 "Photo: Chris Soliz")
The lack of continuous leadership at Texas schools is one factor that prevents them from providing an effective education to students, said education experts at a panel discussion Friday.
In the discussion, sponsored by the LBJ School of Public Affairs Center for Health and Social Policy, five UT faculty members addressed how issues, including leadership, teacher training, funding and testing, affect education.
Less than 50 percent of Texas principals stay at the same school for more than three years, said Ed Fuller, research associate in the College of Education. In high schools, approximately 25 percent of principals spend three consecutive years in a school, he said.
"It is important to have consistent leadership," Fuller said. "Teachers need to know students better. With high turnover, how will anybody know anybody else?"
Teachers are approximately 20 percent more likely to stay at a school for multiple years if the same principal remains, he said.
"It is hard to get teachers to buy into [policy] when they know it will change again the next year," said Celeste Alexander, research associate in the College of Education.
Alexander discussed a study done in Houston that she said showed the difficulty in fully implementing policy before changes in school leadership, even when increased financial resources were granted.
Both researchers said communication breaks down when school policies change frequently and student performance suffers.
Austin's Johnston High School has had a 30 percent teacher turnover in recent years, Fuller said. The school was rated academically unacceptable in 2007 by the Texas Education Agency's testing standards, according to the agency's Web site.
"We have found that teachers are increasingly not treated as professionals," Fuller said.
There is more regiment in what and how teachers are to teach and less emphasis on the actual subject matter because test performance takes precedence over creativity in the classroom.
Qualified teachers are less likely to be attracted to the classroom when they are given less freedom in their pedagogy. In Texas, 20 percent of teachers do not have certification in the field that they are teaching, Fuller said.
One audience member at the discussion questioned whether test scores were proven as indicators of future success for students.
"We don't know that test scores are predictors of future success," said Chris King, lecturer in the LBJ School of Public Affairs.
The presenters said future success is difficult to measure in a body of students but agreed that test performance alone is not sufficient for ensuring future success. A more holistic approach to education, including job training, would likely improve students' future, presenters said.
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