New: Insight to Impact Academy – New Videos
New videos for the Insight to Impact Dashboards are now available on the Insight to Impact Academy website. These videos provide guidance on basic dashboard features as well as how to use support materials. 

New: EPP Map
The quarterly update to the interactive approved EPPs map on the TEA website is complete.  Thank you to those EPPs who submitted update requests.  Please review the information on the map and notify TEA if any changes are needed. Changes will be made in the next quarterly update. 

New: Creating Clinical Experience Records and Entering Observations
If your EPP has not started creating clinical experience records (CER) and observation records completed during the fall semester into ECOS, now is a good time to start completing that task. In mid-March, TEA will be running the mid-year reports for CERs and observations. If you have no data entered, there will be no information in these reports. TEA will be uploading mid-year data to the ShareFile in late March or early April for each EPP. The Legal Authority or Primary Point of Contact will be informed via email when data has been loaded along with instructions on how to access their data. 

If you need assistance with how to upload observations and create CER, please first reference the 2024-2025 Technical Manual located on the Program Provider Resources page under Forms and Documents. Pages 31-47 contain guidance on how to do so. If you still need assistance, please contact your Assigned Education Specialist. We are available to assist you by phone, TEAMS call, Help Desk, or via email. We are happy to help! 

Reminder: Upcoming SBEC Meeting on Feb. 14th  
The next SBEC Meeting is scheduled for February 14, 2025 and will begin at 8:30 am.  The meeting will be held at 1601 N. Congress Avenue, Room 2.035 and can be viewed online using the following link: https://www.adminmonitor.com/tx/tea/  

Reminder: Instructional Materials Review and Approval (IMRA) Reviewer Recruitment
The State Board of Education’s Instructional Materials Review and Approval (IMRA) cycle is beginning, and the IMRA team is seeking qualified reviewers. IMRA Cycle 2025 will focus on K–12 full-subject, tier-one and supplemental mathematics, K–6 full-subject, tier-one English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) and Spanish Language Arts and Reading (SLAR), and K–3 partial-subject, tier-one English and Spanish phonics. Interested Texas residents with or without this specific content expertise are also needed for suitability reviews. 

As part of these selective groups, IMRA reviewers make a significant impact on Texas public education while working with a collaborative group of dedicated educators from across the state. IMRA reviewers earn a competitive stipend and, for educators, continuing professional education (CPE) credits for their contributions to this statewide initiative. 

If interested, please review the IMRA reviewer job description and complete the initial application. Applications will be reviewed and advanced on a rolling basis until February 24, 2025. Office hours for the IMRA 2025 will be held on Mondays from 5:00-5:30 p.m. and Thursdays from 7:00 - 7:30 p.m. through February 20 and will provide an overview of the work and answer questions you may have. (Note: The session for February 17 will be held on February 18 due to the Presidents’ Day holiday.) 

For questions or concerns regarding the IMRA application or application process, please submit an IMRA Reviewer Help Desk Ticket.  Please visit the website for updates. 

Q: Is there a deadline by which my EPP must submit the Special Education Specialist EC-12 application? 

A: There is no specific deadline for submitting the application; however, you will need to allow time for TEA to process the application. If your EPP wants to be approved by 9/1/2025, the date that the new Special Education Specialist EC-12 certificate is offered, please submit your application by the last week in July. 

Q: What does my EPP need to submit for the two performance tasks required for each route that we are seeking Special Education Specialist EC-12 certificate? 

A: The EPP decides which two performance tasks you want to submit. The performance tasks should be indicative of the quality of assessments required in the coursework for the certificate. A performance task is an assessment in which the teacher candidate applies learning and demonstrates a discrete set of skills, resulting in a tangible product or performance that serves as evidence of learning. The assessment must be evaluated using a standard rubric or set of criteria and must not include multiple-choice questions [19 TAC §228.2(39)]. Your EPP will want to consider the standards required for the certificate. and base your performance tasks on those standards. Your EPP will also need to ensure that your rubrics are measuring what you are assessing and have a defined set of criteria for each level of proficiency.