An important means of ensuring educational equity across schools is guaranteeing that students with the greatest need have access to high-quality teachers. Measures of teacher quality often include advanced degree attainment, formal background in education, certification status and years of teaching experience, all of which are associated with students’ educational success.
This series of briefs examined whether the distribution of qualified teachers in the Houston Independent School District during the 2018–19 and 2019–20 school years was equitable, as well as how teacher qualifications were related to achievement, absenteeism and discipline outcomes for Hispanic and Black students. The series also analyzed how the availability of Black and Hispanic teachers were related to Hispanic and Black students’ academic and behavioral outcomes.
