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Published
by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLICK FOR NEWSPAPER DELIVERY
Sunday, October 7, 2001
Uncertified teachers concern officials
Study says students of non-certified instructors don't do as well on tests
By Stephanie L. Jordan
Caller-Times
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David Adame/Caller-Times
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Lindsay Gammel, who teaches sixth-grade science at Grant Middle School, is certified to teach physical education.
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Teachers such as Kurt Obersteller are the solution to one problem facing public schools and examples of what some educators say is another problem.
Obersteller, 24, entered the classroom with only the knowledge he gained studying for a history degree; in other words, without a teaching certificate.
Now he's doing what 25 percent of Texas' new teachers did in the 2000-2001 school year - teaching and earning certification simultaneously.
He's typical of most uncertified teachers, some say. Obersteller and other teachers like him are one answer to the problem school districts here and nationwide are having finding certified teachers, especially in subjects such as math and science.
But as school districts scramble to fill vacancies, competing with each other and the private sector in the process, they might be headed toward a second problem.
While there's debate about the ramifications of having uncertified teachers, one study shows that students in schools where less than 85 percent of the teachers are certified don't do as well on standardized tests as those with 100 percent certified staff.
Shortage may worsen
In Corpus Christi Independent School District, Travis Elementary School has 84 percent certified staff. Two others, Moore and Prescott elementary schools, have 85 percent. The rest have a higher percentage of certified teachers. None of the three schools are below the acceptable status on state test scores, and Prescott is a recognized school.
Although the Corpus Christi school district is better off than others in the state, local educators say they think the shortage will worsen and the reliance on uncertified teachers will increase.
Many said they are disturbed by the trend.
Sid Garner, principal at Driscoll Middle School, acknowledged the need for uncertified teachers, but he said he was concerned that too many would cause problems in the future.
"It's not smart to have uncertified teachers for a couple of reasons," Garner said. "There needs to be some training so you can be well versed on dealing with youngsters and teachers need to know the state tests."
And the problem may get worse in coming years.
"It's going to get more severe unless there are some changes," said Linda Gehman, certification specialist for the Education Service Center Region II. "As the population grows, more students are entering school. And with low salaries and the working environment, people are more reluctant to enter the field."
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Paul Iverson/Caller-Times
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Driscoll Middle School science teacher Holly Sindt helps student Alex Rodriguez on the computer. Sindt, who has passed her teacher-certification test, was sought by school districts before she graduated from college.
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And if schools' reliance on uncertified teachers grows, students might suffer.
Ed Fuller, senior research and policy specialist for the University of Texas' Charles A. Dana Center, found that third-graders with 100 percent certified teachers pass the TAAS test at a rate of 75.3 percent. In that same grade, where students had less than 85 percent certified staff, the passing rate dropped to 63.7 percent.
"A lot of the research shows that content knowledge in teaching makes a difference," Fuller said. "And the shortage of all teachers is getting greater and greater. A lot of the research shows that content knowledge affects students the most, and knowing something on instructional techniques makes a difference, too."
What certification means
"There's a lot more to teaching than knowledge," said Patrick Shaughnessy, director of communications for the State Board for Educator Certification. "To be a teacher, you must know how children learn. You could have the best physicist in the world who can't teach physics."
What certified teachers have demonstrated to the state, that uncertified teachers have not, is an understanding of how to share knowledge with the age group before them in the class.
"It gives teacher content and methodology of teaching," said Jesus Chavez, superintendent for the Corpus Christi Independent School District.
"The classes you take teach you how to teach to the elementary, kindergarten, Special Ed., middle school or high school student. It's a problem finding certified teachers. If we're not careful and the shortage gets too severe, it's going to start spreading to other areas."
Obersteller said teaching turned out to be harder than he expected, especially since he was having to learn how to teach at the same time.
"Much, much harder," he said. "I'm having problems learning ways to make the subject interesting. I was told that's a problem all new teachers have."
The shortage
Last year, the Corpus Christ Independent School District had 172 uncertified teachers out of more than 2,500. Last year in Texas, there were more than 9,700 newly hired uncertified teachers in the classroom out of more than 38,000. An average of 25 percent of new teacher hires in the state are uncertified. To date, about six percent of CCISD's teachers are uncertified.
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Paul Iverson/Caller-Times
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Kurt Obersteller (right) is a Miller High School football coach and classroom teacher. He has a history degree but no teaching certificate.
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Educators cite a variety of reasons for the shortage that is driving the need for uncertified teachers.
The first is teachers' salaries, which send some who could enter the classroom into the private sector instead. Another factor is work environment, including the threat of violence from students, some say.
