Learning Roundtable: Recruiting, Preparing, and Retaining Top Teachers

The State Board of Education and the State Board for Educator Certification hosted a free one-day conference called Learning Roundtable: Recruiting, Preparing and Retaining Top Teachers from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Jan. 31, 2018 at the Austin Convention Center. Presentations and videos from the conference are available on this page.

Texas employs about 353,000 teachers. The typical Texas teacher has been teaching for about 11 years. But the most recent data from the Texas Education Agency shows a 16 percent annual turnover rate among teachers.  The conference speakers, who are national and state education leaders, will examine how we can better prepare our teacher candidates, support them while they are in the classroom and retain high-quality teachers.

Conference Agenda

January 31, 2018
Austin Convention Center
Registration check-in: Fourth floor
 
8:30-8:45 a.m.    

Conference Room: Ballroom D
Welcome Address
Video To view only the Welcome Address go to Agenda Video Clips on the right and click on Welcome.

Donna Bahorich, Chair, State Board of Education
Jill Druesedow, Chair, State Board for Educator Certification        

8:50-9:30 a.m.    

Conference Room: Ballroom D
Panel 1 – Grow Your Own Models for Teacher Recruitment
Presentation (PDF, 601KB)
Video To view only Panel 1 go to Agenda Video Clips on the right and click on Panel 1.
 Moderator: Grace Wu
 
Grow Your Own programs focus on recruiting and training potential teachers in the communities where they live. Two programs, Teach Denton and Step Up, will share their strategies for building their local pipeline.

Madison Owen, Denton ISD/Teach Denton
Leah Zavala, Teacher, Denton ISD/Texas Association of Future Educators/Teach Denton
Richard Valenta, Deputy Superintendent, Denton ISD/Teach Denton
Melanie Rincones, STEP UP Program Graduate/Teacher, Harlington CISD
Arturo Cavazos, Superintendent, Harlingen CISD
Patricia Alvarez McHatton, Dean of the College of Education, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Conference Room: Ballroom G
Panel 2 – TEA Resources for Educators
Presentation (PDF, 1,893KB)
Video
Moderator: Alejandro Delgado 

Three deputy commissioners from the Texas Education Agency will discuss agency resources that are available to the state’s educators.

A.J. Crabill, Deputy Commissioner of Governance, Texas Education Agency
Martin Winchester, Deputy Commissioner of Educator and Systems Support, Texas Education Agency
Penny Schwinn, Chief Deputy Commissioner of Academics, Texas Education Agency

9:30-9:45 a.m.    Break

9:45-11:15 a.m.    

Conference Room: Exhibit Hall 5
General Session
 
Peter M. DeWitt, author of Collaborative Leadership: Six Influences that Matter Most, keynote speaker for TASA Midwinter Conference and Learning Roundtable joint session

11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.    Lunch - own your own     

12:15-1:40 p.m.    

Conference Room: Ballroom D
General Session
Greetings
Video To view only the Greetings go to Agenda Video Clips on the right and click on Greetings.
 
Raymund Paredes, Commissioner of Higher Education, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
Mike Morath, Commissioner of Education, Texas Education Agency
    
Keynote
 
Doug Lemov, author of Teach Like a Champion
Lemov Presentation (PDF, 29,657KB)
Lemov Presentation (PowerPoint, 21,640KB)
Video To view only the keynote go to Agenda Video Clips on the right and click on Keynote.

1:45-2:45 p.m.   

Conference Room: Ballroom D
Panel 3 – District-Preparation Program Partnerships
Presentation (PDF, 12,771KB)
Video To view only panel 3 go to Agenda Video Clips on the right and click on Panel 3.
 Moderator: Tim Miller

Learn about Educator Preparation Programs and school districts that are partnering to provide strong support and preparation for teacher candidates.

Susan Simpson Hull, Superintendent, Grand Prairie ISD

Scott Ridley, Dean, Texas Tech University 
Chris Fraser, Senior Dean, Relay Graduate School for Education
Gabriela Sanchez, Teacher, Kipp Explore Academy
George Kazanas, Superintendent, Midway ISD
Krystal Goree, Director of Professional Practice, Baylor University

Conference Room: Ballroom G
Panel 4 – Diversity in the Teaching Workforce:  Attracting and Supporting Candidates of Color
Presentation (PDF, 3,213KB)
Encarnacion Garza Handout  (PDF, 65KB)
Video
Moderator: Martin Winchester 

This panel will discuss lessons they’ve learned around attracting and retaining a diverse educator workforce that more closely reflects the state’s students.

Fernanda Pierre, Teacher, Spring Branch ISD
Marcus Nelson, Superintendent, Waco ISD
Martha Salazar-Zamora, Superintendent, Tomball ISD
Cassandra Herring, President and Chief Executive Officer, Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity
Encarnacion Garza, Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies,
The University of Texas at San Antonio

2:45-3:00 p.m.    Break

3:00-4:00 p.m.    

Conference Room: Ballroom D
Panel 5 – Supporting Teachers Early in Their Career
Presentation (PDF, 18,322KB)
Video
Moderator: Jessica McLoughlin

 Learn about effective strategies for supporting teachers early in their career from our panel of influential leaders in the field. This panel will discuss best practices for developing and supporting beginning teachers from the perspective of current teacher, district, university, and non-profit leaders.

Macy Dale, Fourth-Grade Teacher, Becker Elementary, Austin ISD
Allison Ashley Friedlander, Instructional Coach, Austin ISD/2017 Texas Teacher of the Year
Diana Richie, Director of Strategic Partnerships, New Teacher Center
Shannon Terry, Director of Professional Learning, Arlington ISD
Stacey Edmonson, Dean of the College of Education, Sam Houston State University/
President-elect of Texas Association of Colleges of Teacher Education
   
Conference Room: Ballroom G
Panel 6 – Opportunities for Growth and Development for Experienced Teachers
Presentation (PDF, 2,012KB)
Video
Moderator: Blair Claussen

Learn about effective educator growth and development opportunities from our panelist of influential teachers. These panelists will describe how state and national programs and organizations, including the Texas Lesson Study, Opportunity Culture, the Teaching Policy Fellowship, National Board Certification, and the Teacher Advancement Program, impacted their professional learning.

Michele Willis, Texas Lesson Study Teacher, Fredericksburg ISD
Rodrigo Rodriguez-Tovar, National Association of Bilingual Educators Teacher of the Year/National Board Certified Teacher, Austin ISD
Angela Sherwood, Opportunity Culture’s Multi-Classroom Leader, Harlandale ISD
Amber Simpson, Executive Master Teacher, Somerset ISD
JoLisa Hoover, Teacher, Leander ISD

4:05-4:30 p.m.   

Conference Room: Ballroom D
Closing Remarks
 
Donna Bahorich, Chair, State Board of Education
Jill Druesedow, Chair, State Board for Educator Certification