July 12, 2022: Texas Educator Preparation Programs Newsletter

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Texas Education Agency

July 12, 2022

Texas Educator Preparation Programs Newsletter

Three young students on the floor, sharing a book called Ovals, from Donna ISD

Welcome

"Happiness is a Slurpee and a hot pink straw." - Jenny Han 

Feel free to choose a different straw color, but for me and my family the way to our hearts is a Slurpee; and if the Slurpee is free, you have customers for life! 7 Eleven offers free Slurpees in July, which is a great reminder that it is the little things in life that make a difference. A small sugary drink may not seem like much but watching the smiles on customers' faces as they choose their straw color and walk out happily sipping a frozen treat on a hot day serves as a reminder that a little kindness goes a long way. As we gear up for the coming semester, be a free Slurpee and find ways to make someone smile.   


Our goal is for this newsletter to serve as a support by compiling the most up-to-date information concerning what you need to know that impacts your candidates in the coming weeks. Please thoroughly read all the sections for reminders, upcoming events, to dos, and FAQs.   

If you are not currently subscribed to the newsletter, please sign up at the link below.   
Educator Preparation Program Listserv Registration  


Upcoming Events


Topic 

Description 

Event Date & Time 

Task 4 Deep Dive (Elementary Education Only) 

This workshop is intended for faculty, instructors, supervisors, and school partners who support 
elementary education teacher candidates. In this workshop, a member of the edTPA National Academy (affiliated with a Texas Educator Preparation Program) will guide participants through a close examination of the Elementary Education: Task 4 Mathematics and its rubrics, providing a deeper dive into what candidates are asked to think about, do, and write as well as how candidate portfolios will be evaluated. 

Friday
(Half Day)
 

July 15, 2022

9 a.m. – 12 p.m. 

edTPA 101: Orientation to Performance-Based, Subject-Specific Assessment 

This webinar is for faculty, instructors, supervisors, and P-12 partners who support teacher candidates and are new to edTPA. In this edTPA 101 webinar, participants will be provided with an overview of the purpose, development, and design of edTPA. Additionally, participants will examine what candidates provide as evidence for each of the edTPA tasks, engage in a review of the scoring process, and learn how to access key resources. 

Wednesday 

July 20, 2022

3:00 – 4:00 p.m. 

Curriculum Inquiry 

This workshop is intended for faculty, instructors, and supervisors who support teacher candidates. In this collaborative workshop, a member of the edTPA National Academy (affiliated with a Texas Educator 

Preparation Program) will provide opportunities for participants to review their programs’ scope and sequence and course syllabi to identify areas in which the constructs, measured by edTPA, are already embedded and could naturally be embedded. 

Friday
(Half Day)
 

July 29, 2022

9 a.m. – 12 p.m. 

edTPA Implementation Series (Parts 3 & 4) 

In this webinar series, an edTPA National Academy Member (affiliated with a Texas Educator Preparation Program) will orient participants to the subject-specific, performance-based assessment edTPA; provide examples of best practices to effectively implement edTPA; 
identify strategies when supporting candidates during instruction and implementation; and describe methods for using and learning from edTPA evidence. 

Thursday 
July 14, 2022

3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. 

& 

Thursday 
July 28, 2022

3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. 

Register here (both days) 

 


Upcoming Deadlines

Topic   

Action Item   

Due Date   

ELAR 4-8 #217 

New Introductory Passing Standard  

(Below committee recommendation) 

September 2, 2022 

School Counselor Certification 

Last day to apply and recommend for certification using #152 

September 6, 2022 

Trade & Industrial Education 6-12 Certification 

Last day to apply and recommend for certification using #270 

September 6, 2022 

ELAR 4-8 Certification 

Last day to apply and recommend for certification using #117 

October 30, 2022 

Core Subjects EC-6 

Last day to apply and recommend for certification using #291 

December 30, 2022 

LOTE Spanish #613 

New Passing Standard 

January 9, 2023 

ELAR 4-8 #217 

New Passing Standard 

(At committee recommendation) 

September 1, 2023 


Table Of Contents

EPP Points of Contact

Your best source for information and support at the TEA.   

