Reductions in Force: Texas
Exiting Ineffective Teachers Policy
Analysis of Texas's policies
In Texas, new legislation considers teacher performance—as measured by "teacher appraisals"—as the primary criterion for districts to use in determining which continuing contract teachers are laid off during reductions in force. "Other criteria as determined by the board" are also considered.
Recommendations for Texas
Require that districts consider classroom performance and that seniority is not the sole factor for all teachers in determining which teachers are laid off during reductions in force.
Texas's policy considers performance for teachers on continuing contracts, but it does not apply to those teachers on term or probationary contracts. The state should consider expanding this policy to apply to all teachers in the state.
State response to our analysis
Texas was helpful in providing NCTQ with the facts necessary for this analysis.
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Texas
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Delivering Well Prepared Teachers
- Admission into Preparation Programs
- Elementary Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Reading Instruction
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Mathematics
- Middle School Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation in Science
- Secondary Teacher Preparation in Social Studies
- Special Education Teacher Preparation
- Assessing Professional Knowledge
- Student Teaching
- Teacher Preparation Program Accountability
Expanding the Pool of Teachers
Identifying Effective Teachers
- State Data Systems
- Evaluation of Effectiveness
- Frequency of Evaluations
- Tenure
- Licensure Advancement
- Equitable Distribution
Retaining Effective Teachers
Exiting Ineffective Teachers
Research rationale
See National Council on Teacher Quality, "Teacher Layoffs: Rethinking 'Last Hired, First-Fired' Policies." (2010); The New Teacher Project, The Case Against Quality-Blind Teacher Layoffs (2011); Boyd, Donald; Lankford, Hamilton; Loeb, Susanna; and Wyckoff, James, "Teacher Layoffs: An Empirical Illustration of Seniority v. Measures of Effectiveness" The Urban Institute, CALDER (2010); Goldhaber, Dan and Theobold, Roddy, "Assessing the Determinants and Implications of Teacher Layoffs." Center for Education Data & Research, University of Washington-Bothell (2010); Sepe, Christina and Roza, Marguerite, "The Disproportionate Impact of Seniority-Based Layoffs on Poor, Minority Students." Center on Reinventing Public Education (2010).