September 2019 Committee on School Initiatives Item 6

Review of Proposed Revisions to 19 TAC Chapter 228, Requirements for Educator Preparation Programs

September 13, 2019

COMMITTEE ON SCHOOL INITIATIVES: ACTION
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION: ACTION

SUMMARY:  This item provides the State Board of Education (SBOE) an opportunity to review the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) rule actions that would propose revisions to 19 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Chapter 228, Requirements for Educator Preparation Programs. The proposed revisions would establish requirements for an optional intensive pre-service preparation and certification pathway, for educator preparation program (EPP) name changes, and for a candidate seeking certification in two categories to have clinical teaching in both. A technical edit would correct an accreditation status reference.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY:  The statutory authority for 19 TAC Chapter 228 is the Texas Education Code (TEC), §§21.031; 21.041(b)(1) and (2); 21.044; 21.0442(c); 21.0443; 21.0453; 21.0454; 21.0455; 21.046(b); 21.0485; 21.0487(c); 21.0489(c); 21.049(a); 21.0491; 21.050; 21.051; and the Texas Occupations Code (TOC), §55.007.

The full text of statutory citations can be found in the statutory authority section of this agenda.

PREVIOUS BOARD ACTION:  None.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND JUSTIFICATION:  The SBEC rules in 19 TAC Chapter 228, Requirements for Educator Preparation Programs, establish the requirements for EPPs. The proposed revisions would add intensive pre-service as an optional preparation and certification pathway, define and establish the requirements of intensive pre-service, and establish an implementation date for the intensive pre-service option.

The proposed revisions would address a need to provide guidance in rule for instances where EPPs desire a name change following a change in ownership and would also require a candidate who has a second certification category to have clinical teaching in both certification categories. Current rules do not address these issues. 

Some of the changes presented in this item correspond to amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 230, Professional Educator Preparation and Certification, and 19 TAC Chapter 227, Provisions for Educator Preparation Programs. 

The following describes the proposed revisions.
 
§228.2. Definitions.

The proposed amendment in §228.2(7) would add the phrase, "may contain one or more certification categories," and delete the phrase, "also known as a certification field," from the definition of certification class to clarify that a class of certificate may contain one or more categories within a certification. For example, the certificate classes include superintendent, principal, classroom teacher, reading specialist, master teacher, school librarian, school counselor, and educational diagnostician, as specified in 19 TAC §230.33. As indicated in 19 TAC Chapter 233, certificates in the classroom teacher class have various categories such as English Language Arts and Reading, Social Studies, Special Education, and Health. This proposed amendment would better distinguish between a class and a category since a category is a subgroup of a class.  

The proposed amendment in §228.2(20) would define intensive pre-service as an educator assignment supervised through an EPP that may lead to an intern and probationary certification and subsequently, the completion of a standard certificate. Intensive pre-service would provide a candidate the opportunity to practice content pedagogy and pedagogy skills in a classroom setting with support before serving in the role as the classroom teacher of record. 

§228.17. Change of Ownership and Name Change.

Proposed new §228.17 includes a new subsection title, Change of Ownership and Name Change (currently Change of Ownership) that encompasses the new rule that would allow EPPs to change their names when they change ownership, but not otherwise. This change is necessary to account for instances where programs change ownership, and the new owners desire a different name. The proposed new rule would not allow a program to change its name unless it has both a recent change in ownership that has been reported to Texas Education Agency (TEA) staff within 10 days of the change and a current accreditation status of "Accredited" or "Accredited-Not Rated." These changes will better preserve the integrity of the accreditation system and prevent programs from confusing the public with frequent name changes. To enforce this and ensure EPP compliance, the proposed new rule would allow for TEA staff to recommend an accreditation status of "Accredited-Probation" immediately when a program fails to inform TEA staff regarding its name change. Further, under 19 TAC §229.4, Determination of Accreditation Status, an EPP's accreditation can be revoked after it has been on "Accredited-Probation" status for one year. Current §228.17 would be proposed for repeal as a result of proposed new §228.17.

Since published as proposed, SBEC approved a change to proposed new §228.17(d) to accurately reflect the status of "Accredited-Probation." This change is a technical edit necessary to align these rules with the accreditation statuses listed in TEC, §21.0451(a)(1), and 19 TAC §229.4, Determination of Accreditation Status.

§228.33. Intensive Pre-Service.