As an Educator Preparation Program, your main point of contact is your Education Specialist.   

  • Or, EPPs (and candidates) may call (512) 936-8400 and select Option #5: Educator Preparation Programs. If an Education Specialist is not available to answer the call at that time, please leave a voicemail. An Education Specialist will promptly return the call.  

If EPPs (and candidates) would like to speak to a representative from another area(s), they may submit a Help Desk Ticket or contact (512) 936-8400 and select one of the options listed below. 

  • Option 2: Educator Certification  
  • Option 3: Fingerprinting  
  • Option 6: Investigations 
  • Option 8: General Office Information 

The Teal Account Access team and Educator Testing team are available through the Help Desk. Links to both teams are below. 

Educator Preparation Program Support

New: Countdown to ASEP Reporting will begin with the July 19, 2022, Newsletter 
Be on the lookout for the weekly newsletter reminders regarding the Countdown to ASEP Reporting that will begin next week.  

New: Candidate Support Reminders 
Here are a couple of reminders that can help EPP candidates with various EPP-related issues.  

  • A candidate will submit a Help Desk ticket to TEAL Access for assistance with the following: 
    • Merge educator accounts
    • Name change 
    • Email address update 
  • If a candidate applied for the wrong certification and needs a fee transfer, the candidate will complete the correct certification application until the candidate gets to the payment screen. The candidate will then submit a Help Desk ticket to Educator Certification requesting a fee transfer from the incorrect certificate application to the correct one. 

Please share this guidance with your candidates so they are aware of the TEA process to support their success. 

Updated: Principal and Teacher Survey Roster Reviews 
The Principal and Teacher Surveys closed for responses as of June 15. As we have done in prior years, TEA has provided rosters of respondents to EPPs for your optional review, to confirm that the respondents were associated with your EPP. TEA has cleaned these data and compared the rosters to ECOS and to the K-12 data but based on EPP request in prior years, we also provide for this optional review by EPPs. EPPs have now been provided access to these rosters via email. Any RFE forms for these surveys are due by August 1 at 5 PM CST. Exceptions submitted after that date/time will not be reviewed or accepted. 

Title II Reporting – Thank You! 
A big THANK YOU!!! to our EPP partners for completing your Title II IPRC. All EPPs in Texas have now completed and certified this required reporting. Thank you for your effort in providing this data, your patience in waiting for the portal to open, and your work with the new federal vendor (RTI) to address technical issues. As a reminder, this reporting is typically completed with a deadline of April 30, so be on the lookout for it next year a little earlier. Thanks again for your effort! 

Deadline for Secondary ELAR Professional Learning Series Extended through July 18, 2022  
The deadline has been extended for the professional learning series that will begin in September 2022. Led by Teaching Works, the virtual professional learning series for teacher educators in Texas promotes the following goals:   

  • Support participants to continue building their own content knowledge for teaching English Language Arts with a focus on the new Texas Research Based Instructional Practices;  
  • Support participants to continue building their understanding of and skill with teaching high-leverage teaching practices that are required to teach English Language Arts to children; and  
  • Support participants in building their ability to help teacher candidates develop curriculum literacy, or capability with analyzing and adapting published curriculum materials to meet the needs of students, contexts, and purposes. 

Please see the program overview for more information and apply here if interested in participating. This is an incredible opportunity to learn and develop with the support of the nationally recognized Teaching Works out of the University of Michigan. Teaching Works has already supported the training and development of teacher educators at several EPPs in Texas.  As a reminder, all accepted applicants will receive a course release stipend; please see the above application (i.e., ‘apply here’) for details. Given that folks may be off this week, we will accept applications through July 18, 2022. Please email Ebony.Love@TEA.Texas.gov and Melissa.Yoder@tea.texas.gov if you have questions about the program or need support with the application. 

