November 30, 2022: Texas Educator Preparation Programs Newsletter

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Texas Education Agency

November 30, 2022

Texas Educator Preparation Programs Newsletter

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

Welcome

This newsletter compiles the most up-to-date information concerning what EPPs need to know to best support their faculty/instructors, staff, and candidates. Please thoroughly read all the sections for reminders, upcoming events, To Dos, and FAQs.    

We encourage you to allow this week's quote to serve as a great reminder of one of the most important aspects of our profession (i.e., lifelong learning).   

Few professions are as dedicated to their work as educators are to their students. Educators make sacrifices daily and are generous with their time, energy and resources.” - Unknown but we are thankful for all of you! 

 

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


Upcoming Deadlines

Topic   

Action Item   

Due Date   

2022-2023 edTPA Option Support LOI 

December 6, 2022 

Texas Teacher Preparation Program Quality Review Grant 

December 13, 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 

(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

Updates related to Educator Preparation Program Management 

New: PASL Scorers 

New: ETS Seeking Constructed Response Scorers for PASL 

ETS invites school leaders and preparation faculty to participate in the online scoring of the ETS® Performance Assessment for School Leaders (PASL). This is an excellent opportunity for school leaders and preparation program faculty to become more familiar with this certification exam. Professionals who meet the criteria listed here are eligible to be scoring professionals (raters) for the PASL assessment. 

Reminder: 2022-2023 edTPA Option Support LOI  

The edTPA Option Support LOI grant is a competitive grant opportunity for all non-profit educator preparation programs that would like to explore and pilot the edTPA assessment with their teacher candidates. This opportunity allows for programs to receive funds to purchase exam voucher codes covering the cost of a candidate’s initial edTPA registration fee. The application for the grant is due Tuesday, December 6, 2022. A link to the grant application can be found here. If you have any questions about this grant opportunity or the grant application, please contact DeMarco Pitre (demarco.pite@tea.texas.gov). 

Reminder: Title II Submission to Pearson 

As part of the annual Title II reporting process, EPPs submit information to Pearson about their candidates. This allows for pass rate information to be directly passed from Pearson to the federal Title II reporting vendor. In order to include your institution’s data in the data exchange, you must submit an accepted data collection worksheet from your institution by no later than Friday, December 2, 2021. 

Please log in to your edReports account at https://edreports.nesinc.com/TX to complete the upload process. If you have any questions, please contact Pearson Title II Support at 800-998-3787 or es-titleii@pearson.com. 

If your EPP has already completed this process this fall, thank you. As a reminder, TEA does not provide technical support for this process, we simply pass along these important reminders from Pearson. 

Reminder: EPP ASEP Fee Invoices Now Past Due 

Payment of the annual ASEP Technology Fee was due 11/17 for all EPPs. TEA sent notice to those EPPs who were delinquent in payment. If your EPP has not yet completed payment, you must do so immediately to avoid potential negative consequences. 

TEA sent invoices to the EPP Legal Authority and Backup Legal Authority. Additional information about the ASEP Technology Fee is located in the Texas Administrative Code at 19 TAC §229.9. As a reminder, failure to submit this payment may result in the SBEC revoking your EPP’s accreditation, per 19 TAC §229.4(b)((3)(C). 

Educator Standards and Testing 

Updates related to Educator Standards and Certification Testing   

Reminder: Core Subjects EC-6 #291 Candidates 

The last day for candidates to complete all requirements, including applying and recommending for certification using exam #291 is Friday, December 30th at 5 p.m. CT. If your candidate still needs to complete the STR, they must take the exam by December 11th to receive their score report on December 23rd. This is the last score reporting date to meet this deadline. The score reporting schedule is available on the Pearson website. Please make sure your office reviews your recommendation list on December 30th to monitor late applications. The #291 will no longer be valid to use for certification beginning December 31st.  

DID YOU KNOW? EPPs can track the number of times a candidate has taken a particular exam with data available within the ResultsAnalyzer® section of the edReports website. Administrators can review the data to determine if candidates are approaching or have reached the five-attempt limit. 

FAQs

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

Q: We have a candidate that will be employed on a district permit this year. Can his employment in the permitted year count as his internship if we provide field supervision? 

A: No, employment on a permit does not count as the internship year. The internship rules in TAC require the candidate to hold an Intern or Probationary certificate during the internship.  

 

Q: Our candidate will be completing an internship this year holding an Intern certificate in Special Education EC-12. The district has notified the candidate he will need to have a certificate in Core Subjects EC-6 as well due to the assignment rules. He has not passed his 391 or 293 tests to qualify for an Intern certificate in Core Subjects. Can the district request a permit for that certificate area? 

A: If the EPP is approved to offer Core Subjects EC-6, then the district may not request a permit for that area because a permit cannot run concurrently with an Intern or Probationary certificate if the EPP is approved to offer the permitted certificate area. 

 

 

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 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.  

Information regarding the current Texas certification exams can be found on the 2021-2022 Required Test Chart for Texas Certification. 

Educator account setup instructions can be found on the TEA’s Educator Certification Online System website. 

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