Uncertified teachers have a college degree, but some don't have a teaching certificate. Some certified teachers have a certificate, but not for the subject matter they're teaching.
That's the case with Lindsay Gammel, a Grant Middle School sixth-grade science teacher. He is certified to teach physical education, but after graduating from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, he decided to go into pharmaceutical sales. After a year he decided to enter the classroom.
"I wanted to be around people and help people," the 27-year-old said. "I think some people might not want to enter the classroom, or leave it, because of the teacher-to-student ratio. There are sometimes just too many students."
Competing for teachers
School districts are competing with each other, as well as the private sector for teachers, which means some types of school districts are harder pressed than others to fill vacancies, a university study found. Of the 9,793 new teachers who were not certified in the state last year, 36 percent were in major urban school districts, while other types of districts had a range of 22 to 25 percent, according to a study by the Texas A&M University Institute for School-University Partnerships.
"I don't know if this was surprising so much as reinforcement of what we suspected," said Dorian Martin, director of communications and partnership development for the institute.
Holly Sindt, a science teacher at Driscoll Middle School, knew that she wouldn't have a hard time finding a job in the classroom after graduating from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in August.
Although she has a degree and has successfully taken the test to be certified as a teacher, she was hired before she had her paperwork and is considered an uncertified teacher.
"Houston contacted me before I even graduated to ask me to come interview for a job," said the 27-year-old eighth-grade science teacher. "I kind of expected that because I know they need science teachers."
Filling positions in math, science, special education, English as a Second Language and in the case of CCISD, music, is a challenge and schools spend more time and effort on recruiting teachers for those positions.
"We've done better than others," said Michael Briones, director of secondary certified personnel for CCISD. "We have more people on permits this year than in years past."
The institute will continue to study the issue, Martin said.
"We hope to continue this study so we can continue to see what's happening and what we need to do," Martin said.
To help train uncertified teachers, the state has allowed emergency and temporary certification permits so teachers may earn their certification while instructing. There are three types of temporary certification that are authorized by the state.
The first is for out-of-state teachers. That is for those who have taught in other states and are trying to get their certification in Texas.
The second is a one-year non-renewable certification for people who have completed their studies but still have to pass the certification test. In this situation, a teacher would have one year to pass it.
The last type is an emergency certification granted for one year that can be renewed twice if the teacher meets each year's criteria. Emergency certification allows someone with a college degree to teach while finishing the studies required of a certified teacher.
What districts can do
Both the state and schools districts are taking steps to combat the shortage, Shaughnessy said. One method is an accelerated program whereby teachers who have degrees can get certified. In 1985, Houston and a district in New Jersey were the first to start an accelerated program. To date the state has 37 alternative programs for teachers to receive certification and about 2,700 teachers a year get their certificates through those programs.
And Linda Bridges, president of the American Federation of Teachers local teachers union, said the state needs to try to bring recently certified teachers into the classroom, and study why they are going to the private sector.
"There are people out there who are certified to teach, but aren't and we need to learn why," Bridges said. "I think people find that teaching isn't as easy as they thought it would be. Some thought they would work 187 days and then you're off the rest of the time."
There is a new program at CCISD to try to keep new teachers, Bridges said, in which new teachers are teamed with classroom veterans to provide mentoring and guidance through the rough first years.
What would also help, Shaughnessy said, is to be able to retain teachers through their fifth year.
"After five years, retention gets better," he said. "There have been years when we've lost 20 percent of the first-year teachers."
The state was recently a recipient of a three-year, $10 million grant to start a program to help teachers make the transition from college to the classroom.
"There are no simple answers to the problem," Shaughnessy said.
Some students and parents say that uncertified teachers have advantages over those who haven't worked outside a school environment.
"I think an uncertified teacher would be good because they would know how the world works," said Amy Keever, a 17-year-old senior at Miller High School and a student in Obersteller's class. "What would make it harder for him to teach us is if he couldn't relate to us."
Eric Leal, a 16-year-old classmate of Keever's agrees.
"I feel like the way he's teaching me is right," he said. "He knows what has to get done and he makes us want to learn."
Karen Vaughan, who has a 14-year-old freshman at Calallen High School, also agrees with Keever to a certain extent, but can see a reason to be concerned.
"My main concern is that they understand the subject matter and young people," she said. "Her knowledge gain would be the most important. But still, someone who has put the knowledge to practice may be better than someone who doesn't have practical knowledge of the subject matter.
"What would help this situation, really, is to make it rewarding for people who decide to teach," Vaughan said. "Because in the end, the better prepared they are, the better prepared our children will be to handle what there is to deal with in life."
Contact Stephanie L. Jordan at_886-3724 or jordans@caller.com
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