 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
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This webinar will provide reminders and updates for EPPs about annual state reporting requirements.
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Updates related to Educator Preparation Program Management
New: ASEP Data Distribution
The Principal and Teacher Survey rosters were shared with EPP Legal Authorities, via ShareFile, on July 21, 2025. EPPs have the option to review their data and submit a request for exception (RFE) form, as needed. We would like to note that the RFE forms were changed from PDF to Excel to improve user experience and streamline data reporting. With the changes to the RFE form, EPPs are now able to enter all ASEP exceptions within a single form.
In the coming weeks, TEA will share 2 more ASEP data rosters: the Student Growth datasets, in late August 2025, and the Year-to-Date Observation datasets, in early September 2025. This will be TEA’s first year sharing Student Growth datasets, so please stay tuned for upcoming details.
More information will be provided at the ASEP Reporting Webinar Registration. Please note that TEA will begin reviewing RFEs in late August. Once reviewed, TEA will send a copy back to you for your files. The deadline for RFE submission is September 15, 2025. RFEs will not be accepted after this date.
Countdown to ASEP Reporting 2024-2025
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 2024-2025 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.
New: Week 2 ASEP Task Reminders 7/21-25/2025:
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Ensure that TEA has your updated EPP Contact Information.
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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 submit a Help Desk ticket to the Preparation Programs tile, 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:
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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):
- Your LBB contact if you are a college or university.
- The staff that manages your data.
To verify and/or update contacts with TEA, please submit a Help Desk ticket to the Preparation Programs tile.
Reminder: Week 1 ASEP Tasks 7/14-18/2025:
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 Education Specialist Assignments list is published on the Program Provider Resources page under Forms and Documents. Your Education Specialist is one of five staff members:
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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 2024-2025 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 2023-2024. 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 was subject to an informal review, we encourage you to review your processes and reach out to your assigned Education Specialist early and proactively seek support.
5. Register for the ASEP Reporting 2024-2025 webinar on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, at 10 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.
Updates related to Educator Standards and Certification Testing
New: Pearson Registration System Planned Outage
The registration and score reporting services on the Texas Educator Certification Examination Program website will be temporarily unavailable on Wednesday, July 23, 2024, between 6:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Central Time, for system maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the Pearson customer service line at 1-800-877-4599 for any exam registration issues or questions.
New: TX165 Bilingual Education Spanish Supplemental EC-12 Pilot Test Opportunity
Pearson is conducting pilot testing for the new 165 Bilingual Education Spanish Supplemental exam (BESS). The new 165 BESS exam is scheduled to launch September 1, 2026 and will replace the current 164 Bilingual Education Supplemental and the Bilingual Target Language Proficiency Test (BTLPT) exams for Bilingual Spanish certificate-seeking candidates.
Pilot testing is intended to collect information on the performance of exam questions to be used at future exam administrations. Pilot testing will be available at Pearson VUE test centers throughout Texas from July 21, 2025 through August 17, 2025.
For information on eligibility, incentives, advantages of participating, scheduling, and registration for pilot tests, please visit the Pilot Testing website. Also, note that participation in a pilot test does not satisfy certification requirements or count against a candidate’s test attempts. Participants and educator preparation programs do not receive a Pass/Fail status or a score report. If you have questions or need further information, please contact the Texas Educator Certification Examination Program at estexas@pearson.com.
Updates related to Insight to Impact
Reminder: The Quick Start Guide to the Insight to Impact Dashboards
After receiving access to the Insight to Impact (I2I) Dashboards, knowing where to begin with the data may seem overwhelming. When the Insight to Impact Academy website was launched, it included navigation instructions for all the dashboards and featured helpful protocols for describing, framing, analyzing, and implementing based on the dashboard data.
This blog post walks EPPs through what a protocol is, all the protocols offered, what to do with them, and some of the beneficial data that can be extracted.
Updates related to agency initiatives and opportunities
New: New English Language Proficiency Standards Overview Webinar - Registration Closed
Thank you for your interest in the upcoming webinar on the newly adopted English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS), scheduled for Wednesday, August 6, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (CT). The target audience for this webinar is EPP staff supporting curriculum instruction and design on the new ELPS as part of the pre-service curriculum.
At this time, the session has reached full capacity, and registration is now closed. We appreciate your enthusiasm and encourage you to stay connected for future opportunities to engage with TEA staff on this important topic.
We take this space to highlight questions that we have heard from .
Q: Are there particular activities required of an educational aide completing their clinical experience under the provisions in 19 TAC §228.69?
A: The requirement in 19 TAC §228.69 allows certified educational aides to complete the clinical teaching requirement in their educational aide role. This is not a new provision and was allowed in Legacy Chapter 228. To meet the clinical teaching requirement, an educational aide must comply with the requirements outlined in 19 TAC §228.67. The teacher of record in the aide’s classroom would be the cooperating teacher.
Q: How does a teacher candidate qualify for an exemption from required clinical experiences? [19 TAC §228.79]
A: Per 19 TAC §228.79, teacher candidates may qualify for an exemption from clinical experiences if they meet the requirements of the Educational Aide exemption as identified in TEC §21.050(c), or if the candidate is pursuing Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) certification. All other candidates must complete a clinical experience as required.
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.
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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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