In its first meeting conducted via Zoom, the certification board discussed educators and coronavirus, Master Teachers, and more.

On Friday, May 1, 2020, the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) met for the first time in a virtual setting, due to COVID-19 meeting restrictions. Here are the highlights from the board's agenda:

• Carlos Villagrana of Teaching Excellence will no longer be a member of the SBEC board.
• The Texas Education Agency (TEA) says beginning teacher support is a "huge priority" in light of COVID-19 and that the state is looking to federal CARES Act funding to implement programs and resources in this area.
• SBEC gave the nod to rule changes to implement the Science of Teaching Reading requirements in last year's House Bill 3 for all EC-6 teachers.
• The board rejected an alternative certification program's petition for several rule changes that would have lessened the responsibility of educator preparation programs (EPPs) to prepare high-quality teachers.
• In a discussion of tying EPP accountability to STAAR-based student growth, EPPs and board members alike expressed concerns about clarity of the methodology and determining cut scores.
• In a discussion-only item, SBEC members overwhelmingly agreed with ATPE in support of removing the expiration date from Legacy Master Teacher certificates. TEA will move forward with rule-making on this issue.

"Legacy" Master Teachers

On Friday, SBEC took up a discussion-only agenda item to move forward with potential solutions for Master Teachers (MT), whose certificates were eliminated under House Bill (HB) 3 passed by last year's legislature. Though the process for gaining a MT certificate was arduous and often costly, MTs will not be able to renew these certificates and, upon their expiration, may find themselves ineligible to continue in their current teaching assignment.

In a letter requested by ATPE and delivered to the board at its Feb. 2020 meeting, HB 3 author Rep. Dan Huberty (R-Kingwood) explained that the intent of his bill was never to abandon MTs’ expertise, but simply to avoid naming confusion with the "master" teacher merit designation also included in the bill as part of the Teacher Incentive Allotment. This is why MTs now see the qualifier "legacy" attached to their certificate. Huberty's letter urged the board to allow legacy MT certificate holders to "maintain their existing teaching assignments without interruption, additional cost, or the need to seek additional certifications," which prompted today's discussion on the SBEC agenda.

ATPE Lobbyist Andrea Chevalier testified virtually before SBEC on May 1, 2020.

ATPE Lobbyist Andrea Chevalier provided written and oral testimony today in support of solutions to allow MTs to retain their teaching assignments. In particular, ATPE supported a TEA-suggested option to remove the expiration date from Legacy MT certificates, and the board overwhelmingly agreed. ATPE looks forward to continuing to work on this issue as rules are proposed. For background on ATPE's previous work regarding MTs, see this blog post by Chevalier.

Coronavirus and educators:

In the first discussion of the day, the board received an overview of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on educators. TEA staff explained that the first round of governor-issued waivers changed the time and physical setting requirements for clinical teaching, internships, and field-experience. The second round of waivers provided flexibility for certain candidates who have not been able to meet testing requirements for a one-year probationary certificate, which is typically reserved for candidates in alternative certification programs. This waiver gives candidates a year to meet the testing requirements as testing centers slowly reopen.

SBEC member Laurie Turner asked if waivers would still apply in the event of a second viral surge. TEA Associate Commissioner Ryan Franklin replied that his team is developing a plan for a next phase of admission and entrance requirements for candidates entering programs this fall. Franklin said all things will be on the table and a lot will depend on the emergency declaration from the governor's office that enables TEA to address these issues.

SBEC heard testimony from representatives of the University of Texas at Austin, who said new teachers will need extra support next year due to decreased preparation experiences and the additional needs of students who have lost learning due to the pandemic. Testifiers argued that federal funding could be used for statewide targeted induction support, including activities such as close mentoring, summer professional learning, micro-credentialing, a hotline, and virtual planning sessions over the summer. Kelvey Oeser of TEA said this is a huge priority for the agency and that they are looking at the CARES Act as a potential funding source.

Implementation of the Science of Teaching Reading requirements:

Last year's HB 3 requires candidates who plan to teach students in grades EC-6 to complete a Science of Teaching Reading (STR) exam. To reflect this requirement, the board approved proposed amendments today across several chapters in Title 19 of the Texas Administrative Code (TAC) to implement the replacement certificate names, as well as other changes that might have been proposed in each particular chapter. These proposed changes by chapter will be posted in the Texas Register for public comment beginning May 29, 2020 and ending June 29, 2020. See below for more detail:

Chapter 227: Changes include updates to the PACT to implement the STR exam and removal of the one-year expiration date on passing PACT. This would reduce the burden on candidates, who may have taken a PACT exam more than a year before they try to gain admission to an EPP.

Chapter 228: This chapter houses requirements for EPPs. Eight revisions were approved, five of which were discussed at the February SBEC meeting. These would simplify a table of requirements in the chapter; implement portions of HB 18 passed by the legislature in 2019; authorize teaching sites outside of Texas in situations such as military assignment; provide admittance policy guidance to EPPs that are closing or consolidating; restrict a summer-only practicum unless it is part of a year-round school or extended year program; provide a dismissal policy for candidates who violate the code of ethics; supply concise reasons that an EPP would no longer support a candidate in an internship; and clarify the number (three) and spacing of formal observations conducted during a practicum. Three new changes to EPP requirements were made since the February meeting so that EPPs can offer the replacement certificates for the STR exam.

