Educator Resources

The Texas Education Agency actively supports early childhood educators via professional development, resource provision, and on-demand support. To access a comprehensive list of available resources, visit the ECE Resources page (coming soon) and use the links on the right to access support regarding Assessment/Data Driven Instruction resources, Prekindergarten Tuition, and published webinars from the Early Childhood team.   

Featured Resource: The Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines were revised to align with Kindergarten Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), condense content, include inclusive language of multi-lingual learners and special populations, eliminate errors and ambiguity, and to meet section 508 accessibility compliance. Implementation of the 2022 Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines will begin in the 2023-2024 school year. 

Commissioner’s List of Approved Prekindergarten Assessment Instruments

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has posted a list of Commissioner Approved Prekindergarten  (PreK, accessible version) Assessment Instruments for use during the 2017-2022 school years in accordance with Texas Education Code (TEC), §29.169 and §28.006.

The Commissioner’s List of Approved Prekindergarten Assessment Instruments is comprehensive and ensures school districts and charter schools select instruments that are based on valid and reliable scientific research, thoroughly measure each domain of development, and are user friendly. The full appendix of supporting documents can be found on the PK Commissioner's List page.

The following five primary domains of development may be assessed using the instruments on the lists:

1. Emergent literacy - Reading
2. Emergent literacy - Writing
3. Language and Communication
4. Health and Wellness
5. Mathematics.

Approved Prekindergarten Curriculum

Please see the Currently Adopted Instructional Materials (Curriculum) for PreK Learning Systems adopted by the State Board of Education (SBOE). The SBOE sets policies and standards for Texas public schools. The primary responsibilities of the SBOE include:

• Setting curriculum standards
• Reviewing and adopting instructional materials
• Establishing graduation requirements
• Overseeing the Texas Permanent School Fund
• Appointing board members to military reservation and special school districts
• Providing final review of rules proposed by the State Board for Educator Certification
• Reviewing the commissioner's proposed award of new charter schools, with authority to veto a recommended applicant

Updated Prekindergarten Guidelines

The Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines are aligned with the Kindergarten Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), sequenced to follow child development and give teaching strategies for each of the guidelines. The guidelines offer educators the information and support to prepare all children for success in school.

Professional Development

Texas Education Agency

The Early Childhood Education regularly provides webinars to support professionals in the field. For upcoming webinars and recordings of previous webinars, please visit the ECE Resources Page.

Children’s Learning Institute Engage

CLI Engage is a comprehensive e-learning platform housing TSR Online professional development, child progress monitoring tools, and classroom observation tools - available for free to Texas public schools, Head Start programs, and Texas Rising Star Certified Providers

Texas School Ready

Texas School Ready (TSR) is a comprehensive preschool teacher training program that combines a research-based, state-adopted curriculum with ongoing professional development and progress monitoring tools to help children be more prepared for kindergarten and beyond. TSR will be implemented across the state through three delivery models that vary by support level of intensity: TSR Online, TSR Online+, and TSR Comprehensive. Our foundational model, TSR Online, is available to all public school districts, public charter schools, Texas Rising Star certified providers, former Texas School Ready participants, and Head Start grantees in Texas at no cost.

eCIRCLE online Professional Development

eCIRCLE Professional Development provides online courses featuring extensive video-based demonstrations of effective instructional practices, application-based assignments, and activities. 

CIRCLE Child Development Associates (CDA)

The Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential^TM is based on a core set of competency standards, which guide early education and care professionals as they work toward becoming qualified teachers of young children. To qualify, early childhood teachers must have a strong knowledge base (education and professional development) and demonstrated practice (experience in the classroom).

Note: CDAs are also offered through many ESCs and community colleges throughout the state

Assessment and Evaluation Tools 

The Early Learning Assessments page provides educators with the guidance needed to understand requirements, identify tools, and implement best practices in both data collection and data usage. 

CIRCLE Prekindergarten Student Progress Monitoring Tool

The CIRCLE Progress Monitoring System is a user-friendly, technology-driven tool that enables teachers to assess a child’s progress in a particular skill area almost instantly. This simplistic yet reliable data collection prompts teachers to focus on lessons that target their students’ least developed skill areas. 

CIRCLE – Classroom Observation Tool

The Classroom Observation Tool captures snapshots of a teacher’s behavior and instruction during classroom observation visits that can be used to develop improvement plans and track a teacher’s progress over time. The system is well aligned with the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines and can be used by teachers, school leaders, and intervention specialists to promote effective teaching.

The Texas Kindergarten Entry Assessment (TX-KEA)

The TX-KEA is a comprehensive assessment that can be reliably administered by kindergarten teachers and is a valid predictor of academic success. 

Free Developmental Screening Tool

Act Early Texas! provides parents and early childhood professionals with information designed to determine if a child is developing similarly to other children his or her age.  The tool is designed to answer the question, "Is this child's development like other children of the same age?“

Other resources

Developing Talkers/Hablemos Juntos

Developing Talkers and its Spanish counterpart, Hablemos Juntos, are curriculum supplements that were created by researchers at the Children’s Learning Institute to support young children’s language and literacy skills, focusing on three domains of early language: vocabulary, comprehension, and speaking skills.

The Texas Early Childhood Professional Development System

TECPDS is a statewide program designed to meet the professional development needs of those working in the early childhood field. 

Texas Gateway

Engaging TEKS aligned online resources for your classroom.

Developmental Guidelines - 0-5 years old

Published in 2013, the Texas Infant, Toddler, and Three-Year-Old Early Learning Guidelines describe expectations about what children should know and be able to do across developmental domains of learning during specific age ranges, as well as what steps caregivers should take to support healthy development.