 

Educator Standards and Testing

Updates related to Educator Standards and Certification Testing   

New: Deafblind (#185) Exam Framework Update 
Please view the updated Deafblind (#185) exam framework here. Updates to the framework include additions in language to better reflect practices in the field. Please contact Kelly Torrey (kelly.torrey@tea.texas.gov) if you have any questions.  

Reminder: ELAR 4-8 Exam Transition and Certification Communication 
The last day that a certificate may be recommended by the EPP using the ELAR 4-8 (#117) exam results remains October 30, 2022. TEA staff sent direct email communication (including a one-pager FAQ linked here) to candidates who have passed ELAR 4-8 (#117) but have not been issued a standard ELAR 4-8 Certificate and additional email communication to EPPs with candidates who have passed test #117 but have not been issued a standard certificate in ELAR 4-8. Both emails contain more information about this upcoming deadline.  

DID YOU KNOW? 
There is a Quick Reference Guide to ResultsAnalyzer®  to learn how to generate common candidate-level and exam-level reports. 

 

Program Spotlight

In each newsletter, we aim to celebrate the great work from EPPs around Texas.

Reminder: Do you know of exemplar educator preparation work happening in Texas? We want to spotlight this excellent work in our great state! If you would like to nominate your EPP or another EPP you’ve worked with, please complete and submit the Program Spotlight Nomination Form. If you have any questions, please reach out to Kelly Torrey (Kelly.Torrey@tea.texas.gov) or your Education Specialist. 

FAQs

Every newsletter we take this space to highlight questions that we have heard from EPPs. 

Q: How many admission screens does my EPP need? 
A: TAC requires an applicant to an EPP to participate in either an interview or other screening instrument to determine if the applicant's knowledge, experience, skills, and aptitude are appropriate for the certification sought. For Principal and Superintendent programs, TAC requires more than one screening activity to determine appropriateness for the certificate. A rubric with a cut score should be used to evaluate the applicant’s performance on the screen. 

Q: My EPP does not want to miss a recommendation for the ELAR 4-8 certificate before the October 30, 2022 deadline. Is there a report in ECOS that will tell me if we have any certificate applications pending? 
A: In ECOS for Entities, the EPP can select the certificate recommendation list and filter it by “Not Recommended” status. The list can also be downloaded. Be sure to filter for each year because the application that is at “Applied” status will show up on the year in which the candidate applied for certification. 

 

Resources at a Glance

Lesson Study Gateway Resources 

Practice based preparation resources for virtual field-based experience: Provides model lessons and video of instructional delivery.  

Texas Teach Like a Champion (TLAC)

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   

PASL Videos

ETS and TEA have worked together to create instructional videos to orient faculty, staff, and candidates to the requirements of the PASL test. Video one provides a general overview of PASL, its content, and scoring/reporting procedures. Video two provides a more in-depth overview of the tasks associated with the assessment. Full requirements, descriptions, and resources may be found in the PASL Candidate and Educator handbook.   

PASL Video One: https://vimeo.com/user127014634/download/669946029/6aa375f585 

TEA Dyslexia Training 

TEALearn has a new dyslexia training, TEA Dyslexia, that has been made available (at no cost) to candidates who are seeking an initial certification for all certification classes. Information about the training and how to enroll can be found on the TEA Learn platform. NOTE: For candidates who have not yet been issued an intern, probationary, or standard certificate, please follow the steps noted on the webpage, Dyslexia Requirements for Educator Preparation Programs, to enroll in the course.   

If you need technical assistance please submit a TEALearn Help Desk ticket. For dyslexia course content questions, please send an email to specialeducation@tea.texas.gov. 

For More Information...

Information regarding educator certification testing can be accessed at the Texas Educator Certification Exam website.   

Information regarding the Science of Teaching Reading Exam can be accessed at tea.texas.gov/str.   

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.   

To view previous editions of the weekly newsletter, please see the Texas Educator Preparation Program Weekly Newsletter webpage.  

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