Chapter 230: The revisions update the testing figure in 230.21(e) to implement the STR requirements, including the insertion of replacement certificate names and a content pedagogy exam transition. This transition is necessary because the exams are based on standards that are changing with implementation of the STR and changes to English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) curriculum standards in the TEKS. The changes also include technical edits to phase out a retired test and update test numbering conventions.

Chapter 233: This adds the replacement STR certificates to the categories of classroom teaching certificates and language requiring educators who teacher pre-K-6 to demonstrate proficiency of STR. New rule language also implements transition deadlines.

Chapter 235: These changes update the organization of the STR standards to comply with HB 3, including a split certification for special education with separate certificates for grades EC-6 and 6-12. Changes also include two sets of supplemental certificate standards: one for bilingual Spanish, grades EC-12, focusing on bilingualism, biliteracy, and biculturalism; and another for "DeafBlind" grades EC-12.

In a discussion-only item, the board also considered a communication timeline for the Science of Teaching Read exam transition, including test development.

Other action items:

SBEC approved the adoption of revisions to 19 TAC Chapter 232 to implement technical updates to renewal and fingerprinting procedures and several bills passed by the 86th Legislature in 2019. The new legislative requirements include continuing professional education regarding mental health and substance abuse training under HB 18 and Senate Bill (SB) 11); training requirements for superintendents on sexual abuse and human trafficking per HB 403; and the removal of student loan default as grounds to deny the a certificate renewal under SB 37. The fingerprinting updates include process and technology changes that match current practice. The simplification and reorganization of the chapter was presented as suggested by ATPE and other stakeholders.

The board voted to deny a rulemaking petition that included four requests related to EPPs. State law in the Texas Government Code allows any interested person to petition a rulemaking agency, such as SBEC, for regulatory action. The petition by an individual representing an alternative certification program (ACP) included requests for SBEC to make four rule changes as follows: 1) revert back to requiring that candidates take a certification exam for admission purposes into an EPP; 2) allow ACPs and post-baccalaureate programs to prepare candidates for pre-admission content tests; 3) change the EPP accountability system to give EPPs credit for any candidate who passes within the first five attempts, as opposed to current rule that is limited to the first two attempts; and 4) change the intern certificate to two-years rather than one-year. This last change would extend the amount of time that intern teachers are teaching students without having met certain proficiency requirements required at the end on an intern year. After mixed testimony, the board overwhelmingly agreed on the importance of keeping educator preparation as rigorous as possible and voted to deny the request.

Discussion-only agenda items (no action taken):

The board also discussed potential changes to 19 TAC Chapter 229, covering the Accountability System for Educator Preparation (ASEP). Because of COVID-19, TEA proposed an EPP accreditation status of "Not Rated: State of Disaster," since candidates cannot take certification tests due to test center closures and teacher and principal surveys were waived. An EPPs status from the prior year will remain its current status, which effectively makes the Not Rated status a pause in the accountability system. The agency also proposed a summative ASEP index, which brings all of the accountability indicators together through a weighting system. TEA presented a student growth indicator that would be integrated into the system, based on student scores on the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test. In this indicator, a beginning teacher's growth scores would be determined by comparing STAAR student achievement to expected growth. This growth score would then be compared to a statewide cut score. Mark Olofson of TEA noted that the agency will provide more information about that manner in which candidates who are on probationary certificates under the governor's waiver would fit into the ASEP model. Testimony on the changes included concerns from EPPs that the ASEP manual should be very explicit about which teachers will be included in the student growth indicator and what the cut scores will be, with which the board seemed to agree.

Lastly, the board discussed the voluntary closure of the Training via E-Learning Alternative Certification Program (TEACH) ACP. During a January 2020 status check of EPPs operating under agreed orders, TEA found that the TEACH program violated the agreed operating conditions by admitting students when the program was not allowed to do so. Upon notification of the violation, TEACH opted to voluntarily close in lieu of revocation.

Other housekeeping matters:

SBEC member Carlos Villagrana notified the board today that he is transitioning away from his role with Teaching Excellence, which is Yes Prep charter school's alternative certification program. Because of this, he will not be able to remain a member of SBEC. Another EPP-oriented position on the board that is meant for a dean of a college of education has been vacant for a year. Both positions must be filled by governor's appointments.

The board did not take up any further discussion of changes to contract abandonment rules, a topic that had bounced around since last fall through several meetings. The previously proposed changes to contract abandonment rules were meant to mitigate situations in which teachers relied on reasonable beliefs that their resignations had been accepted by someone in their districts with authority to do so. However, some teachers were mistaken and subsequently faced contract abandonment consequences. Administrators opposed the changes and the board ultimately reached a near-consensus at its February meeting that no action should be taken.

TEA postponed an update on the EdTPA performance assessment pilot until the July SBEC meeting.

Future meetings:

The upcoming SBEC meeting dates for 2020 are:

• July 24, 2020
• Oct. 9, 2020
• Dec. 11, 2020