In Texas, students entering the dual-credit program, with the goal of becoming educators, often face unclear pathways and unnecessary obstacles. But in the North Texas area, a multi-department group is working to change that—it started as early as high school.
Through courses in Technical Early High School (P-Tech) and Early High School, students can start working hard toward teaching certificates before graduation. Accelerated by the Acceleration of Texas Education (A2C) Task Force – Fuse local independent school districts, Dallas College and four-year college partners to create clear pathways that connect the preparation of educators in high school, community college and bachelor’s degree.
While the intention behind many dual-credit programs is to provide more opportunities for students, the reality is that demand inconsistencies across institutions often cause confusion. A student can graduate from high school to earn college credits, only to find that those credits are not transferred to a four-year degree. Or they may complete an associate degree that does not match the Bachelor of Education degree program.
To address this problem, A2C partners designed a coordination model called the target pathway, which:
- Align the associate degree pathway with all bachelor’s degree programs in the region.
- Meet high school graduation and core course requirements in Texas.
- Create space for local adaptation within a unified regional framework.
- Provide students with a clear map of all degree and certification requirements.
These simplified pathways are designed to improve student achievement, reduce excessive credit accumulation, increase candidate number, complete degree on time, and reduce debt.
The Associate Degree of Teaching (AAT) Degrees earned by students in these P-Tech programs show that outcomes in entering the education profession are encouraging. Between 2010 and 2023, 49% of Dallas-Forts’ AAT income became a small number of professionals or teachers or promoted to educational leadership positions, according to an analysis by Wesley Edwards of the University of North Texas. AAT AnalysisUniversity of North Texas, April 23, 2024 and September 21, 2024). As these pathways expand in more high schools, statewide partners should continue to invest in the support students need to enter the educational workforce.
“Developing a powerful avenue for high school students not only earn certificates, but also gaining valuable industry exposure is crucial because we want to meet the workforce needs,” said Robert Dehaas, vice provost at the School of Education at Dallas College.
This work is not just consistency in academic time, but building the relationships and trust needed to create meaningful changes.
“This work requires close coordination among large systems that are not always collaborative,” Dehaas said. “This collaboration has helped facilitate the alliance building needed to decompose these historic silos and create a university roadmap to support the upward economic mobility of our students.”
Education Texas will continue to support A2C by helping school districts implement these avenues and fostering collaboration with higher education partners. Through investment regional consistency and early access, the A2C model provides promising solutions for expanding the teacher pipeline in Texas and beyond.
