Texas’ largest teacher preparation program remains under the microscope as it has less than a month to prove it fixed long-standing problems that hindered the educator pipeline.
So far, Texas Teachers of Tomorrow officials are working diligently to come off probationary status, the company’s state appointed monitor told the State Board of Educator Certification on Friday.
Company leadership must demonstrate that they’ve corrected areas previously flagged as out of compliance — such as not always ensuring educator candidates were matched with qualified teacher mentors — to avoid the potential of stricter state sanctions.
The status of Texas Teachers of Tomorrow has an outsized impact on the educator workforce in the state. The online, for-profit program enrolled nearly 70,000 aspiring educators in 2021.
“There’s been due diligence. I’ve observed the program leaning into the review process,” monitor Calvin Stocker said. “They’ve been, from my vantage point, transparent.”
But he acknowledged that because it’s still early in the process, he still hasn’t seen all the evidence that needs to be reviewed.
A final report on the outcome of the embattled company’s work is expected at the board’s December meeting.
“This process and the partnership between TEA and Teachers of Tomorrow has been very productive,” CEO Trent Beekman said in a statement. “We are hopeful that we will be in compliance and look forward to an agreed upon outcome where we can continue making positive impacts in the teaching industry.”
Since SBEC put the company on probation in July, Texas Teachers of Tomorrow must advertise that status on its website. The appointed monitor — paid for by the company — is overseeing its improvement plan.
TEA staff and Stocker have been in “consistent communication and collaboration” to work on fixing the program. That involves weekly meetings where they dig into high-priority areas, Stocker told SBEC members.
Those include ensuring the program is properly admitting candidates and appropriately tracking the number of hours candidates train in the classroom before getting their certificate.
They are also zeroing in on mentorship, confirming that experienced teachers are set up to best support educator candidates.
“There’s still a lot of documentation and artifacts that I haven’t been privileged to,” Stocker said. “I’ve seen the best-laid plans.”
The company is under new leadership, who have pledged to the board that they’ll demonstrate solutions to longstanding problems. For example, Texas Teachers of Tomorrow staff respond to customer service issues within 24 hours now, officials said.
A state audit found serious issues with Texas Teachers of Tomorrow operations in 2021, including problems with misleading marketing, not sufficiently matching candidates with mentors and a mostly online curriculum that couldn’t be proven to be based on research.
The company was also the subject of an excessive number of complaints from educator candidates, some of whom left the profession in frustration after receiving poor advice from Texas Teachers of Tomorrow that led to certification delays and financial troubles.
Of the large pool of candidates who were in the program last year, roughly 6,000 completed the program last year and only about 5,500 gained full teaching certification, according to self-reported data.
Even after being put on notice by SBEC, the company continued to have problems. Under questioning from members over the summer, company leaders revealed that 18 Texas Teachers of Tomorrow customers weren’t able to earn teaching certifications because they completed their “internship year” entirely online last school year. Teacher candidates are not allowed to do virtual internships or virtual observations.
The state will soon review a random sampling of hundreds of teacher candidates to ensure the company is in compliance.
Though board members seemed eager for detailed updates, Texas Education Agency staffer Jessica McLoughlin indicated it was still early. She expects to have concrete examples by the next meeting.
“We want to give the program the benefit of the doubt,” she said.
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from The Beck Group, Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, Todd A. Williams Family Foundation and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.