Pre-service experience is important to student success, and the proposed new rule would encourage EPPs to offer pre-service training and bring the benefit of clinical teaching to alternative certification and post-baccalaureate candidates. The proposed new rule would allow a candidate with an intern certificate or probationary certificate to move into a role as teacher of record by passing the subject-matter only examination and successfully completing the intensive pre-service training requirements. A candidate would not need to take the content pedagogy examination for issuance of the intern certificate. 

The proposed new rule would not mandate that EPPs offer intensive pre-service; it would be an option for programs to apply to use this route. A candidate taking this route would still be held to the same testing requirements after issuance of their intern certificate and would be encouraged to take the performance assessment to pair practice-based preparation with a practice-based assessment. The requirement for issuance of a standard certificate would include the completion of all required assessments as defined in Figure: 19 TAC §230.21(e).  

Proposed new §228.33(a) would establish the programmatic requirements of intensive pre-service prior to issuance of an intern certificate including:
•    an intensive program with a minimum of four consecutive weeks, 
•    a minimum of 12 instructional days with one hour of supervised instruction per day, and
•    a minimum of four face-to-face observation/feedback coaching sessions provided by a qualified coach that include observations of at least 15 minutes and coaching meetings that are a minimum of 30 minutes.

Proposed new §228.33(b) would specify the requirements a candidate coach must have to offer the observation and feedback sessions described in proposed new §228.33(a).

Proposed new §228.33(c) would specify the eligibility criteria for a candidate seeking the intern certificate via intensive pre-service. Proposed subsection (c)(1) would provide a cross reference to the requirements of concurrently proposed new §230.36(f) that further describes requirements for obtaining the intern certificate for intensive pre-service. Section 228.33(c)(3) would provide a cross reference to commissioner's rule in 19 TAC §150.1002 that governs teacher appraisals and specifies the Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System (T-TESS) Rubric and would include the dimensions of T-TESS and performance measures that a candidate would need to meet as further criteria for obtaining the intern certificate via intensive pre-service. This would apply to all certification categories except for Special Education EC-12 (candidates would be required to pass the Special Education Supplemental) and bilingual (candidates would be required to pass the Bilingual Target Language Proficiency or related language proficiency exam).

Proposed new §228.33(d) would specify the criteria by which an intensive pre-service candidate could be eligible for a probationary certificate, as indicated in concurrently proposed new §230.37(f).

Proposed new §228.33(e) would set the implementation date of the intensive pre-service training to on or after January 1, 2020.

Candidates participating in the optional intensive pre-service route will need to meet the following assessment requirements for certification.

 Candidates not participating in intensive pre-service will need to meet the following assessment requirements for certification.

§228.35. Preparation Program Coursework and/or Training.

The proposed amendment to §228.35(e)(2)(A) would add language to specify clinical teaching requirements for a candidate seeking initial certification in only one subject area or in more than one subject area. This would parallel the experience requirements for an intern teacher seeking certification in more than one certification category so that a candidate would have clinical teaching in both certification categories. Under the current rule, a candidate for certification in two categories can complete his or her clinical teaching in just one of the two categories, leaving no practical classroom experience in the other certification category. This allows a candidate to become fully certified in both categories without clinical teaching experience in both categories. Under the proposed language, candidates would need to have a primary assignment that is not less than an average of four hours each day in the subject area and grade level of certification sought, and the EPP would need to be approved to offer preparation in the certification category required for the additional assignment, to provide ongoing support for each assignment as prescribed in §228.35(g), and to provide coursework and training for each assignment to adequately prepare the candidate to be effective in the classroom. In addition, the campus administrator would agree to assign a qualified cooperating teacher appropriate to each assignment. The proposed revisions also include conforming technical edits.

The proposed amendment in §228.35(e)(8)(C) would add a reference to the intern certificate rule in §230.36. The current reference only refers to the probationary certificate.

Proposed new §228.35(g)(7) would add language for an all-level clinical teaching assignment requirement for a candidate seeking certification in an additional area to include an assignment that involves certification in more than one certification category that cannot be taught concurrently during the same period of the school day. This addresses instances where a candidate cannot be observed for both areas during the same observation. For example, science and physical education cannot be observed concurrently and would require separate observations for each area.

The proposed amendment in §228.35(e)(2)(B)(viii) would include a conforming technical edit.

§228.40. Assessment and Evaluation of Candidates for Certification and Program Improvement.

