Source: https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/leadership/state-board-of-education/sboe-2019/sboe-2019-november/november-2019-committee-on-school-initiatives-item-6
Timestamp: 2020-08-07 01:24:26
Document Index: 287508309

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November 2019 Committee on School Initiatives Item 6 | Texas Education Agency
November 2019 Committee on School Initiatives Item 6
Review of Proposed Amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 229, Accountability System for Educator Preparation Programs
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 amendments to 19 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Chapter 229, Accountability System for Educator Preparation Programs. The proposed amendments would provide for commendations for high-performing educator preparation programs (EPPs); would adopt the accountability manual into rule; would adjust the performance standard for the accountability indicator for the pedagogy and professional responsibility (PPR) examinations; would clarify performance standards; would clarify the determination of EPP, certification class, or category accreditation status; would allow for the SBEC to require EPP action plans; and would allow for a contested case hearing of a certification class or category. Technical changes would also remove outdated provisions, clarify processes, and update language to align with other chapters.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY: The statutory authority for 19 TAC Chapter 229 is the Texas Education Code (TEC), §§21.041(a), (b)(1), and (d); 21.043(b) and (c), as amended by Senate Bill (SB) 1839, 85th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2017; 21.0441(c) and (d); 21.0443; 21.045, as amended by SB 1839, 85th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2017; 21.0451; and 21.0452.
EFFECTIVE DATE: The proposed effective date of the proposed amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 229 would be December 22, 2019.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND JUSTIFICATION: EPPs are entrusted to prepare educators for success in the classroom. Chapter 229 establishes the performance standards and procedures for educator preparation program accountability.
TEC, §21.0443, requires EPPs to adequately prepare candidates for certification. Similarly, TEC, §21.031, requires the SBEC to ensure candidates for certification demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary to improve the performance of the diverse student population of this state. TEC, §21.045, also requires the SBEC to establish standards to govern the continuing accountability of all EPPs. The SBEC executes those provisions of the TEC and fulfills its mission statement with the rules in 19 TAC Chapter 229, which establish the process for issuing annual accreditation ratings for all EPPs to ensure the highest level of educator preparation.
At the October 2018 SBEC meeting, Texas Education Agency (TEA) staff informed the SBEC that staff would be working to explore opportunities for adjustments to the comprehensive accountability system to increase consistency and transparency. At the December 2018 SBEC meeting, TEA staff presented several topics and received direction from the SBEC to inform potential rule changes to Chapter 229. At the April 2019 SBEC meeting, TEA staff presented draft rule text on proposed amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 229.
The proposed amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 229 are described below. In addition to the detailed descriptions below, the proposed amendments would also remove outdated provisions related to the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 academic years; would include technical edits to remove the redundancy of "gender, race, or ethnicity" by streamlining the definition of demographic group; would provide technical clean-up edits for clarification; and would provide re-lettering/numbering to conform with the Texas Register style and formatting requirements.
Proposed new Figure: 19 TAC §229.1(c) would adopt the 2018-2019 Accountability System for Educator Preparation (ASEP) manual into rule to prescribe the relevant criteria, formulas, calculations, and performance standards relevant to §229.1(d) and §229.4(a).
Current §229.1(c) would be relettered to §229.1(d). The proposed amendment to relettered §229.1(d) would strike the word "areas" and provide four categories in which an EPP may receive commendations for success from the SBEC. The proposed amendment would allow the SBEC to recognize EPPs that go above and beyond in preparing candidates for educator preparation.
At the December 2018 SBEC meeting, the SBEC directed staff to provide the following categories to identify high-performing EPPs to receive commendations for success:
1. The proposed amendment to §229.1(d)(1) would establish the category of Rigorous and Robust Preparation. The proposed amendment would allow the SBEC to recognize EPPs that perform above and beyond on the ASEP annual performance standards.
2. The proposed amendment to §229.1(d)(2) would establish the category of Preparing the Educators Texas Needs. The proposed amendment would allow the SBEC to recognize EPPs that actively recruit educators in shortage areas of color, and for rural schools.
3. The proposed amendment to §229.1(d)(3) would establish the category of Preparing Educators for Long-Term Success. The proposed amendment would allow the SBEC to recognize EPPs that demonstrate educators' retention in the profession and teacher growth into other professional roles.
4. The proposed amendment to §229.1(d)(4) would establish the category of Innovative Educator Preparation. The proposed amendment would allow the SBEC to recognize EPPs that go above and beyond seeking new pathways in preparing candidates for educator preparation.
