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.
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Educator Preparation Program Listserv Registration
Topic
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Description
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Date & Time
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2024 Redesigned Exams Launch
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First administration date for three redesigned exams launching in September 2024: 257 Health EC-12, 258 Physical Education EC12, and 331 ELAR 7—12; view each exam’s one-pager here for other key deadlines.
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September 2, 2024
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Updates related to Educator Preparation Program Management
New: Clinical Experience Records
If your EPP has not started to create Clinical Experience Records (CER) or uploaded observations, please start to do so now. All observations with dates in 2023-2024 must be entered before September 15. The 2023-2024 ASEP will lock on Sunday, September 15, 2024, at 5:00 PM CST. Please plan accordingly. If you need assistance, contact your assigned TEA Education Specialist early and often to ensure you receive the support needed to meet the ASEP reporting deadline. While a limited number of TEA staff will be available to assist you on Saturday and Sunday, September 14 and 15, we are encouraging EPPs to work ahead and try to complete ASEP Reporting by Friday, September 13, 2024, where possible.
New: Insight to Impact Dashboard Issue
There is a known issue with the Insight to Impact Initial Employment and Employment and Retention Dashboards. We are working to resolve this issue and will provide a newsletter update when resolved.
Updates related to Educator Standards and Certification Testing
New: Update on 257 Health EC-12, 258 Physical Education EC-12, and 331 ELAR 7-12 Framework Overview and CRI Deep Dive Webinar Recordings and Resources
Thank you again to those EPPs who were able to join the Framework Overview and CRI Deep Dive webinars for three exams launching in September 2024: 257 Health EC-12, 258 Physical Education EC-12, and 331 ELAR 7-12. We continue to work on publishing recorded versions of these webinars, as well as aligned materials and resources. Once available, webinar recordings and framework crosswalk documents will be posted to the Educator Testing site. In the meantime, exam one-pagers for each of the three exams that include first administration date, last day to apply and recommend, and other key deadlines can be found here. Thank you for your patience!
Updates related to Education Preparation and Certification
Reminder: ASEP Reporting Webinar
Thank you to our EPPs for your participation in the 2023-2024 ASEP Reporting webinar on 8/6/2024! We appreciate your attendance. As soon as the presentation is ready for publishing, it will be posted on the Program Provider Resources page under EPP Training Events and Materials. The FAQ from the webinar will also be posted soon.
Countdown to ASEP Reporting 2023-2024
To assist EPPs with completing ASEP Reporting with ease, we have developed weekly reminders for those EPP staff working on ASEP Reporting. Each week, you will receive weekly reminders in this Newsletter that include timely tasks that will lead to successful completion of data reporting by September 15. Please remember that the Technical Manual published on the Program Provider Resources page on the TEA website is a wonderful “how to” resource for using the various functions needed for reporting in ECOS and contains some useful tips for problem-solving if needed.
ASEP closes on a Sunday this year (September 15, 2024 at 5:00 pm CST). All data submissions for 2023-2024 reporting, including submissions in ECOS and forms submitted via the Helpdesk, must be complete by this time. TEA strongly recommends that EPPs complete reporting requirements by close of business on Friday, September 13 to avoid last minute problems that require TEA assistance which will be limited on Saturday, 9/14 and Sunday, 9/15.
New: Week 6 ASEP Tasks 8/19-23/2024: Enter all observations
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Verify that all observations completed in 2023-2024 (9/1-8/31) have been entered into ECOS. All observations must be reported for all teacher and non-teacher candidates completing clinical teaching, internship, or practicum. All observations must be reported in the reporting year in which they occurred.
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Ensure that all your field supervisors are on your field supervisor list in ECOS. If they are not there, please enter them so observations for candidates assigned to those field supervisors can be entered into ECOS. If you try to enter an observation record with a field supervisor who is not in the system, the observation record will not load. You must add the field supervisor first.
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If necessary, complete the Request for Exception (RFE) form, to submit an exception request for a candidate whose observations should not be included in the data calculations. The ASEP Observation RFE Form is located on the Program Provider Resources page under ASEP Reporting 2023-2024 Forms. Submit forms securely to the Data Reporting Help Desk.
- For the best functionality of RFE forms, use Google Chrome and download and save the form on your computer before completing. After the form is complete, e-sign the form which will lock it from further edits. Save the signed form and attach it to a Help Desk ticket to submit to TEA.
Note: You can review the observations you have reported in ECOS, and you can download the observation data from ECOS into a spreadsheet to assist with reviewing and verifying your data. Be sure to review the 2023-2024 Technical Manual on the Program Provider Resources page if you need assistance with downloading records from ECOS.
Reminder: Week 5 ASEP Tasks 8/12-16/2024: Create Clinical Experience Records
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Verify that each candidate who completed any part of a clinical experience (clinical teaching, internship, or practicum) in 2023-2024 has a Clinical Experience Record.
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To create a clinical experience record for a candidate, the candidate must have an admission record and must be listed on the Finisher Records List with a status of Other Enrolled or Finisher.
Note: You can download the Clinical Experience Records from ECOS into a spreadsheet to assist with reviewing and verifying your data. Be sure to review the 2023-2024 Technical Manual on the Program Provider Resources page if you need assistance with downloading records from ECOS.
Reminder: Week 4 ASEP Tasks 8/5-9/2024: Update the Finisher Records List.
