The State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) had a long session April 26 as board members weighed two options regarding the future of a Texas-specific teacher performance assessment (TPA). 

Earlier in the month, the State Board of Education (SBOE) had approved SBEC’s recommended changes to TAC Chapter 230, the rules for educator preparation and certification. Approval of this revised chapter meant operationalizing the pilot program of edTPA, the teacher performance assessment that TEA hopes to replace the Professional Pedagogy and Responsibilities (PPR) exam with. This led to a revived debate concerning the future of edTPA in Texas. SBOE had previously vetoed using edTPA to replace the PPR in 2022. As ATPE Senior Lobbyist Mark Wiggins reported earlier this month, SBOE had pointed questions for TEA staff regarding the development of a Texas-specific edTPA exam, including why a recent RFP had failed to yield a contract despite a submission from Sam Houston State University. SBOE, in its comments to TEA staff, seemed to prefer that the agency move forward by working with SHSU to fix the deficiencies in its application and allow SHSU to assist in development of the performance assessment. ATPE has vigorously opposed replacing the PPR exam with edTPA as the singular option for certifying new educators. Under the recently adopted rules, both the PPR and edTPA would exist as certification pathways.  

TEA staff brought two proposals to SBEC for its consideration in moving a Texas-specific TPA forward. The first proposal would allow Texas educator preparation programs (EPPs) to work in conjunction with Texas’ testing vendor (Pearson, which also owns edTPA) in developing the Texas-owned TPA. The second would mean expanding the parameters of the RFP and reopening it for applications. Although no decisions were made, it seemed SBEC was leaning toward the first option in order to move exam development forward quickly. Discussion will likely continue at SBEC’s July meeting before decisions are made later in the fall.  

Another agenda item that sparked lengthy debate was proposed changes to teacher pedagogy standards. Compliance with recent legislation, including HB 1605 by Rep. Brad Buckley (R–Salado), was given as the reason for the revisions. Draft standards that had been developed by an appointed committee of stakeholders were presented to the board for discussion, and many of the committee’s members provided testimony to the board, saying they felt the proposed standards did not accurately reflect the committee’s work and intent. Much of this debate centered on removal of “lesson design” from the standards in favor of “lesson internalization,” a change TEA staff claimed was prompted by the need to comply with HB 1605. HB 1605’s curriculum, however, is meant to be optional for districts, and therefore mandating changes to pedagogy standards that affect all educators would put the standards into conflict with both current education code and T-TESS, the teacher evaluation system used by most districts. ATPE, through our membership in the Texas Coalition for Educator Preparation (TCEP), provided testimony on the importance of lesson design in teacher preparation, as well as in educator best practices. The board made no decisions on the issue, but it seemed clear board members were hesitant to completely remove lesson design from the pedagogy standards, with board members even suggesting areas in the proposed text where lesson design could be written back in.  

SBEC will have a two-day work session in July at which these issues will likely continue to be discussed.