  • Teachers are often unfamiliar with Texas teaching standards and lack real-world applications

 
Q&A
 
Chairman Kel Seliger

  • Occupations available to women were previously limited to teachers, nurses and secretaries – women are now straying away from teaching and becoming lawyers and engineers. How do we promote teaching opportunities for women?
    • Williams asked for greater benefits and support for teachers – higher compensation for teachers will create greater competition and incentives for women to pursue teaching
  • Teachers start at $50,000/year which cannot compete with law firms at $100,000/year. At what level do we need to compete to attract competitive teachers?
    • Paredes suggested creating an 11-month contract for teachers which would raise the salary by 2/9th and provide time for continued education and training
  • Is there a qualitative difference between university and alternative teaching certification programs?
    • Williams noted that there is little difference between these two programs
  • If an 11-month teacher contract is feasible, how should it be addressed (legislator, agency, local)?
    • This policy would have to be implemented through legislation on the state level

 
Sen. Judith Zaffirini

  • What would be three recommendations based on the charge?
    • Williams recommended assessments should test teachers of their content knowledge before entering the classroom and encouraged ISDs to report how well individuals were prepared when they entered the system
    • Paredes asked legislators to identify fundamental characteristics of teacher preparation programs, familiarize teachers with TEKS,  and create more rigorous requirements for certification
  • Commissioner Williams’ workbook was criticized for only having data and no written testimony –Zaffirini noted TEA continuously focuses on the problem rather than creating solutions
  • Why has there been no progress? What are the barriers to putting teachers on an 11-month contract?
    • Paredes noted there have been no immediate changes to improve the teaching profession
      • Fiscal note would be attached to an 11-month contract and would be shot down
      • Teacher Residency Program has potential
  • Should professional development be individualized?
    • Paredes says yes. School could be departmentalized based on teacher strengths – intensive professional development can be specialized based on weaknesses

 
Sen. Jose Rodriguez

  • What are we doing to promote bilingual education? El Paso dual-language programs affect ESL credited teachers – could ESL teachers be allowed to participate in dual-language programs based on their certification?
    • Williams suggested for Sen. Rodriguez to continue working on legislation that would authorize school districts to strategically use ESL and bilingual-certified teachers
  • There should be a study to see what keeps Latinos from entering the teaching profession – teachers no longer want to teach to the test

 
Second Panel
Dr. Bob McPherson, Dean of College of Education, University of Houston

  • 5/1,300 incoming students are pursuing teaching as a profession at UH this year
  • Prestige and benefits are largely absent in the teaching profession – students are taking classes with other students engaged in rigorous, well-paid internships and teaching cannot compete
  • Teaching programs should become mandatory for all accreditation
  • Seliger asked if UH students are familiar with TEKS before receiving their teacher certification
    • McPherson said not on average – students are coming from community colleges and varying backgrounds that make it difficult to fully inform students of this standardized test
  • Zaffirini asked for further explanation of UH retirement program
    • UH aims to recruit retired teachers to engage in teacher education programs
  • Rodriguez noted teachers’ salaries should be differentiated based on location and the curriculum taught
    • Baseline pay should be raised to $70,000
    • 11-month teacher contract should factor in child-care services considering a majority of teachers are women and have children

 
Diane Huber, President, iTeach Texas

  • Candidates prepared in traditional and alternative programs provide the same level of quality in the classroom – alternative programs provide a more diverse pool of teachers
  • iTeach interns are provided with a minimum of one formal visit and five random visitations during their first year of accreditation
  • All programs should hire more field supervisors – state should hire more diverse and skilled supervisors
    • State should have greater focus on first-year teacher training
  • Texas leads the country in providing multiple pathways for students to seek teacher certification
  • Current retention rate data of traditional programs do not consider candidates who complete teacher certification but do not enter the profession
  • Probationary certificates that a program matriculates to standard certificate should be recorded
  • State board should have one member with alternative teaching experience
  • Zaffirini asked how educators would react to iTeach Texas’ recommendations
    • Teachers might not wish for national accreditation but this option would provide the greatest positive impact on students

 
Alex Torrez, Superintendent. Pflugerville ISD

  • Alternative Certification Programs (ACPs) help fill the need for health and science focused teachers
  • Students need more teaching experience before entering the classroom as a first-year teacher
  • There needs to be a more realistic standard of the role of a teacher – both educational and life instruction
    • Teachers are not initially aware of the full needs of their students
  • Specialty area (auto technology, biomedical, etc.) restrictions are recommended to be removed
  • Seliger asked if there are too many standards to meet in the TEKS
    • Most educators would say yes
  • Zaffirini asked when teachers should have mastery of communication and management skills
    • ACPs continuously emphasize these values during their accreditation program – skills should be developed in the classroom

 
John Fitzpatrick, Executive Director, Educate Texas

  • State has created a complicated governance model for regulated teaching programs
    • There should be an analysis of the relationship between access and quality
  • Texas Teaching Commission report  identifies Texas’ strength in teaching theory but its weakness in implementing practice
    • Teaching accreditation requires students to partake in a minimum of 30 hours of practical application with 15 of those hours available for completion online
  • Every public teacher prep program but very few private programs participated in the independent teaching program assessment – 84 out of 208 programs participated
    • 33 out of the 84 schools who participated were ranked at the bottom half of national program quality standards
    • A majority of alternative certification programs received failing grades
  • Seliger asked if there is a difference in an alt-cert teaching program and an alt-cert for-profit teaching program
    • No, there is no difference
  • Zaffirini asked why prior legislation should be readdressed and implemented
    • State agencies have not met the standards mandated by legislation