What Texas’ Data Shows About Preparation

Every child deserves an excellent educator. Let’s give them one.

Recent data released by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) highlights concerning trends in how many newly hired teachers enter the profession with or without formal preparation. While rates vary across the state’s 20 education regions, the statewide picture reveals a growing divide between hiring needs and expectations, candidate enrollment, and the preparation pathways that support the demand.

Texas Statewide Newly Hired & Certification Data in 2024–2025:

• 43,771 teachers were newly hired across Texas.
• 31% (approx. 13,569) were hired without a Texas teacher certification or SBEC-issued permit.
• 34% (approx. 14,882) were re-entering teachers, returning after a break in Texas public school teaching.
• Only 12.3% (approx. 5,382) were Standard Certified teachers—those who had completed clinical student teaching prior to being hired.

Two Texas regions help help illustrate how this plays out on the ground:

• In Region 4 (Houston), 9,950 new teachers were hired. Only 2,782 (28%) were newly certified, while 3,191 were hired without a Texas certification or permit.
• In Region 19 (El Paso), 947 new teachers were hired. 434 (46%) were newly certified, and 96 entered without certification or under emergency permits. 

These aren’t just numbers. They reflect fundamentally different teaching conditions for P–12 students across Texas and continue to raise urgent questions for preparation programs, districts, and state leaders:

• Are preparation pathways keeping pace with the realities of regional hiring needs?
• Are certification and preparation being prioritized—or deprioritized—in staffing decisions?
• What systems are in place to ensure all new teachers are truly ready to teach?

You can explore this data, and more, in the TEA Regional Dashboard.

Preparation is the Non-Negotiable

It’s time to reframe the conversation. This is no longer about traditional vs. alternative pathways. It’s about preparation vs. no preparation.

Texas has long relied on a mix of pathways to meet workforce needs—from traditional certification programs to alternative certification and internship-based models. Each has a role to play. But across all pathways, the baseline expectation must be the same: teachers must be prepared to teach P–12 students on day one.

When preparation is missing, the burden shifts to schools and students. Gaps in readiness lead to inconsistent instruction, classroom management challenges, higher attrition, and decreased outcomes for students. But when teacher candidates are well-prepared—through rigorous coursework, structured clinical experiences, and expert coaching—students benefit, and so do the systems that support them.

What Quality Preparation Requires

To close both certification and achievement gaps, we must shift the frame from "how many teachers"  to "how well-prepared are they—and how do we scale that quality?"

At EdPrep Partners, we believe the solution lies in investing in all preparation programs and pathways—traditional, residency, internship-based, and community college—that are designed to deliver both quality and scale. Any pathway can work when it reflects what research and real-world success tell us is essential. That means programs must be:

• Coherent and research-based: Coursework, clinical experiences, and data systems must align to a shared vision of instructional performance. Candidates, faculty, supervisors, and mentor teachers should all reinforce the same expectations—grounded in what excellent teaching is.   
• Practice-rich and structured with high-quality feedback: Candidates need multiple, scaffolded opportunities to observe, rehearse, and enact instruction—both before and while they take on full classroom responsibility. Structured practice (such as simulations, rehearsals, and supported teaching experiences) must be paired with timely, specific, and high-quality feedback that drives meaningful reflection and instructional growth.
• Performance-driven and competency-based: Candidate progression must be based on demonstrated readiness, not just clock hours or course completion. Strong programs define clear developmental trajectories, set intentional benchmarks, and establish structured performance gateways—ensuring that candidates show they’re ready before advancing to the next stage of preparation or independent teaching.
• Accessible, scalable, and sustainable: The most effective programs reduce barriers to entry without lowering the bar—ensuring that preparation remains both inclusive and high-quality. This requires building the systems, staffing, and structures needed to “scale well.” Access and quality must grow together—not in opposition. This also means meeting candidates where they are, through the refinement and development of programs and pathways they’re most likely to pursue, while incentivizing and supporting more rigorous, practice-rich models that lead to lasting success in P-12 classrooms.

These aren’t theoretical ideals—they’re already in practice across countless programs nationwide and are embedded in EdPrep Partners’ Performance Framework and 14 Levers for Quality Teacher Preparation. We’ve seen firsthand how these structures drive results for teacher candidates and P–12 students—and we’ve supported programs in building and refining them to increase quality, enrollment, completion, and retention. And we need to rapidly support more.

The Research Is Clear: Preparation Matters

A 2024 policy brief from Texas Tech University found that uncertified teachers without prior classroom experience were associated with significant declines in student achievement, while those with experience (like paraprofessionals) did not harm outcomes. ¹

A separate study from Texas State University showed that students taught by unlicensed instructors experienced up to three months less academic growth in math, and those teachers also left the profession at far higher rates.²

Well-prepared teachers improve student learning and stay in the classroom longer. And any pathway that prepares them well is worth investing in.

The Opportunity for States, Regions, and Programs

Texas is not alone. States across the country are grappling with the same challenge: How do we expand the teacher workforce without sacrificing preparation quality? The data shows us both the risk and the opportunity.

Some regions—like El Paso—are making aligned, intentional moves that prioritize preparation. Others are navigating fractured systems, where hiring decisions are driven more by urgency than by long-term readiness.

The difference isn’t just about policy. It’s about intentionality, investment, and systems.

At EdPrep Partners, we’ve seen what’s possible when systems and teacher preparation programs commit to:

• Using data not just to report progress, but to drive strategy—clarifying where to invest, how to improve, and where to grow.
• Aligning teacher educator practices across coursework, clinical experiences, and district hiring—so expectations are simplified, and preparation is streamlined around what matters most.
• Investing in the people who make preparation work—faculty, staff, supervisors, mentors, and program leaders.
• Building lasting infrastructure and capacity—anchored in enrollment, staffing, and program scale, so that change sticks beyond pilots and funding cycles.

The tools exist. The frameworks are in place. We know what quality looks like.

But knowing what works is not enough. We need bold action, strategic investment, and a shared sense of urgency—paired with the capacity and know-how to scale what works and sustain it over time. 

This, like many before, is a pivotal moment for teacher preparation. If we act now—with coherence, ambition, and long-term systems in mind—we can ensure that every P–12 student is taught by a well-prepared teacher.

Let’s make this our shared commitment. Let’s make teacher preparation better—together.

Calvin J. Stocker

Founder & CEO, EdPrep Partners