Educator certification/professional development
The State Board for Educator Certification was created in 1995 by the Texas Legislature to regulate and oversee certification, continuing education and standards of conduct of public school educators. The SBEC comprises 14 members, 11 of whom are voting members appointed by the governor; of the three nonvoting members, one represents the Texas Education Agency, one represents the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the third is a college of education dean. Among the 11 voting members are four public members and seven practitioners: four teachers, two administrators and one counselor.
Certification structure
Teacher certificates issued after Sept. 1, 1999, are subject to a five-year certificate renewal period, with a 150-hour continuing professional education (CPE) requirement that must be met through an SBEC-approved provider. Counselor and librarian certificates issued after Aug. 31, 2000, have a 200-hour CPE requirement for every renewal cycle, as do all educational diagnostician and master teacher certificates. Counselor and librarian certificates issued after Sept. 1, 1999, and before Sept. 1, 2000, had a 150-hour CPE requirement for the first five-year renewal cycle, but now must meet the 200-hour CPE requirement. Educators who add another class of certificate during a renewal cycle can prorate the additional CPE hours required by the new certificate for the remainder of the renewal cycle.
Certificates issued prior to Sept. 1, 1999, are exempt from these rules. Educators adding new certificate areas should be aware that while their current certificates retain the “lifetime” designation, any certificates added after Sept. 1, 1999, are renewable and subject to the continuing education requirements.
Education aides are required to be certified but are not subject to the continuing education requirements.
Acceptable continuing professional education activities
If you have a renewable certificate or you have voluntarily opted in to the certificate renewal system, you are required to obtain CPE from an SBEC-approved provider in order to renew your certificate. For the most part, existing school district-provided inservice should count toward the CPE requirement, as may other activities such as college coursework, professional seminars, serving as a mentor and self-directed study. TCTA is an SBEC-approved provider and members can earn CPE hours through TCTA’s free online seminars at tcta.org/seminars. SBEC counts the following for purposes of CPE:
One semester credit hour earned at an accredited institution of higher education is equivalent to 15 CPE clock hours.
At least 80 percent of the CPE activities should be directly related to the certificate(s) being renewed and focus on the standards required for the initial issuance of the certificate(s), including:
- content area knowledge and skills;
- professional ethics and standards of conduct;
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professional development, which should encompass topics such as:
- district and campus priorities and objectives
- child development, including research on how children learn
- discipline management
- applicable federal and state laws
- diversity and special needs of student populations
- increasing and maintaining parental involvement
- integration of technology into educational practices
- ensuring that students read at or above grade level
- diagnosing and removing obstacles to student achievement
- instructional techniques
New legislation provides that continuing education requirements for educators teaching students with dyslexia must include training on new research and practices in the area.
For more information on the CPE requirements and a list of SBEC-approved providers, click on the Educator Preparation link on the TEA website at www.tea.state.tx.us.
Separate and apart from CPE requirements are mandates in some districts for professional development as a condition of employment in the district. The district can decide what it will and won’t count for local employment purposes, but the district cannot decide what will count for CPE purposes.
Confidentiality of educator certification exam scores
A TCTA-initiated law provides that educator certification exam scores are confidential for the first five attempts on the exam, after which the scores become public.
2011-12 TExES Paper-Based Test Dates
- Sept. 24, 2011
- Jan. 28, 2012
- May 19, 2012
Many TExES tests are also administered via computer at specially equipped test centers, most on a continuous basis. For further information on test dates and registration, contact the Texas Educator Certification Testing Program at (800) 205-2626 or visit the ETS website at www.texes.ets.org, or click on the Educator Preparation link on the TEA website at www.tea.state.tx.us.
Phasing out old certificates, phasing in new ones
SBEC is in the process of phasing out old certificates and certification tests and phasing in new ones. As each new certification test (Texas Examination of Educator Standards or TExES) is introduced, there will be a period of at least one year during which both the new test and the old test it is replacing and to which it most closely corresponds will be administered. After that period of time, the old test will no longer be administered and the new TExES test will be required for certification in that field. SBEC rules require that a person completing requirements for a standard certificate using a score on an examination that has been eliminated must apply for certification not later than one year following the examination date upon which the person passed the examination. Exceptions may be granted for a period of two years after the elimination of the examination for catastrophic illness of the educator or an immediate family member or military service of the applicant.
Certificates scheduled for deletion in fall 2011
- Bilingual Education Supplemental: Early Childhood - Grade 4
- Bilingual Education Supplemental: Grades 4-8
- Bilingual Generalist: Early Childhood - Grade 4
- English as a Second Language Generalist: Early Childhood - Grade 4
- Generalist: Early Childhood - Grade 4
- Secondary French: Grades 6-12
- Secondary German: Grades 6-12
- Secondary Spanish: Grades 6-12
Educators wishing to obtain any of these certificates must meet all requirements for the certificate by Aug. 31, 2011, and must apply online and be recommended by a Texas educator preparation program (if appropriate) no later than Oct. 30, 2011. These deadlines are strictly enforced.
Certificates scheduled for deletion in fall 2012
- Secondary Latin: Grades 6-12
- Speech: Grades 8-12
Educators wishing to obtain any of these certificates must meet all requirements for the certificate by Aug. 31, 2012, and must apply online and be recommended by a Texas educator preparation program (if appropriate) no later than Oct. 30, 2012. These deadlines are strictly enforced. For complete information about SBEC’s comprehensive certificate phase-out plan, see the Educator Certification page on the TEA website at www.tea.state.tx.us.
