New: Residency Candidates on PREP Allotment Pages in ECOS
To ensure candidates appear on an LEA’s PREP Allotment page, EPPs must first create a Clinical Experience Record (CER). Candidates will not appear on the EPP PREP page until the LEA assigns both a PREP Allotment status and a campus assignment. EPPs should add these clinical experience records by August 1, 2026, to allow LEAs sufficient time to review and assign allotment status for each candidate.  

Before creating CERs, EPPs should review and update enrollment records to ensure accurate candidate data and reporting. Keeping enrollment records current helps prevent data discrepancies and reduces the need for corrections later in the reporting process. 

Updates related to ASEP Reporting 2025-2026 

New:  Principal and Teacher Survey Roster Review
Each year, the Educator Data, Research, and Strategy (EDRS) team shares the teacher and principal survey rosters for EPPs to review. The rosters will be shared with EPP Legal Authorities, via ShareFile, in late July or early August. TEA will share additional updates about data sharing and roster review in August and September in this newsletter. 

Reminder: Week 1 ASEP Tasks 7/13-17/2026: 
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 four staff members:

• Trinity Bankhead 
• Rebecca Bunting 
• Jennifer Gonzalez 
• Lorrie Ayers, Director
  

Reminder: PREP Route Intent to Apply for 2027-2028
There are only a few days left to submit if your EPP intends to apply to offer a PREP route for the 2027-2028 academic year. Please complete the form as quickly as possible to ensure your EPP is listed as an eligible partner for the upcoming 2027-2028 LASO application for the PREP allotment. Reach out to EPPreview@tea.texas.gov if you need a new form link. The form must be submitted by Monday, July 27, 2026.  

Reminder: Partnership Agreement Completion Deadline
Thank you to everyone who worked with your school system partners to complete the partnership agreements required for participation in the PREP Allotment programs. Due to requests from both school systems and EPPs, TEA allowed a draft agreement to be uploaded. However, for funding to be approved for distribution in 2026-2027, fully executed written agreements (MOUs) must be submitted by August 5, 2026. Reminder that the school system partner is responsible for submission of this document. Please be in communication with your school system partners to ensure compliance with this requirement. As of July 15, 2026, there are over 700 incomplete partnership agreements that have been submitted, and we need your help! 

Reminder: Certificate Issuance Timelines 
EPPs should update internal policies and procedures to reflect changes to certificate issuance. Educator certificates will no longer be issued automatically and will only be issued after completion of the SEMARC check. SEMARC (Search Engine for Multi-Agency Reportable Conduct) will be integrated with the DNHR (Do Not Hire Registry), with corresponding updates visible to LEAs in the DNHR upload results file.  

EPPs should review internal certificate recommendation timelines and candidate communications to account for a potential delay of several days while the background check is completed. If a certificate is not issued after several days, EPPs should direct candidates to contact Educator Fingerprinting at 512-936-8400 (option 3) or through the Fingerprinting Help Desk. 

Reminder: Two-Year Intern Certificate
The two-year intern certificate is expected to become available beginning August 2, 2026. To ensure a candidate is issued a two-year intern certificate, the EPP must submit the recommendation after August 2, 2026. The recommendation date (not the certificate effective date) determines whether the certificate is issued as one-year or two-year. If a candidate is recommended prior to August 2, 2026, the candidate will be issued a one-year intern certificate. Once issued, a one-year certificate cannot be changed to a two-year certificate, and there are no retroactive corrections or adjustments to the certificate's validity period after issuance. 

DID YOU KNOW?
EPPs offering residency routes may have partnerships with school systems that have chosen to participate in the PREP Allotment, as well as school systems that are not participating in the PREP Allotment. There has been some confusion regarding the Enhanced Standard Certificate earned by residency candidates. If candidates meet the TAC Chapter 228 requirements for residency, they are exempt from the PPR certification exam and are eligible for the Enhanced Standard Certificate. Beginning with the 2027-2028 academic year, all candidates seeking an Enhanced Standard Certificate must meet all requirements of the PREP Residency Allotment, including the Content Academy requirements regardless of the candidate's participation in a paid or unpaid residency placement. (Note: Residency programs should be, at minimum, piloting Content Academy requirements during the 2027-2028 academic year with full implementation occurring during 2028-2029.) If an EPP has a candidate in an unpaid, non-PREP Allotment placement yet meets all the requirements, they are exempt from the PPR certification exam and are eligible for the Enhanced Standard Certificate.  

Reminder: More Treasure Found on I2I Dashboards
Recently, the Insight to Impact Dashboards Team hosted a training on how to get the most out of the Employment and Retention Dashboard. To ensure that the lesson stuck, the team created a fun, interactive “treasure hunt” for EPP staff to practice finding actionable insights about their respective programs.  

By accessing dashboards to locate specific data points, interpreting their meaning, and identifying at least one way to apply the insight to strengthen her EPP, Austin Community College Teacher Certification Program Coordinator of Field-Based Experience Misty Patureau and iteach Data Systems & Reporting Manager Jaime Kearny located their data treasure!  

Check out this blog to hear what these two educators appreciate about the I2I Dashboards. 

As an Educator Preparation Program, your main point of contact is your Education Specialist.   

• View a list of EPPs and Education Specialist Assignments 
• 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