October 2022 Newsletter
 Division News
Reading Academies
NEW Science of Teaching Reading (STR) Pathways
For educators who have earned the STR certification, streamlined options of Texas Reading Academies in both ELAR and Biliteracy will be available with cohort launches in October 2022 and January 2023. The STR pathways will allow STR-certified educators to complete a shorter version of the reading academies. Administrators may wish to enroll new teachers in a January 2023 cohort to allow time during the first half of the year for other new teacher priorities. While not all authorized providers are required to offer these new pathways, a list of authorized providers that have confirmed their intent to offer STR pathways in 2022-2023 is available at https://tea.texas.gov/academics/early-childhood-education/reading/hb-3-reading-academies. Select “More flexible” under “Year 3 Updates."
Reading Academies Participant Searchable Database
Many educators across the state of Texas have earned a Reading Academies certificate of completion. To fully support efforts for identifying educators who have completed Reading Academies a Texas Reading Academies Participant Searchable Database has been created. This searchable database lists all the individuals who have successfully completed the Texas Reading Academies. A search can be conducted by using the person’s last name. This list is updated following the completion of each cohort cycle.
Please note that the Reading Academies Participant Search Portal will list the educator’s name and the Authorized Provider for the cohort associated with the learner.
Year 3 Reading Academies
Reading Academies is currently in the third year of implementation. Reading Academies is launched based on select launch months. The launch months for year three are as follows: June 2022, July 2022, August 2022, September 2022, October 2022 (STR launch only), January 2023 and June 2023.
Books Beginning at Birth (B3)
If you are looking for an opportunity to increase family engagement with literacy and to get books in the hands of young children, please visit the Books Beginning at Birth website!
B3 is a collaboration between TEA and the Texas Association for the Education of Young Children to provide books for 80,000 Texas children by September 2025.
- Families and caregivers can register on the website to receive free multi-lingual books and early literacy resources.
- Organizations including LEAs, ESCs, or schools can visit the website and register to provide two book distribution events annually.
Public-Private Prekindergarten Partnerships
TEA and Texas Workforce Commission are collaborating to support LEAs and community-based early learning programs that are interested in creating partnerships to provide high-quality prekindergarten programs to serve eligible three-and four-year-olds.
Are you interested in establishing a prekindergarten partnership? Complete a Pre-K Partnership Interest Form and a Pre-K Partnership Specialist will contact you to help you get started!
Implementation of Early Childhood Instruments
CALL TO ACTION: It is highly recommended that the beginning of year (BOY) Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten instruments are administered within the first 90 days of the school year.
Shout out to the Children's Learning Institue (CLI) for providing us with TX-KEA data showing that 77% of districts have started administering instruments to students!!!
A recent TAA correspondence went out providing updates related to the administration and reporting of early childhood education instruments including prekindergarten instruments and kindergarten, grade 1 and grade 2 reading instruments in the 2022-23 school year. Updates include key dates for administration and reporting of instruments for each grade level. Please visit, Implementation of ECE Instruments for more information.
On September 23rd, an Early Childhood Data System (ECDS) TAA was published that details information for early childhood and data management staff to ensure kindergarten and prekindergarten data are submitted.
The ECDS is a state reporting feature in the Texas Student Data System (TSDS). All public schools and open-enrollment charter schools (LEAs) must report assessment data, aligned with the Texas Education Data Standards (TEDS), that are collected using assessments that are on the commissioner’s list of approved assessments.
The ECDS application will be available for LEAs to load kindergarten data from November 7th, 2022, through January 26th, 2023. *LEAs are encouraged to begin submitting kindergarten data on November 7th to allow sufficient time to work through any challenges that may arise.
The ECDS application will be available for LEAs to load prekindergarten (PK) data from November 7th, 2022, through June 22nd, 2023. *LEAs are encouraged to begin submitting PK BOY data on November 7th to decrease the amount of data being submitted at the end of the year.
The 2022-2023 ECDS Assessment Specifications are now posted to TWEDS. To access, visit the ECDS Assessment Specifications page.
Please utilize the Pre-K-2nd Key Instrument Date Calendar to stay on top of best practices and submission deadlines PK-2nd Instrument Key Dates Calendar
High-Quality Prekindergarten Family Engagement Plan
HB3 requires High-Quality Prekindergarten Family Engagement Plans to be posted on district websites annually by November 1st. LEAs should watch for new guidance resources that will be coming soon to the Early Childhood Education Division HQPK page.
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