New: SBEC-Approved Residency
If your EPP has been approved to offer the SBEC-approved residency route, your EPP must submit an EPP amendment request per 19 TAC §228.17(a)-(b) to make any of the following changes: 

• Updating your LEA partner; 

• Modifying performance gates; or 

• Adding certificates to your SBEC-approved residency route. 

Without an approved amendment, your EPP must operate in alignment with your original residency application as submitted and approved by SBEC. To request an amendment to your residency route, please submit a Help Desk ticket to the Preparation Programs tile. The required amendment documents will be sent to you upon request. 

New: New English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS) Overview
The State Board of Education (SBOE) adopted new English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS) at the September 2024 SBOE meeting. The new ELPS became effective in 19 Texas Administrative Code (TAC), Chapter 120, on February 2, 2025.  

The new ELPS are scheduled to be implemented in classrooms beginning with the 2026–2027 school year. Local education agencies (LEAs) must continue providing instruction in the current ELPS in 19 TAC, Chapter 74, §74.4, until they are replaced with the new ELPS in 2026–2027.  

The links below provide access to the new ELPS posted on the TEA Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills web page.  

• 19 TAC, Chapter 120, §120.20 English Language Proficiency Standards, Kindergarten–Grade 3, Adopted 2024 

• 19 TAC, Chapter 120, §120.21 English Language Proficiency Standards, Grades 4–12, Adopted 2024 

As required in 19 TAC §228.57(d)(1), instruction in the ELPS must be included in the curriculum for candidates seeking initial certification as a classroom teacher. TEA staff will host a webinar for EPPs on Wednesday, August 6, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (CST) to provide information about the newly adopted ELPS. The webinar will cover changes to the structure of the ELPS and the inclusion of content-area proficiency level descriptors. Use the link in the Upcoming Events section to register for the webinar.  

Reminder: Updating Your EPP’s Legal Authority, Primary Point of Contact, & Backup Legal Authorities 
As we enter the summer months, many EPPs experience staff changes. Please notify TEA if your EPP has changes in Legal Authority, Primary Point of Contact, Back-Up Legal Authority, or Certification Officer. Send all updates to Preparation Programs in the TEA Help Desk. We will update TEA records and respond to you with any additional information your EPP will need to establish your new staff in these roles.  

Reminder: Insight to Impact Dashboards Team to Host August Sign-up Event  
On Thursday, August 28, from 10-11 a.m. CT, the I2I Dashboards Team will host the next Dashboards Sign-up Event to help guide the EPP community through the process of requesting access to the I2I dashboards. This event was designed for EPP employees who do not yet have access to the I2I dashboards and would like direct support in the process.  

This webinar will be the second in a quarterly cadence of sign-up events that will provide the EPP community with the opportunity to learn more about the steps in the process, including dedicated time to request access to the dashboards and roles pertinent to their work and time with our team to troubleshoot issues.  

Use this registration link for the sign-up event and feel free to share this invitation widely with your EPP community to ensure that all who are eligible and would benefit from using dashboard data to make programmatic decisions have appropriate access. For those who missed the first sign-up event in June and would like to follow along with the video, please feel free to click here for the recording. 

For other events regarding the I2I Dashboards, check out the newly posted I2I Communications Calendar on the I2I Academy website. 

Q: For the purposes of clinical teaching or residency, can the school day be more than 7 hours? [19   TAC 228.67(b)]   

A: Yes. Per 19 TAC §228.2(45) school days are the school attendance days during the regular academic year. The 19 TAC §228.67(b) rule does not specify a maximum number of hours. 

Q: If a candidate spends the full school day on the clinical teaching campus, can the EPP count all hours towards their clinical experience, even if not all hours were spent in the assigned grade level/subject area? [19 TAC §228.67(b)] 

A: Per the clarified clinical teaching requirements in 19 TAC §228.67, at least 280 hours of clinical teaching must be completed in the subject area and grade level of the certificate sought in the classroom of a qualified and trained cooperating teacher. The remaining 210 hours may be accrued either through additional instructional hours during the school day, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills-based extracurricular activities that directly relate to the grade level and subject area of the certification sought, and professional development hours that occur within the assignment start and end dates. For these “remaining” hours, the candidate must be under the supervision of a certified educator. 

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 

The Teal Account Access team and Educator Testing team are available through the Help Desk. Links to both teams are below. 

• TEAL Account Access Help Desk  
• Educator Testing Help Desk