From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Subscribe to the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Imagine sending your child to school only to find out their teacher has never been trained. No coursework. No classroom experience. Just passion—and a paycheck.

According to researcher, Jacob Kirksey, that’s the reality for more than half of first-time teachers in Texas, and it's a growing trend across the country. In this episode, we dive into the alarming data behind uncertified teachers and why proper teacher training is key to student success and school culture.

We also talk about what education needs to do to show it values its veteran teachers and why this situation impacts everyone.

Solution Tree – Episode Sponsor

For over 25 years, Solution Tree has partnered with schools and districts to deliver research-driven professional development that helps teachers turn their passion into real progress for their students. See the results they’ve helped schools achieve at SolutionTree.com/10MinuteTeacher. 

🎧 Listen to the Episode

Prefer to listen or watch? Catch the full episode here!

<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio">
Watch this video on YouTube.Subscribe to the Cool Cat Teacher Channel on YouTube
<figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Listen to the Podcast

<iframe title="Embed Player" src="https://play.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/36231705/height/192/theme/modern/size/large/thumbnail/yes/custom-color/2d568f/time-start/00:00:00 /playlist-height/200/direction/backward/font-color/FFFFFF" height="192" width="100%" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" oallowfullscreen="true" msallowfullscreen="true" style="border: none;"></iframe>

Stream by clicking here.

Subscribe to the Show

Key Takeaways

📉 Uncertified Teachers Cause Learning Loss

Students taught by uncertified teachers lose an average of 3 months in math and 4 months in reading.
Dr. Jacob Kirksey shares powerful data from Texas showing how lack of certification hurts academic outcomes—especially in grades 3–8.

“It’s not just a small impact. It’s real learning loss.”

---

❗ Early Intervention Gaps Are Growing

Students with uncertified teachers in early grades are less likely to be screened for dyslexia.
That means important diagnoses are missed, delaying needed support for struggling learners.

“We’re seeing a misdiagnosis problem that will spread into later grades.”