The State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) held a virtual meeting Friday, April 30, for its second meeting of the year to take up a short agenda.

Here are the highlights of the meeting:

• Board member Emily Garcia, Dallas-Fort Worth Executive Director of the alternative certification program Urban Teachers, will leave her SBEC role to join the Texas Education Agency (TEA) staff as the new Associate Commissioner of Educator Preparation, Certification, and Enforcement.
• The board welcomed new members Robert “Bob” Brescia, Ed.D., a world geography teacher from Ector County ISD who will replace Leander ISD teacher Jose Rodriguez on the board, and Melissa Isaacs, a family and consumer science teacher from Buffalo ISD who will replace Gregory-Portland ISD classroom teacher Dr. Laurie Turner.
• ATPE Immediate Past State President Tonja Gray was selected for the Reading Specialist Standards Advisory Committee and ATPE member Katherine Counterman was selected for the School Librarian Standards Advisory Committee.
• Reminder: The TEA division that serves SBEC recently changed its name from Educator Leadership and Quality to Educator Preparation, Certification, and Enforcement.

There were four rule reviews on the April SBEC agenda today, two up for adoption and two that were proposed. Rule reviews are standard procedure for all state agencies and are carried out based on a four-year cycle. The intent of the review is to establish that reasons for having the rules still exists. Today, the board:

• Approved the review of 19 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Chapter 231, which houses the requirements for public school personnel assignments and the “teacher assignment chart” that shows which certificates are needed to teach which courses. Thirty-three public comments were received but no changes to the chapter were proposed at this time.
• Approved the review of 19 TAC Chapter 245, which provides the rules related to the certification of Texas educators from other countries. One public comment was received but no changes were made to the chapter. TEA staff expressed that they expect future rulemaking in this chapter to address the comment.
• Approved the proposed review of 19 TAC Chapter 227 relating to admission to educator preparation programs (EPPs) and evaluation of certification eligibility. The chapter will be open for public comment in the Texas Register from May 28 to June 28, 2021. There was no public testimony today.
• Approved the proposed review of 19 TAC Chapter 228 relating to requirements for EPPs, such as the steps EPPs must take to prepare candidates for certification. The chapter will be open for public comment in the Texas Register from May 28 to June 28, 2021. There was no public testimony today.

The board also approved the membership of two standards-related advisory committees, which review, develop, and recommend educator certification standards. The two committees are for the School Librarian and Reading Specialist class of certificates. During the rule review of Chapter 239 in February 2020, TEA and SBEC received public comments that prompted the review of the School Librarian and Reading Specialist standards. ATPE Immediate Past President Tonja Gray has been selected as a member of the Reading Specialist Standards Advisory Committee. ATPE member Katherine Counterman was selected to serve on the School Librarian Standards Advisory Committee.

Next, the board discussed proposed updates to the Accountability System for Educator Preparation Programs (ASEP), including adjustments to rule language to allow for an additional year of a “not-rated” status due to the pandemic. Proposed updates to the ASEP manual also include the new innovative educator preparation commendation area, which seeks EPPs that partner with local education agencies.

The board also received updates from TEA regarding the EdTPA Pilot and educator certification test development. The EdTPA pilot is in its third year of implementation, with approximately 2,000 candidates participating. Of interest, development is underway for the new special education certification exams, such as the DeafBlind EC-12 and grade-banded Special Education EC-6 and Special Education 6-12 exams. The board also took action to make a conforming change based on the name change of the TEA department from Educator Leadership and Quality to Educator Preparation, Certification, and Enforcement.

The next SBEC meeting will be a work session July 22, with a regular meeting scheduled for July 23. At the July 23 meeting, the board will receive a detailed update on any relevant legislation passed.