Short answer
How do Dallas ISD teachers move to a higher column on the salary schedule?
By earning a higher TEI effectiveness level. The 2026-27 teacher schedule has nine levels: Unsatisfactory, Progressing I–II, Proficient I–III, Exemplary I–II and Master. New teachers spend year one on an introductory schedule by creditable years, Novice through 10+. No master's or doctorate pay appears; increases arrive on the October 2026 paycheck, retroactive.
Source: 2026-2027 Compensation Resource Book, Dallas ISD. Checked .
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How is the Dallas ISD teacher salary schedule organized?
The Salary Handbook section of the resource book is effective July 1, 2026. Its main teacher table, "Salary Schedule – Campus Professional: Teachers," groups the nine TEI levels under four headings: Progressing, Proficient, Exemplary and Master, with Unsatisfactory below them. Each row is a work calendar rather than a step. The base calendars are 187 and 191 days, and extended-day rows for 195, 205, 207 and 215 days are built from the 187-day figures.
A second table, the Teachers Introductory Compensation Schedule, applies only to teachers new to Dallas ISD. It runs by Creditable Years of Service (CYS) from Novice (0) to 10+, and the district uses it for the first year only. Once a new teacher has been evaluated under TEI, and provided the hire date is on or before December 31, 2026, pay in later years follows the earned effectiveness level.
Several guardrails shape movement between levels:
- Base salary cannot pass the minimum of the next performance grouping. Anything above that may be paid as a stipend.
- At the top level, base salary stops at 14 percent above the value assigned to that level, with the remainder paid as a stipend.
- Three consecutive years of lower ratings can drop a teacher one level in the fourth year.
- Teacher Incentive Allotment designations "do not play a part in base salary determination."
Teachers who are not evaluated on TEI are paid on the Instructional Support salary schedule instead. If you are used to reading a grid of steps and lanes, our guide on how to read a salary schedule shows why this one has neither.
Do graduate-level hours raise pay at Dallas ISD?
Not directly. The resource book requires every teacher outside JROTC and career and technical roles to hold a bachelor's degree and the certification TEA and SBEC require, and that is the only point where a degree enters teacher pay. The supplemental earnings list covers coaching, hard-to-staff campuses, critical shortage areas and dozens of other duties, but it contains no advanced-degree line. Completing a master's, a doctorate or 30 hours of graduate-level coursework leaves base salary where TEI puts it.
TEI measures three things, according to the district's Defining Excellence page: performance on a teacher rubric with 17 indicators across four domains, student achievement, and results from a student experience survey. A course can matter only to the extent that it improves those measures; Dallas pays for the measured result.
That makes Dallas a district where the case for coursework rests on renewal and on longer-term plans, such as a move into a role or a district that rewards a completed degree. Our article on renewal credit versus salary credit separates those two purposes.
Does Dallas ISD require approval before you take a course?
For salary purposes, no approval step exists because coursework does not feed into pay. The documentation rules in the resource book cover experience instead. Human Capital Management's Records Department accepts service records from earlier school employment, contracts or letters of appointment, and tax returns for private practice, and the Compensation Department may ask for more. Direct and related experience must be documented before salary credit is decided, and the book makes supplying official records the employee's responsibility.
When are transcripts due, and when does the new column take effect?
Two dates govern Dallas pay, and neither involves a transcript:
- Service records for new hires: if official records reach the Records Department within 30 calendar days of the assignment start date, the CYS adjustment dates back to the hire date or new assignment. After that, it takes effect on the day the records arrive.
- Effectiveness increases: teachers who earn a higher level receive the raise on the October 2026 paycheck, retroactive to the contract start date.
So a teacher who moves from Proficient I to Proficient II sees the new salary in October, with back pay covering the weeks since the contract began. For the way traditional lane districts handle timing, see lane changes, explained.
Do the same units count toward Texas license renewal?
They do. Texas certificate renewal runs on continuing professional education rather than pay, and 19 TAC §232.11 sets the classroom teacher's five-year total at 150 hours while valuing a single semester hour of accredited college work at 15 of them. Two three-hour graduate-level courses cover 90 of them. The renewal section of the Texas guide lists the topic requirements; the main Texas page compares how other districts pay.