Federal “highly qualified” requirements
In addition to state certification requirements, federal law requires that all teachers in core academic subjects must have met “highly qualified” requirements by the end of the 2006-07 school year (in some cases, later deadlines apply). Those hired after the first day of instruction of the 2002-03 school year who teach core academic subjects in a Title I, Part A program must have been “highly qualified” when hired. The U.S. Department of Education more recently issued a “reinterpretation” of the “highly qualified” provisions for certain elementary teachers (defined in Texas as EC-6 teachers new to the profession when hired for the 2009-10 school year) that requires those holding subject-specific certification or EC-12 special education certification to take and pass an additional generalist certification exam in order to be “highly qualified.“
Affected teachers include those holding certification in 4-8 math, 4-8 science, 4-8 social studies, 4-8 math/science, 4-8 ELA/reading, 4-8 ELA/reading/social studies and EC-12 special education. According to TEA, passing the TExES EC-4, EC-6, or 4-8 generalist; TExES EC-4, EC-6, or 4-8 bilingual generalist; or TExES EC-4, EC-6, or 4-8 ESL generalist will meet the requirement.
Specifics on these and other requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act are included here.
Certification by exam
State law resulting from TCTA-initiated legislation allows teachers who are already certified to become certified in another area or level simply by passing the applicable certification exam, without having to complete an educator preparation program or obtain additional hours. Teachers in this situation can register for the applicable certification exam by indicating that they are obtaining certification by examination and will not have to receive a bar code for the exam from an educator preparation program in order to take the exam. Recent legislation requires any certified teacher seeking to add visual impairment certification after Sept. 1, 2011, to undergo an educator preparation program in addition to passing the applicable certification exam.
Disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP) teachers
DAEP teachers are required to be fully certified.
Applied Science/Technology/Engineering/Math (STEM) teachers
New legislation requires that persons seeking certification to teach applied STEM courses must pass the certification test administered by the recognized group that created the curriculum on which the STEM course is based.
Out-of-field assignments
SBEC rules require that a certified teacher assigned out of field must consent to the activation of an emergency permit and be advised of the conditions of the emergency permit. A teacher who refuses to consent to activation of an emergency permit may not be terminated or nonrenewed or otherwise retaliated against because of the teacher’s refusal to consent to the activation of the emergency permit. However, a teacher’s refusal to consent shall not impair a school district’s right to implement a necessary reduction in force or other personnel actions in accordance with local school district policy.
Maximum length of service without standard certification
Without obtaining initial, standard certification, an individual may not serve for more than three school years while holding a probationary certificate, emergency certificate or one-year certificate.
Out-of-state/out-of-country certification
Certain out-of-state/country certified educators may become certified in Texas without having to pass the Texas certification exams if they passed a comparable test in their home state or country of employment. SBEC maintains an extensive and ongoing comparability study of current certification tests administered in other states and countries. Results of the SBEC studies as they progress are available via the Educator Certification link on the TEA website at www.tea.state.tx.us.
An out-of-state certified educator who has submitted all required documents has at least one full year from final SBEC review of his/her credentials to complete all Texas certification requirements.
Failure to obtain/maintain certification or permit
Failure to obtain or maintain certification or a permit renders an employee’s contract void, unless the employee timely fulfills renewal requirements but suffers a bureaucratic delay causing the certificate/permit to lapse. Districts may terminate an employee’s contract that is void, unless the employee requests and takes necessary steps to receive an extension from SBEC to renew the certificate/permit within 10 days after the contract becomes void. For more information about contracts, see Teacher Contracts.
Extension of certification renewal deadlines
Certification renewal deadlines are extended for certified educators serving on active military duty.
Criminal background checks/fingerprinting
All applicants for certification who have not previously held a certificate issued by SBEC are required to undergo fingerprinting and a national criminal history background check prior to becoming certified. State law also requires that current certificate-holders be fingerprinted in accordance with a schedule established by SBEC in order to maintain certification.
Additionally, any individual enrolled/planning to enroll in an educator preparation program for teacher certification or planning to take a certification exam, who has reason to believe that he/she may be ineligible for certification due to a conviction or deferred adjudication for a felony or misdemeanor offense, can ask TEA to issue a criminal history evaluation letter regarding the person’s eligibility for a teaching certificate. The fee for such a request is $150.
For more information on fingerprinting and the national criminal history background check, please refer to Key laws affecting teachers.
Virtual certificates online
Anyone holding a valid Texas public school educator certificate can view and print his/her certificate instantaneously through the secure Certificate Lookup link on the Educator Certification portion of the TEA website at www.tea.state.tx.us. The virtual certificate is the official record of an educator’s certification status, eliminating the need for school districts and individuals to keep paper copies on file. The virtual certificate satisfies the requirement of the Texas Education Code to present a certificate prior to employment with a school district. Virtual certificates are posted immediately upon approval, and a printable version is also available.
More information
TEA has a “live chat” system to answer questions about teacher certification, bypassing sometimes clogged telephone lines. Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., the “live chat” can be reached at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/sbecchat.aspx. For those who prefer to reach TEA’s credentialing division by telephone, certification questions can be answered via this TEA number: (512) 936-8400, option 2.
Additional information on certification and how to become a teacher in Texas is available via the Educator Certification link on the TEA website at www.tea.state.tx.us.