The proposed amendment to §229.2(5) would provide a technical edit to replace the word "less" with "fewer" to provide clarification of it being a countable number. The proposed amendment would also clarify that the experience referenced in the definition of beginning teacher is as a classroom teacher.
The proposed amendment to §229.2(6) would provide a technical edit to replace the phrase "an enrollee or" with the word "a" to align with current definitions of candidates participating in an EPP. "Enrollee" is not used for reporting purposes.
The proposed amendment to §229.2(7) would delete the phrase, "also referred to as certification field," from the definition of certification category and would add language to reference 19 TAC Chapter 233, which is where the certification categories (i.e., English Language Arts and Reading; Social Studies, Special Education, and Health) can be found in rule.
The proposed amendment to §229.2(8) would add the phrase "may contain one or more certification categories as described in Chapter 233 of this title" and would delete the phrase "also referred to as certification field" to clarify that a class of certificate may contain one or more categories within a certification area. This amendment would better distinguish between a class and a category since a category is a subgroup of a class, as well as align with other SBEC rules where this definition exists.
The proposed amendment to §229.2(10) would provide a technical edit to strike the phrase "also referred to as finisher" to align with current definitions of candidates who have completed an EPP. The term "finisher" is not used for reporting purposes.
The proposed amendment to §229.2(11) would update the cross reference to §229.4(c) to properly cite small group exceptions.
The proposed amendment to §229.2(13) would clarify that the demographic groups as to race and ethnicity are African American, Hispanic, White, and Other and would strike the reference to the aggregate reporting categories established by the Higher Education Act. The proposed amendment would reflect current practice of disaggregated categories used for accountability and reporting purposes. The proposed amendment would also strike the requirement that the EPP assign each candidate to a demographic group, as that information is already reported when each candidate is formally admitted into a program.
The proposed amendment to §229.2(14) would provide a grammatical technical edit to strike the phrase "that must be" to clarify that to be considered an EPP, the entity must be approved by the SBEC.
The proposed amendment to §229.2(15) would provide a grammatical technical edit to strike the word "elements" to clarify that data to be reported by EPPs do not have to be defined as "elements" to be relevant data for reporting purposes.
The proposed amendment to §229.2(18) would provide a grammatical technical edit to replace the word "the" with the phrase "an individual in his or her" to clarify that a first-year teacher is an individual in the first year of employment.
The proposed amendment to §229.2(25) would provide a grammatical technical edit to replace the word "the" with the phrase "an individual in his or her" to clarify that a new teacher is an individual in the first year of employment as a classroom teacher under a standard certificate.
The proposed amendment to §229.3(a) would provide a grammatical technical edit to replace acronym "TEC" with the phrase "Texas Education Code (TEC)" to provide clarity and consistency.
The proposed amendment to §229.3(f)(1) would amend the Figure: 19 TAC §229.3(f)(1) to provide clarification of current practice and calculations of EPP-reported data to TEA and combine Sections A, B, and C into one continuous section with the accountability system data consecutively numbered. The following provides more detail on the proposed amendments to the figure.
• The proposed amendment in the current Section A of the figure would strike "Frequency, and duration, and quality of field supervisor guidance" and replace it with "Record of all candidate observations, including candidates in a certification class other than classroom teacher" to accurately reflect the data required to support TEC, §21.045, regarding field supervision. Currently, EPPs document and track field supervision for all candidates but only report individual observation records to TEA for classroom teacher candidates. During the recent cycle of continuing approval of EPPs, a number of programs lacked documentation of field observations required when preparing candidates in certification classes other than classroom teacher (Superintendent, Principal, Librarian, Counselor, Educational Diagnostician, Reading Specialist, and Master Teacher). The SBEC requires, in 19 TAC Chapter 228, that all candidates receive ongoing support by their EPP through field supervision. The proposed amendment would allow data collection to monitor this issue. The proposed amendment would also clarify that individual records of each field observation that occurred in the academic year would be required, not the average of the candidates. TEA will conduct necessary calculations based on the submission of records.
• The proposed amendment in the current Section B of the figure would clarify that EPPs would report the record of candidates related to data submission and not the numbers of candidates. TEA will compute the numbers based on the submission of records.
• The proposed amendment in current Section C of the figure would clarify that EPPs would report actual numbers and scores, not the averages of those actual numbers. TEA will compute the averages based on the submission of records.
The proposed amendment to §229.3(f)(1) would include further edits to the Figure: 19 TAC §229.3(f)(1) to remove all references not directly related to data submissions required of EPPs. Subsection (f)(1) prescribes that EPPs must provide data as specified in the figure. The proposed amendment would provide clarity by only providing the data that is applicable for EPPs to submit to TEA.