Where can Dallas ISD teachers earn graduate-level units?
Every district, Dallas ISD included, decides for itself whether a course counts for the purpose a teacher needs it for: license renewal, an added endorsement or a degree program. No provider, university or website can make that decision, so the rules above come first, and written approval from Dallas ISD's human resources office is the safest record to have before you pay.
Dallas ISD pays by completed degree, certificate level or rating rather than by units, so courses short of a degree do not change a Dallas ISD salary on their own (see units that count). Where graduate-level units still help is license renewal, explained in the renewal section, and any other purpose Dallas ISD or Texas names in writing.
| Question | What Dallas ISD says | What to look for on the provider's site |
|---|---|---|
| Type of unit | Dallas ISD: Not used for pay; bachelor's degree required, nothing added above it | Semester or quarter units, graduate-level or not, and the university named on the transcript and its accreditor |
| Grade | See units that count | Letter grade or pass/fail on the transcript |
| Deadline | Dallas ISD: 30 calendar days; service records, from assignment start | Published grading and transcript-posting time, and any rush option |
| Approval | Dallas ISD: Not applicable; no salary credit for coursework | Course descriptions or syllabi you can attach to an approval form |
| Price | Not set by the district | All-in price per credit, including any university or first-course fee (compare) |
Graduate-level credit providers, listed with the same facts
For renewal, or for a future move to a district that pays for units, many providers issue graduate-level units through accredited universities. Providers listed on this site, each with the same facts:
- Teacher Friendly: self-paced online, units through University of the Pacific; $336 first course for 3 credits (price notes)
- Credits for Educators: self-paced online, units through University of the Pacific; $297 for 3 credits (price notes)
- PD Courses (University of La Verne): online or pdf, semester-based, units through University of La Verne; $420 for 3 credits (price notes)
- Teaching Channel: self-paced, units through a choice of eight universities; $489 for 3 credits (price notes)
- TLC Graduate Credits: self-paced, units through CSU Pueblo; $425 for 3 credits (price notes)
- Upward Teachers: self-paced, 1 to 6 months, letter grade, units through UMass Global; $240 sale for 3 credits (price notes)
The provider directory lists 28 providers and programs by what teachers need them for, and Compare sets published prices for 16 of them side by side, with transcripts from 11 universities. A listing on this site does not mean Dallas ISD has approved a provider or course; only the district can do that. TeacherPayGuide has commercial relationships with some providers it lists; how listings work.
Dallas ISD salary questions teachers ask
Does Dallas ISD pay more for a master's degree?
Not in the 2026-2027 Compensation Resource Book. Teacher base pay follows the TEI effectiveness level, and the supplemental earnings list has no advanced-degree stipend.
How is a new Dallas ISD teacher paid in the first year?
By Creditable Years of Service on the Teachers Introductory Compensation Schedule, from Novice (0) to 10+, once official records reach the Records Department. After a TEI evaluation, later years follow the earned level.
Does a TIA designation raise my Dallas base salary?
No. The resource book says TIA designations do not play a part in base salary determination.
When do Dallas ISD effectiveness raises show up?
On the October 2026 paycheck, retroactive to the teacher's contract start date.
Where can Dallas ISD teachers take graduate-level courses for license renewal?
Dallas ISD does not raise pay for units short of a degree, so check the renewal rules on this page and confirm with human resources or the state agency before you enroll. Providers that teachers compare include Teacher Friendly, Credits for Educators, PD Courses (University of La Verne), Teaching Channel, TLC Graduate Credits and Upward Teachers. They differ in format, transcript university, grading time and price; the provider directory and the Compare page list 16 providers with the same facts for each.
Sources
- 2026-2027 Compensation Resource Book (Salary Handbook effective July 1, 2026), Dallas ISD. Checked
- Teacher Excellence Initiative: Defining Excellence, Dallas ISD. Checked
- 19 TAC Chapter 232, Subchapter A, §232.11, Texas Education Agency. Checked
Reviewed November 11, 2026 by TeacherPayGuide editors.Report an error