Some 8,000 individuals applied to become a teacher at Dallas ISD over the summer, with the troubled school system hiring roughly 1,400 ahead of the 2023-2024 school year.
The new educators will have their hands full in light of the district’s academic track record.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the Texas Education Agency released some of the 2022-2023 school year’s STAAR scores last month. Just like the previous school year, Dallas ISD’s scores all fell significantly below the statewide average.
In Algebra I, only 40% of students scored at grade level compared to the statewide average of 45%. However, the spread was higher in the other subjects for which scores have been released. The share of Dallas ISD students scoring at grade level in Biology was 46%. The statewide average was 57%. Dallas ISD also trailed in English I, English II, and U.S. History — by 13%, 12%, and 9%, respectively.
Still, the enthusiasm and determination expressed by new and veteran teachers alike suggest the district could at least have the human resource tools to turn things around.
“I’m so excited about the work. I’m really excited to dive in with the students. … I’m so excited to be in this brand-new campus,” said Abigael Quincena, a new teacher assigned to Walnut Hill Elementary, NBC 5 DFW reported.
Veteran teacher Alma Pandya suggested she would be focusing on the students struggling the most.
“I want the ones who need help, and so, whenever I have students who need a lot more of my effort, I say, ‘God, give me the wisdom to help them,'” Pandya said, per NBC 5. “Because that’s what I’m here for. So, it’s a challenge, and I give it my best. I don’t give up.”
Still, it is unclear whether their best efforts will translate into improved accountability metrics. As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde advised teachers and principals to drastically cut down on test preparation.
Respondents to a poll conducted last year identified mismanagement as one of the primary reasons Dallas ISD is among the worst-performing school districts in the state.
In a ranking of big-city counties in Texas conducted by The Dallas Express — based on the number of campuses that scored a D or F rating in student achievement outcomes for the 2021-2022 school year — Dallas County came in last. Dallas ISD had 57 schools that scored a D and 29 that got an F.