The proposed amendment in §229.4(a) would replace "with respect to gender, race, and ethnicity (according to the aggregate reporting categories for ethnicity established by the Higher Education Act)" with the phrase "by demographic group" to provide consistency and alignment with the definition in §229.2(13) regarding the definition of demographic group. The proposed amendment would also specify that the formula and calculations used to determine the performance standards for the accountability performance indicators would be provided in the new Figure: 19 TAC §229.1(c). This proposed amendment would adopt the 2018-2019 ASEP manual into rule to provide transparency to the field and policymakers in how the performance standards were calculated. The proposed amendment would also clarify that data will be used only if the indicators were included in the accountability system for that academic year. As more indicators become effective, this would provide transparency on when the indicators will be used for accountability purposes.
The proposed amendment to §229.4(a)(1) would strike outdated provisions related to the 2017-2018 academic year.
The proposed new §229.4(a)(1)(B) would clarify that, beginning in the 2020-2021 academic year, the pass rate for certification examinations would be based on all examinations approved by the EPP and not those taken before admission to the EPP nor those specific examinations taken for pilot purposes. Current rule provides that the pass rate be based solely on examinations required to obtain initial certification, rather than all examinations approved by the EPP. This allows candidates to change certification area after admission, and therefore, there is no distinct pathway from which a candidate is admitted, prepared, trained, and recommended for testing and certification. The current structure provides for an accountability gap in that, at any time during preparation, candidates can switch as many times as desired, and EPPs are only responsible for the area of internship and certification. In some instances, candidates keep taking tests until they pass one, which becomes the only test for which programs are accountable. The current provision in §229.4(a)(1) regarding the performance standard being based on individuals admitted after December 26, 2016 would be carried over to proposed new §229.4(a)(1)(B) to provide consistency for EPPs.
At the December 2018 SBEC meeting, the SBEC directed TEA staff to propose rule text to align the ASEP indicator relating to examination pass rates with the preparation model in 19 TAC Chapter 227, Provisions for Educator Preparation Candidates, and with Chapter 228, Requirements for Educator Preparation Programs. The proposed amendment would close the current gap to ensure an aligned content pathway of admission, preparation, and assessment for individuals seeking educator certification and would create more transparency and consistency in the accountability system.
The proposed amendment to §229.4(a)(1)(C) would provide for a transition period in the calculation of the pedagogy and professional responsibilities (PPR) examination pass rate for the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 academic years (AYs) to be as prescribed in §229.4(a)(1)(A), and for the 2020-2021 AY to be as prescribed in proposed new §229.4(a)(1)(B). The proposed amendment would also strike outdated provisions related to the 2017-2018 academic year and establish the performance standard for the PPR pass rate at 85% beginning with the 2018-2019 AY without annual increase; thus the proposed striking of §229.4(a)(1)(C)(i) and (ii). This sustained performance standard would allow for consistency and stability over time.
The proposed amendment in §229.4(a)(1)(D) would provide for a transition period in the calculation of the non-PPR examination pass rate for the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 AYs to be as prescribed in §229.4(a)(1)(A) and for the 2020-2021 AY to be as prescribed in proposed new §229.4(a)(1)(B). The proposed amendment would also strike outdated provisions related to the 2017-2018 academic year and establish the performance standard for the non-PPR pass rate at 75% beginning with the 2018-2019 AY without annual increase; thus the proposed striking of §229.4(a)(1)(D)(i)-(iv). This sustained performance standard would allow for consistency and stability over time.
The proposed amendment in §229.4(a)(2) would establish the 2018-2019 academic year as a report-only year for the principal survey indicator and not be used to determine accreditation status. Therefore, EPPs will not be held accountable for the principal survey indicator for the 2018-2019 academic year. The revised principal survey was piloted during the 2017-2018 academic year. The proposed amendment would also strike outdated provisions related to the 2017-2018 academic year.
The proposed amendment in §229.4(a)(4)(A) and (B) would strike outdated provisions related to the 2017–2018 academic year.
The proposed amendment in §229.4(a)(5) would establish the performance standard for the new teacher satisfaction survey at 70%. The proposed amendment would also establish the 2018-2019 academic year as a report-only year and not be used to determine accreditation status. Therefore, EPPs will not be held accountable for the new teacher satisfaction survey indicator for the 2018-2019 academic year. The new teacher satisfaction survey was piloted during the 2017-2018 academic year. The proposed performance standard of 70% would align with the principal survey performance standard of 70% adopted by the SBEC in December 2018. The proposed amendment would also strike outdated provisions related to the 2017–2018 academic year.
