Updates related to Educator Preparation Program Management
New: Continuing Approval Review Document Submission Guidance
When submitting review documents to TEA using a secure ShareFile link, please follow the guidance below:
(1) Zip/compress the folders being uploaded
(2) Use a short and concise naming scheme for all folders and documents, and
(3) Try to avoid using more than 3 subfolders.
If the names of files and documents are too long, or if there are too many subfolders, TEA may be unable to successfully download and unzip the submitted materials. If you have any questions about this, contact your assigned review specialist.
New: Certification Officer Training – Thank You!
Thank you to those that were able to attend the 2-day virtual Certification Officer training. There were 140 attendees! TEA hopes you found the training to be helpful and enjoyed talking with other EPP staff members. We appreciate the feedback we received from the training survey. It is useful when planning future training opportunities. TEA will provide the presentation slides and FAQ document to the attendees once it’s made available.
New: Survey Data Distribution
On Monday, TEA distributed the principal survey, teacher survey, and student growth indicator data sets to EPPs. This information was provided to EPPs to support continuous improvement and monitoring efforts. More information about these data sets is available in this video. If your EPP did not receive an email, please check your junk email folder and with your EPP’s staff member who typically received data.
Vetted Texas Tutor Corps Application for EPPs
TEA’s Texas Tutoring Team is pleased to announce that an application for the Vetted Texas Tutor Corps tailored to meet the diverse strengths and abilities of Educator Preparation Program teams is now available for consideration of submission. The team is sourcing and connecting partners that can collaborate and empower LEAs as they work to meet the learning needs of their students in relation to accelerating learning and closing the achievement gap.
The application for the Vetted Texas Tutor Corps can be found here. Please email TexasTutoring@tea.texas.gov with any questions. The Texas Tutoring team looks forward to receiving applications from interested EPP’s.
2021-2022 ASEP Reporting is Complete
We’ve made it through another year of ASEP reporting! Thank you for reporting the required data and submitting the required forms to TEA. With the start of the new reporting year, we encourage you to think about how you can retain and report data throughout the 2021-2022 academic year to make next year’s reporting deadline as easy one. Remember, EPPs can report field observations as they occur throughout the year. You should not wait until next September to report field observations. Please reference the 2021-2022 Educator Preparation Program Data Reporting Manual for ASEP reporting guidance.
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EPP-Facing Dashboard Update
upcoming EPP-facing Data Dashboards now have a name and logo. The ”Insight to Impact” dashboards will provide useful data for EPPs. Be sure to check back for upcoming announcements related to this exciting work. |
Updates related to Educator Standards and Certification Testing
New: Interactive Practice Exams now available for School Counselor (252) and Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities for Trade & Industrial (370)
New Interactive Practice Exams became available on September 28, 2021 for the new School Counselor and PPR for Trade and Industrial Education exams. TExES Interactive Practice Exams are designed to simulate the actual testing experience for candidates. Each exam offers:
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Convenient online access
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An interactive exam simulation featuring sample exam questions
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Comprehensive, immediate feedback on the candidate’s performance for the selected-response questions
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A realistic online experience similar to an actual computer-administered testing environment
DID YOU KNOW?
The Required Texas Certification Tests chart has been recently updated. It includes information around exam replacements and deadlines to apply for certification. The chart can be found on the Educator Testing page.
Updates related to actions by the State Board for Educator Certification, the State Board of Education, and the Legislature.
New: October SBEC Meeting
The State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) meeting was held on Friday, October 1, 2021. The agenda from Friday’s meeting can be found here, and the recording here.
Every newsletter we take this space to highlight questions that we have heard from EPPs.
Q: If an educator is standard certified in Trade & Industrial Education 6-12 and has a bachelor’s degree, can the educator add an additional teacher certification category at a later time?
A: through the Additional Certification by Exam route. The educator would be required to pass the content pedagogy exam to add the certificate. The PPR (TExES #160) exam is not required since the candidate took the T & I PPR (TExES #270) exam for T & I certification.
Additional updates on initiatives and opportunities from the TEA.
New: Texas Covid Learning Acceleration Supports Grants
During late summer 2021, The Texas Education Agency launched the Texas COVID Learning Acceleration Supports (TCLAS) grant, a set of funding and targeted supports available to Local Education Agencies (LEAs) to accelerate student learning in the wake of COVID-19, utilizing state and federal funds. The TCLAS grant has provided LEAs the option to select up to ten unique decision points that support high leverage learning acceleration strategies:
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Strategic Planning
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High Quality Instructional Materials
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Teacher Pipelines
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Increased Student Learning Time
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Innovative School Models
Overall, well over 700 LEAs were awarded grant funding to address these strategies, totaling over 1 billion dollars in LEA support. Within those 700 LEAs, 90+ LEAs were awarded Decision 5: Residency Supports, a component of the overall teacher pipeline strategy.
The Decision 5 TCLAS grant supports districts in building high-quality, sustainable
teacher residencies in partnership with one or more of the fifteen approved Vetted Teacher Residency Programs. With the grant, LEAs receive funding to support residents’ living stipends and residency implementation over the course of the Fall 2021- Spring 2024
grant cycle. The grant also provides technical assistance to develop innovative staffing models that reallocate existing district funds to sustain resident stipends and program supports beyond the lifetime of the grant.
We want to additionally express gratitude to the vetted teacher residency programs who supported partner LEAs through the application and the launch of the grant. Their support has made this tremendous opportunity a reality for our LEAs!
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TEA is Hiring!
The Educator Data, Research, and Strategy EPCE team is hiring a senior analyst. This analyst leads the technical and analytical work completed by the EDRS-EPCE team. They are responsible for detailed analysis and extensive research using preparation and certification data.
Click this link for more details:
https://bit.ly/3CISZub
The EPCE Department Manager is a new role that will coordinate activities for the Educator Preparation, Certification and Enforcement Department at TEA including project management, stakeholder engagement, and executive-level administrative support for the EPCE Associate Commissioner.
Click on this link for more details:
https://bit.ly/3t0zc64.
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Information regarding the Science of Teaching Reading Exam can be accessed at tea.texas.gov/str.
Information regarding edTPA 2020-2021 information opportunities can be accessed here.
Information and updates regarding the Performance Assessment for School Leaders (PASL) can be accessed at the Important Updates link.
Updated information related to the COVID-19 response can be accessed here.
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Lesson Study Gateway Resources
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Practice based preparation resources for virtual field-based experience: Provides model lessons and video of instructional delivery.
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Texas Teach Like a Champion (TLAC)
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Practice based preparation resources for virtual field-based experience: Provides content neutral pedagogical skill building through observing a model of and practicing the same high leverage skill.
Texas TLAC One Pager for EPPs
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Full scope and sequence of upcoming edTPA training opportunities.
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