HISD Embraces Innovative Support to Combat Teacher Shortages and Ensure Classroom Quality

As U.S. colleges and universities are graduating fewer teachers each year, Houston Independent School District (HISD) is reshaping how teachers are recruited, trained, and supported by embracing alternative certification routes, intensive coaching, and structured classroom resources to ensure strong instructional quality.

District officials say innovation is essential to meeting the goal of having a certified teacher in every classroom—something districts are struggling with nationwide.

"We have to be innovative because we have to find ways to put quality people in front of our students," Deputy Chief of Schools Ena Meyers said. “We cannot rely on traditional university pipelines that are currently seeing a decline in enrollment.” 

A Multi-Layered Support System

To become a teacher in Texas, you must earn a bachelor’s degree, complete an approved educator preparation program, pass state certification exams, undergo a background check, and apply for certification through the Texas Education Agency (TEA). 

However, in response to high vacancy rates statewide, HISD joined neighboring districts in adopting a District of Innovation designation and certification waivers in 2023, allowing the district to hire teachers who hold a bachelor’s degree but are not yet certified.

Those hires helped fill vacancies and have overlapped with record gains in state accountability scores at several campuses.

To bridge the gap between a college education and teacher certification, HISD has implemented several layers of professional support, including:

• An internal Alternative Certification Program (ACP) to guide candidates through the process of becoming fully certified
• Free test preparation for all HISD teachers seeking certification, ensuring they have the resources needed to succeed
• Formal classroom observations at least once per month from their campus administrators, with new teachers receiving on-the-spot coaching to provide timely, actionable feedback
• District curriculum, providing slides and notes to guide the lessons, ensuring consistent instruction

In addition to providing support to degreed aspiring teachers, the district has developed a teacher apprenticeship program through partnerships with universities to offer low- to no-cost bachelor’s degrees while gaining hands-on classroom experience alongside mentor teachers. 

Teacher apprentices can earn up to $50,000 annually with full benefits, which district officials said is the highest residency compensation in the state. 

Hear their stories 

Among HISD campuses that grew from an F to an A state accountability rating since the 2023-24 school year, Burrus and Longfellow elementary schools stand out as examples where academic gains coincided with instruction led by teachers who were still in the process of earning certification.

Rakiya Boone’s journey to the classroom began in Mississippi, where she earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education. Despite her educational background, she knew that moving to Texas would require enrolling in a certification program.  

Following her first year teaching at a Houston-area charter school, Boone joined Burrus Elementary as a kindergarten teacher in 2024 after being drawn to the leadership of Principal Nicole Williams and Vice Principal Erin Green. 

“I heard HISD was more challenging, and I was looking for an environment to push me beyond my limits,” she said. “As soon as I walked in, I felt like the environment shifted in a good way. I remember thinking, ‘This is what I prayed for.’”

Currently, she is enrolled in HISD’s ACP while teaching under a two-year waiver—a path she said requires a balance between a full-time teaching load and online coursework. Since the beginning of the year, she has doubled the percentage of students learning from below to above grade level in her class. She credits the success in her classroom to the data-informed teaching strategies and mentorship of campus leadership. 

As Boone works towards the completion of the ACP, she will be graduating this spring with her Masters in Educational Leadership. 

“Being uncertified does not mean you're unqualified,” she said. “Being a great teacher comes with knowing your students. It’s all about what’s in your heart and what you want to do.”

Julia Morgan, a third grade science teacher at Longfellow Elementary, said the assumption that uncertified teachers are less effective often ignores the realities of who these educators are and the training they receive.

“Certification is important, but it’s a piece of paper,” she said. “If you have someone willing to coach you, and you actually apply that feedback every day, you will grow.”

Morgan had an educational background in social work with a 25-year career in the medical industry before she answered her calling to teach at Longfellow in 2023. Morgan said the district’s ACP provided her the preparation for classroom management, lesson planning, and educational terminology.

She said while this foundation was important, she credits her success in the classroom to the feedback she received from her bi-monthly observations from Principal Tiffany Akpan, paired with a curriculum designed as a framework rather than a rigid script, allowing her to deliver concrete outcomes while tailoring the material for students below grade level in addition to students well above. 

"The model takes the guesswork out of it," Morgan said. “The curriculum allows me to focus on bridging the gap for students.” 

Within one year, Morgan completed her certification process and was named Teacher of the Year. At the beginning of this year, she said 23 students were below grade level, a number that dropped to just one student by mid-year. 

“My kids are growing because I take the feedback to heart and apply it,” she said. 

Accountability and Performance Standards

When hiring someone without a teaching certificate, district officials say they consider the individual’s subject-matter expertise, professional experience, and ability to support student learning, especially in hard-to-fill high school positions. 

Aspiring teachers must pass background checks, complete a performance assessment aligned with HISD’s instructional standards and culture, receive intensive training and mentorship, and be enrolled in a state-approved ACP and on the path to certification within two years. 

In the case the employee doesn’t complete the ACP within the two-year timeframe, they may be terminated at the end of the school year or reassigned to a non-instructional position until their certification is obtained. 

The ACP officials assist participants by evaluating college transcripts to determine the appropriate certification pathway and supporting them in selecting and preparing for coursework and tests aligned to their desired grade level and subject area.

In 2024, the district implemented a metric during spot observations that rated the teacher from “unsatisfactory” to “exemplary,” which will be tied to their compensation under the district’s new pay-for-performance model. All teachers, certified or not, are expected to achieve "proficient" ratings on their spot observations. According to spot observation data, teacher retention from the top performance tiers was over 85% last school year. At New Education System (NES) campuses, HISD retained 92% of its most effective teachers.

Staffing Solutions

District officials also reported improvements in staffing stability, with only two vacancies at the beginning of the 2025-26 school year compared to 544 reported in the 2022-23 school year. 

The district is building a talent pipeline with teacher apprentices—uncertified individuals who work alongside master teachers for two years to learn the craft before becoming a teacher of record—and learning coaches, a role that requires 60 college credit hours.

This tiered approach aims to provide individuals with the time and experience necessary to become excellent educators before they are given full responsibility for a classroom.

This staffing model also puts an extra educator in the classroom and has eliminated the need for substitutes at NES campuses, reversing a trend among urban campuses where students are least likely to have classroom replacements due to absence, leading to added burdens on other staff to fill vacant positions, according to a 2020 study from the Annenberg Institute at Brown University. 

An Expanding, Diverse Workforce  

As the teaching force has grown, so has diversity among these hires. The district has reversed a long-standing decline in the number of Black/African American teachers by nearly 20% between 2023 and 2025. Meyers said this shift ensures that the district’s staff more closely reflects the diverse community it serves.

“Our schools should reflect the communities they serve and the communities they will grow into,” Meyers said. “Diversity enhances learning and prepares our students for a better future.” 

Meyers said HISD will continue strengthening pathways and incentives to recruit and retain top educators—a critical step toward the district’s recent growth and the goal of all A and B-rated campuses by 2027-28.

“We know we can’t control how many people are going to college to become teachers,” she said. “We can control the training and support we give to the teachers and aspiring teachers we put in front of our kids.”