Proposed new §229.4(b) would clarify that EPPs be assigned an accreditation status based on the indicators in §229.4(a) and in compliance with SBEC rules and the TEC. This would provide transparency to the field and policymakers in how the accreditation statuses are assigned.
Current §229.4(b)-(f) would be renumbered to §229.4(b)(1)-(5) and would be amended to provide clarity that the assignment statuses in §229.4(b)(1)-(5) are aligned with proposed new §229.4(b), regarding accreditation status assignment, to accurately reflect the proper assignment of those statuses.
Current §229.4(d)(1)(A)-(C) would be renumbered to §229.4(b)(3)(A)(i)-(iii) for technical formatting purposes.
The proposed amendment to renumbered §229.4(b)(3)(A)(ii) would strike "any" and "any of the" regarding indicators in §229.4(a) to clarify that an EPP shall be assigned a status of Accredited-Warned when failing to meet the standard for any two demographic groups on an indicator in any one year. This clarification would not change how the accreditation statuses have been issued under this provision but would clarify that the demographic groups must be in the same indicator to count for accountability purposes. The proposed amendment to renumbered §229.4(b)(3)(A)(ii) and (iii) would also strike "gender, race, or ethnicity" to provide consistency and alignment with the definition of demographic group in §229.2(13).
Section 229.4(d)(2) would be renumbered to §229.4(b)(3)(B) for formatting purposes and would allow the SBEC to assign a status of Accredited-Warned to an EPP for violation of an SBEC order for continual approval. This would encourage EPPs to comply with SBEC orders and allow the SBEC to lower an EPP's status from Accredited to Accredited-Warned if a violation occurs. The proposed amendment would also provide a grammatical technical edit to replace the phrase "Texas Education Code (TEC)" with the acronym "TEC" with to provide clarity and consistency.
Section 229.4(e)(1)(A)-(C) would be renumbered to §229.4(b) (4)(A)(i)–(iii) for technical formatting purposes.
The proposed amendment in §229.4(b)(4)(A)(ii) would strike "any" and "any of the" regarding indicators in §229.4(a) to clarify that an EPP shall be assigned a status of Accredited-Probation in any three demographic groups on an indicator in any one year. This clarification would not change how the accreditation statuses have been issued under this provision but would clarify that the demographic groups must be in the same indicator to count for accountability purposes. The proposed amendment in §229.4(b)(4)(A)(ii) and (iii) would also strike "gender, race, or ethnicity" to provide consistency and alignment with the definition of demographic group in §229.2(13).
Section 229.4(e)(2) would be renumbered to §229.4(b)(4)(B) for formatting purposes and would allow the SBEC to assign a status of Accredited-Probation to an EPP for violation of an SBEC order for continual approval. This would encourage EPPs to comply with SBEC orders and allow the SBEC to lower an EPP's status from Accredited or Accredited-Warned to Accredited-Probation if a violation occurs.
Section 229.4(f)(1)-(5) would be renumbered to §229.4(b)(5)(A)-(F) for technical formatting purposes.
New §229.4(b)(5)(C) would allow the SBEC to assign a status of Not Accredited-Revoked if an EPP fails to pay the SBEC-required ASEP technology fee by the deadline set by TEA as prescribed in §229.9(7). This would encourage EPPs to not default on the payment and would provide equity to all EPPs in support of timely payment of the ASEP technology fee.
Section 229.4(g)(1)-(5) would be relettered to §229.4(c) for technical formatting purposes.
The proposed amendment in relettered §229.4(c)(1)-(5) would strike the phrase "gender, race, or ethnicity" and would replace it with the phrase "demographic group" to provide consistency and alignment with the definition of demographic group in §229.2(13).
The proposed amendment in relettered §229.4(c)(3) and (4) would clarify the aggregation procedure for small groups. For groups with 10 or fewer individuals, the group performance would be combined with the next most recent prior year's group performance for which there was at least one individual to ensure that at least 11 individuals or three years of data would be calculated for accountability purposes. For example, if a program has a small group for the 2016-2017 AY of three individuals, does not have any individuals in the 2017–2018 AY, but has one individual in the 2018-2019 AY, then has three individuals in the 2019-2020 AY, the program would be held accountable for the seven individuals for the 2019-2020 AY.
