Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles said the district is retaining more highly-rated teachers compared to teachers who scored lower on the district’s teacher rating scale, according to a Sept. 29 news release.

Some context

The announcement comes after officials approved a new teacher evaluation system, dubbed the Teacher Excellence System, in March. Officials noted the data included in the Sept. 29 news release was collected in the 2024-25 school year using the district’s old evaluation system.

A closer look

According to the news release, teacher performance was broken down into six categories, with "Exemplary I" marking the highest rating and "Unsatisfactory" representing the lowest rating. According to the release, the district retained:

• 89% of its teachers rated "Exemplary I"
• 88% of teachers rated "Proficient II"
• 85% of teachers rated "Proficient I"
• 75% of teachers rated "Progressing II"
• 50% of teachers rated "Progressing I"
• 20% of teachers rated "Unsatisfactory"

Per the release, 701 of 791 teachers who received "Exemplary I" ratings were retained by the district in the 2025-26 school year. Of the 1,176 teachers who received a “Proficient II” score, 1,032 were retained.

While only 287 total teachers received an “Unsatisfactory” rating in the 2024-25 school year, 230 of those teachers did not return to the district in the 2025-26 school year.

Something to note

Overall, district data shows roughly 77% of teachers who taught in the 2024-25 school year stayed with the district in the 2025-26 school year.

Miles touted the retention rate of high-performing teachers in the news release.

“We’re encouraged to see that so many of our most effective teachers are choosing to continue their work in HISD classrooms,” Miles said. “We’re investing in our teachers because when instruction is at its best, students do their best.”