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.
If you are not currently subscribed to the newsletter, please sign up at the link below.
Educator Preparation Program Listserv Registration
Topic
|
Description
|
Event Time & Date
|
|
The Approved 228 Debut
|
This webinar will provide EPPs with an introduction to the revisions to 19 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 228 that were adopted by the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) in February 2024 including an overview of some key updates and responses to some frequently asked questions.
|
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
1:00-2:00 pm
Registration Link
|
Click to edit this placeholder text.
Updates related to Educator Preparation Program Management
New: Chapter 228 Debut
TEA staff will provide an introductory webinar covering the structure and key updates in the recently adopted Chapter 228 on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. Please register for the webinar via this link: Registration Link
We are excited to also offer EPP office hours to address any additional questions programs may have on the following two dates in April. Please register for those office hours below:
Following the introductory webinar and EPP office hour sessions, TEA staff will develop a comprehensive Q & A document on the Chapter 228 rules that we anticipate posting by Monday, April 8, 2024. Thanks to all of you for the questions you have been submitting and for your continued collaboration in this work. We look forward to interacting with you again soon.
New: Updates to the TEA EPP Staff Contact List
The list of EPPs and their assigned Education Specialist on the Program Provider Resources page was updated effective on March 1, 2024. Rebecca Bunting has joined the Educator Preparation (EP) team, and we are happy to have her. Rebecca has been working informally with the EP team for the past year. She communicated with her assigned EPPs on March 11th via email and is eager to get to know and work with her EPPs.
Updates related to Educator Preparation and Certification
New: New Provisions for Military Members and First Responders
House Bill 621 and Senate Bill 544, passed during the 88th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2023, required the SBEC to create temporary certifications for certain members of the military community and first responders. Updates to SBEC rules, Chapter 234 are complete and effective as of March 7, 2024, to issue a three-year temporary certificate for Career and Technology Education to eligible military veterans, peace officers, fire protection personnel, and emergency medical services personnel; and a one-year temporary certificate to certain instructors for the Community College of the Air Force.
Upon successful completion of the review of credentials by TEA staff, military veterans, peace officers, fire protection personnel, and emergency medical services personnel are issued a three-year temporary certificate to allow them to teach in Career and Technology Education assignments. To obtain the standard certificate, these individuals would need to enroll in and complete the requirements of a Texas-approved educator preparation program.
Instructors for the Community College of the Air Force who hold a bachelor’s degree and have at least two semesters of experience as a full-time instructor for the Community College of the Air Force may be issued a one-year, temporary certificate to be placed in an assignment. To qualify for the one-year, temporary certificate, the individual must first enroll in a Texas-approved educator preparation program. After program enrollment, they will submit a completed application, copy of credentials to serve as an instructor for the Community College of the Air Force, an official transcript showing their conferred degree and date, and verification of at least two semesters’ experience as a full-time instructor for the Community College of the Air Force to the Texas Education Agency staff for review and issuance of the certificate.
More information and guidance, including detailed checklists can be found at the Texas Education Agency website Military Community/First Responders webpage found at this link.
If you have questions or need clarification on any of the information provided, you may submit a help desk ticket to Educator Certification at this link. In the subject line, please include Attn: Trenton Law.
We take this space to highlight questions that we have heard from .
Q: TEA recently added an admission record for one of our candidates through a data fix request. Why was the enrollment record also not added to the Finisher Records List?
A: An admission data fix will only correct the admission record. An admission data fix does not automatically populate an enrollment record on the Finisher Records List. The EPP would need to add the enrollment record for the current year and request a data fix for TEA to add enrollment records for past years.
Q: My EPP needs to correct a candidate’s certificate. How do I do that?
A: When an EPP recommends an intern, probationary, or standard certificate it is their responsibility to verify the candidate’s eligibility requirements for their respective certificate and to recommend the appropriate effective date and certificate area. The Certificate Corrections process allows TEA to support EPPs that have made an error when recommending the candidate’s certificate or when a district requests an additional certification area on a candidate’s certificate. For intern and probationary certificates, the request is timebound. The relevant TAC is 19 TAC§230.104 (a) and (b). The EPP submits a request to the TEA Help Desk directed to Preparation Programs. The signed letter of request and the candidate’s statement of eligibility (SOE), as applicable, are attached to the Help Desk ticket.
-
The letter of request must be on EPP letterhead and include:
- Date
- Candidate’s full name & TEA ID
- Signature of EPP requestor
- Specific guidance about the correction that needs to be made and the certificate that is being corrected
-
Sufficient justification for correcting the certificate
Your best source for information and support at the TEA.
-
As an Educator Preparation Program, your main point of contact is your Education Specialist.
-
View a list of EPPs and their assigned Education Specialist.
-
For most efficient assistance, please submit a Help Desk ticket to Preparation Programs.
-
EPPs may contact their assigned Education Specialist directly via phone or email.
-
Candidates may call (512) 936-8400 and select Option #2: Educator Preparation and Certification for assistance.
-
Updated: If EPPs (and candidates) would like to speak to a representative from another area(s), they may call (512) 936-8400 and select one of the options listed below.
-
Option 2: Educator Preparation and Certification
-
Option 3: Fingerprinting
-
Option 6: Investigations
|