2019-2020 ASEP
The proposed amendment in relettered §229.4(c)(5) would provide that EPPs that do not have any candidate data for all indicators in an academic year will maintain the accreditation status assigned by the SBEC in the previous year. This would provide for an accreditation status in the event a program does not have candidate data.
The proposed amendment in new §229.5(b)(4) would provide the SBEC the opportunity to require an EPP to develop an action plan to address program deficiencies. Previously all EPPs that failed any performance standard were required to develop an action plan that TEA was required to approve. At the December 2018 SBEC meeting, the SBEC removed this provision and directed TEA staff to maintain the flexibility of the requirement. The proposed amendment would allow the SBEC the discretion of requiring an EPP to develop an action plan to address program deficiencies and prescribe the steps the program will take to improve the performance of its candidates.
The proposed amendment in §229.5(c) would strike "all" to clarify that every candidate does not have to pass the performance standard to meet the standard for that indicator. The proposed amendment would clarify that the provisions regarding the sanctioning of an EPP's certification class or category are for candidates pursuing certification in a particular category or class not simply admitted in the program. The proposed amendment would also clarify that this provision only applies to the non-PPR examination indicator because that is the only accountability indicator reported by certification class and category.
The proposed amendment in §229.5(e) would strike the phrase "gender, race, and ethnic" and replace it with the term "demographic group" to provide consistency and alignment with the definition of demographic group in §229.2(13). The proposed amendment would also strike the provision relating to all indicators in §229.4 to clarify that this provision only applies to the non-PPR examination indicator because that is the only accountability indicator reported by certification class and category. The proposed amendment would update the cross reference to §229.4(g) with §229.4(c) to properly cite small group exceptions.
The proposed amendment to §229.8(a) would clarify that the provisions in this section related to contested cases do apply to withdrawing approval to offer a specific certification class or category to comply with the statutory requirement in TEC, §21.0451(b), that provides that any action authorized or required to be taken against an EPP may also be taken with regard to a certification class or category authorized to be offered by an EPP. The proposed change would provide that prior to revocation of approval to offer a specific class or category, an EPP would be provided an opportunity for a contested case hearing.
The proposed amendment to §229.9(7) would remove outdated provisions in §229.9(7)(A)-(C) related to 2017 and the 2017-2018 academic year and would clarify the required SBEC-adopted ASEP technology fee of $35 per admitted candidate.
FISCAL IMPACT: No changes have been made to this section since published as proposed. 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 proposal.
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.
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, the proposed changes in Figure: 19 TAC §229.3(f)(1) would expand the regulation that requires EPPs to report the frequency, duration, and quality of candidate observations and increase the number of individuals subject to its applicability. Currently, EPPs document and track field supervision for all candidates but only report individual observation records to TEA for classroom teachers. The SBEC requires, in 19 TAC Chapter 228, Requirements for Educator Preparation Programs, that all candidates receive ongoing support by their EPP through field supervision, so the proposed change will expand the reporting requirement to include all candidates.
The proposed amendment to §229.1(c) would limit the regulation that allows commendations from the SBEC to EPPs by setting criteria, calculations, and performance standards necessary for a program to achieve commendation. The proposed amendment in relettered §229.4(a)(1)(D) would limit the regulation that determines the non-PPR examination pass rate by establishing the pass rate at 75% beginning with the 2018-2019 academic year without the annual increase that is currently set in rule, decreasing the number of individuals subject to its applicability.
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 repeal an existing regulation; would not require an increase or decrease in fees paid to the agency; would not create a new regulation; would not increase 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 public benefit anticipated as a result of the proposed amendments would be an accountability system that informs the public of the quality of educator preparation provided by each SBEC-approved EPP. 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 a new data and reporting impact proposed in §229.3(f)(1). New reporting requirements in 19 TAC §229.3(f)(1) include observation data for certification classes other than classroom teacher class (Superintendent, Principal, Librarian, Counselor, Educational Diagnostician, Reading Specialist, and Master Teacher). Currently, EPPs report the observation frequency and duration for classroom teachers only. The programs already have to document and track the observations for these classes. The reporting would be the same, uploaded into the Educator Certification Online System (ECOS) system. Section 228.35(h) requires EPPs to document and track the required observation data. TEC, §21.045, allows the SBEC to require EPPs to submit data to ensure access and equity.
Take no action on the proposed amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 229, Accountability System for Educator Preparation Programs.
Mark Olofson, Director, Educator Data and Program Accountability
Attachment: Text of Proposed Amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 229, Accountability System for Educator Preparation Programs, including Figure: 19 TAC §229.1(c) and Figure: 19 TAC §229.3(f)(1)