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Verify that all 2023-2024 finishers are correctly listed on the Finisher Record List (FRL) with a status of “Finisher” (F). If a finisher is on the FRL for certificate categories they are not finishing, you must remove those certificate categories from the list for the candidate.
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If candidates left your EPP without finishing requirements during the year 2023-2024, be sure that you have removed them from your Finisher Records List (and that you have removed their test approvals). You must update the record to “removed” in this reporting year. Once ASEP closes, you will not be able to make any changes to the FRL.
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Additionally, remember to review the candidates from your mid-year data set that have been enrolled for five or more years and remove any from your 2023-2024 list that are no longer actively enrolled. This data was provided to you in your Sharefile folder in April 2024. Note: Candidates that are removed will need to apply and be admitted if they want to work with the EPP in future.
Reminder: Week 3 ASEP Tasks 7/29-8/2/2024
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Each candidate admitted between 9/1/2023 and August 31, 2024 must have an admission record that is complete and correct by 9/15/2024.
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Verify that each candidate admitted in 9/1/2023-8/31/2024 has an accurate admission record. Verify all required admission data has been included in the record. If you need to update a record, you can do so manually or by bulk upload. Instructions are included in the Technical Manual located on the Program Provider Resources page of the TEA website.
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EPPs can view their admissions in ECOS. Also, you can download admission data from ECOS into a spreadsheet to help verify the admission data that has been reported to date.
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Remember: Admission records for candidates admitted in 2023-2024 cannot be created after 8/31/2024 except for candidates admitted in the last week of August. Admission records for candidates with admission dates in the last week of August can locks on 9/15/2024. Be sure to review the 2023-2024 Technical Manual in the Forms and Documents section on the Program Provider Resources page. This is a helpful resource as it provides step by step instructions for completing admission reporting.
Reminder: Week 2 ASEP Tasks 7/22-26, 2024
- Ensure that TEA has your updated EPP Contact Information.
- Each EPP should have one Legal Authority, or for an EPP at a school district or Education Service Center, a Primary Contact, and at least one Backup Legal Authority. If you have recently had a change in these staff, please contact your Education Specialist assigned and we will send you the template so you can request the changes to be made.
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Each EPP must have a Primary Title II Pearson and Title II IPRC contact and should have a Secondary contact for each, if possible. Ensure TEA has these current contacts. The following organizations must also have current contact information for your Title II contacts: es-titleii@pearson.com and Title2@trewon.com
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Make sure that the following contacts are correct (your assigned TEA specialist can provide you a list of contacts that we have on file for your EPP):
- The staff that manages your data.
- Your LBB contact if you are a college or university.
To verify and/or update contacts with TEA, please contact your Education Specialist.
Reminder: Week 1 ASEP Tasks 7/15-19/2024:
1. Know your assigned Education Specialist. This is the TEA staff member that you will need to reach out to when you have questions about ASEP Reporting. The EPP specialist assignment list is published on the Program Provider Resources page under Forms and Documents.
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Your Education Specialist is one of four staff members or the Director of Preparation Program Management:
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Vanessa Alba
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Rebecca Bunting
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Irene Chacon
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Keena Sandlin
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Lorrie Ayers, Director
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2. Become familiar with the Help Desk which EPPs should use for all questions related to ASEP Reporting. Your Education Specialist will address your EPP’s questions in the Help Desk. We are in the Help Desk under the Educator Testing and Preparation Programs tile. |
3. Review the 2023-2024 Technical Manual on the Program Provider Resources page. It is located under Forms and Documents. This is a helpful resource as it provides useful information needed to complete ASEP Reporting.
4. Review your ASEP reporting processes from 2022-2023. We recommend that you review internal documents, correspondence with your Education Specialist, and any place where you encountered difficulties. Particularly if your EPP encountered challenges with Observation reporting or were subject to an informal review, we encourage you to review your processes and reach out to your Education Specialist assigned early and proactively for support.
5. Register for the ASEP Reporting 2023-2024 webinar on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, at 10:30-11:30 AM CST. The webinar will provide useful information and reminders about state reporting processes and tips to improve the reporting experience. Please find the link in the Upcoming Events section above.
We take this space to highlight questions that we have heard from .
Q: If I have standard certified an educator but have not entered the observations completed for the 2023-2024 year, is submitting an observation request for exception (OBSRFE) acceptable?
A: No. If a candidate has had any formal observations conducted by a field supervisor in 2023-2024, the EPP must enter the observations into ASEP. This is not considered an OBSRFE.
Q: If I submit an OBSRFE, how will I know if it was approved or not?
A: The Education Specialists review all OBSRFE in the order received. A copy of the reviewed OBSRFE will be returned via secure email to the EPP staff that submitted the OBSRFE. Each row will be marked as “Approved” or “Not Approved”. Please retain a copy of the OBSRFE for your records.
Your best source for information and support at the TEA.
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As an Educator Preparation Program, your main point of contact is your Education Specialist.
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View a list of EPPs and their assigned Education Specialist.
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For most efficient assistance, please submit a Help Desk ticket to Preparation Programs.
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EPPs may contact their assigned Education Specialist directly via phone or email.
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Candidates may call (512) 936-8400 and select Option #2: Educator Preparation and Certification for assistance.
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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.
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Option 2: Educator Preparation and Certification
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Option 3: Fingerprinting
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Option 6: Investigations
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