Policies

In alignment with The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s (UTRGV) guiding principles, the College of Education & P-16 Integration (CEP) has established a mission of excellence in the preparation of educators, instructional leaders, and school leaders. The university has the esteemed reputation of having an educator preparation program with national accreditation and seeking continued status through CAEP accreditation. CEP holds the values of exemplary program and assessment standards, rigorous, relevant preparation, and strong community connections through early field experiences, clinical teaching, internships, and practicums as measures of distinction in the application of best practice in K-12 schools. As a result, these guidelines and policies have been developed. 

State Testing Policy: Effective September 1, 2015, non-teacher candidates will be limited to five attempts to take a certification exam. The five attempts include the first attempt to pass the exam and four retakes. For example, if candidates were approved to test prior to September 1, and failed, this counts as one attempt with four retakes remaining after this date. This policy is compliant with Texas Education Code §21.048 in response to House Bill 2205 during the 84th Texas Legislature in 2015. 

All educator preparation programs are measured by results of the certification exams, performance based on the appraisal system for beginning teachers, improvement of achievement of students taught by beginning teachers (first three years), field supervision of clinical teachers/student teachers, or an internship and results from a principal survey. 

Texas Administrative Code (TAC Rule §229.4): 

1. Accountability performance indicators. The State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) shall determine the accreditation status of an educator preparation program (EPP) at least annually, based on the following accountability performance indicators, disaggregated by demographic group and other requirements of this chapter and determined with the formulas and calculations included in the figure provided in §229.1(c) of this title (relating to General Provisions and Purpose of Accountability System for Educator Preparation Programs). Data will be used only if the following indicators are included in the accountability system for that academic year. Except for the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 academic years, when the data described in paragraphs 1-5 of this subsection will be reported to EPPs and will not be used to determine accreditation statuses, EPP accreditation statuses shall be based on:
   1. The EPP candidates' performance on pedagogy tests and content pedagogy tests. The EPP candidates' performance on pedagogy tests and content pedagogy tests shall provide separate accountability performance indicators for EPPs;
      1. For both pedagogy tests and content pedagogy tests, the performance standard shall be the percent of individuals admitted after December 26, 2016, who passed an examination within the first two attempts, including those examinations attempted after the individual has completed the EPP or when the EPP has not recommended the individual for a standard certificate. The pass rate is based solely on the examinations approved by the EPP. Examinations taken before admission to the EPP or specific examinations taken for pilot purposes are not included in the pass rate.
      2. For the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years, the Performance Assessment for School Leaders (PASL) shall be treated as a content pedagogy test.
      3. For pedagogy tests, the performance standard shall be a pass rate of 85%.
      4. For content pedagogy tests, the performance standard shall be a pass rate of 75% and beyond. Texas Administrative Code, Title 19, Part 7, Chapter 229. 

UTRGV College of Education & P-16 Integration (CEP) Policies 

All non-teacher candidates seeking State of Texas certification must meet appropriate and relevant Texas Administrative Code (TAC) and adhere to current CEP standards and policies to ensure that educators have the appropriate and current credentials for serving K-12 students as counselors, educational diagnosticians, reading specialists, principals, and other school leaders. 

Counseling, Bilingual and Literacy Studies, Organization and School Leadership and the Human Development and School Services departments collaboratively develop policies for preparation and academic supports for test approval.  

If TEA certification standards change between the time that the candidate completes the program and the time that certification is sought, the new standards must be met. The EPP may make test approval contingent on a candidate completing additional coursework and/or training in a) an area where the standards or test have changed, or b) when five years or more have passed since the academic year of program completion (TAC 228.40(d)). 

Reference: Texas Administrative Code, Title 19, Part 7, Chapter 228