The proposed amendment in §228.40(b) would align the certification requirements with changes to the examinations that candidates take for admission to an EPP that distinguish subject-matter-only content certification examinations from content pedagogy examinations required for standard certification. The proposed amendment would delete the phrase, "unless a candidate passes the appropriate content certification examination(s) as a requirement for admission to an EPP" to clarify that the EPP is responsible for ensuring that each candidate is adequately prepared to pass the appropriate content pedagogy examination(s) required for certification, unless that content pedagogy test can be used for admission purposes for the low-incidence language tests such as Portuguese, Russian, etc.

SBOE Review of Proposed SBEC Rules

Under the TEC, §21.042, the SBEC must submit a written copy of each rule it proposes to adopt to the SBOE for review.  The SBOE may reject the proposed rule by a vote of at least two-thirds of the members of the SBOE present and voting but may not modify a rule.

FISCAL IMPACT: No changes have been made to this section since published as proposed.  Because participation in the intensive pre-service route is voluntary and not mandatory under the proposed rules, the TEA staff has determined that there is no additional fiscal impact on state or local governments and that there are no additional costs to entities required to comply with the proposed rules.

LOCAL EMPLOYMENT IMPACT: No changes have been made to this section since published as proposed. The proposal has no effect on local economy; therefore, no local employment impact statement is required under Texas Government Code (TGC), §2001.002.

SMALL BUSINESS, MICROBUSINESS, AND RURAL COMMUNITY IMPACT: No changes have been made to this section since published as proposed. The proposal has no direct adverse economic impact for small businesses, microbusinesses, or rural communities; therefore, no regulatory flexibility analysis, specified in TGC, §2006.002, is required.

COST INCREASE TO REGULATED PERSONS: No changes have been made to this section since published as proposed. The proposal does not impose a cost on regulated persons, another state agency, a special district, or a local government and, therefore, is not subject to TGC, §2001.0045.

TAKINGS IMPACT ASSESSMENT: No changes have been made to this section since published as proposed. The proposal does not impose a burden on private real property and, therefore, does not constitute a taking under TGC, §2007.043.

GOVERNMENT GROWTH IMPACT: No changes have been made to this section since published as proposed. The TEA staff prepared a Government Growth Impact Statement assessment for this proposed rulemaking. During the first five years the proposed rulemaking would be in effect, it would create new regulations. Proposed new §228.17 amends the subsection title to Change of Ownership and Name Change to reflect the fact that the amended rule would create a new regulation to allow EPPs to change their names when they change ownership. Proposed new §228.33 would allow a candidate with an intern certificate or probationary certificate to move into a role as teacher of record, having passed the subject-matter only examination and successfully completing the intensive pre-service. A candidate would not need to take the content pedagogy examination for issuance of the intern certificate. Proposed new §228.35(e)(2)(A)(iii) would create a new regulation requiring a candidate seeking certification in two categories to have clinical teaching in both certification categories. The proposed new regulation would prevent a candidate from becoming fully certified in both categories without clinical teaching experience in both categories, as is allowed under current rule.

The proposed rulemaking would not create or eliminate a government program; would not require the creation of new employee positions or elimination of existing employee positions; would not require an increase or decrease in future legislative appropriations to the agency; would not require an increase or decrease in fees paid to the agency; would not expand, limit, or repeal an existing regulation; would not increase or decrease the number of individuals subject to its applicability; and would not positively or adversely affect the state's economy.

PUBLIC BENEFIT AND COST TO PERSONS: No changes have been made to this section since published as proposed.  The proposal would result in clear guidance for EPPs on requirements for providing preparation to individuals seeking certification as an educator. The proposal would also result in clear requirements for EPPs seeking name changes to ensure public clarity of each entity's name. There is no anticipated cost to persons who are required to comply with the proposal.

DATA AND REPORTING IMPACT: No changes have been made to this section since published as proposed. The proposal would have no data and reporting impact.

PRINCIPAL AND CLASSROOM TEACHER PAPERWORK REQUIREMENTS: No changes have been made to this section since published as proposed. The TEA staff has determined that the proposal would not require a written report or other paperwork to be completed by a principal or classroom teacher.

PUBLIC COMMENTS:  In accordance with the SBEC rulemaking process, a summary of comments received by the SBEC on its proposed rules is shared with the SBOE under separate cover prior to this SBOE meeting.

MOTION TO BE CONSIDERED: The State Board of Education:

Take no action on the proposed revisions to 19 TAC Chapter 228, Requirements for Educator Preparation Programs.

Staff Members Responsible:
Ryan Franklin, Associate Commissioner, Educator Leadership and Quality
Tam Jones, Director, Educator Preparation    

Attachment:                 Text of Proposed Revisions to 19 TAC Chapter 228, Requirements for Educator Preparation Programs