Jan-Feb 2018 Committee of the Full Board Wednesday Work Session Item 1

Learning Roundtable: Recruiting, Preparing, and Retaining Top Teachers Work Session

January 31, 2018

COMMITTEE OF THE FULL BOARD: DISCUSSION
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION: NO ACTION

SUMMARY: The State Board of Education and the State Board for Educator Certification are co-hosting a learning roundtable January 31 that will focus on recruiting, preparing, and retaining teachers.

BOARD RESPONSE: This item is presented for review and comment.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND SIGNIFICANT ISSUES: Texas public schools employ about 353,000 teachers. Collectively, there are more public school teachers working in Texas than in any other state.

With an annual turnover rate of about 16 percent, thousands of teachers enter and leave the system each year.

The State Board of Education and the State Board for Educator Certification are joining together to host a free one-day conference that will examine efforts to bring well-prepared educators into the classroom and retain them. The conference is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. January 31 on the fourth floor of the Austin Convention Center, located at 500 E. Cesar Chavez in Austin.

OTHER COMMENTS AND RELATED ISSUES: The State Board of Education is developing a new Long-Range Plan for Education that will establish goals through the year 2030. Recruiting, preparing, and retaining teachers is one of key topics that will be addressed in this plan. The Committee on School Initiatives will receive an update on this project Thursday. The commissioner of education has also identified this topic as one of his strategic priorities.

Staff Members Responsible:
Debbie Ratcliffe, Interim Director
Division of State Board of Education Support