State Board for Educator Certification Discussion of the Special Education Certification Redesign

and Test Development Updates

September 30, 2022 Item 15 – Page 1

Item 15:

Discussion of the Special Education Certification Redesign

and Test Development Updates

exams.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY: The statutory authority for the classroom teacher class certificate

structure is Texas Education Code (TEC), §§21.003(a), 21.031, and 21.041(b)(1), (2), and (4),

21.041(c), 21.044(a), 21.0441, 21.048(a).

FUTURE ACTION EXPECTED: Texas Education Agency (TEA) staff anticipates presenting an

update on educator certification test development to the Board at each SBEC meeting.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND JUSTIFICATION: This item provides an update on the

Background on Special Education Certification Redesign Process

Texas public schools provide special education services to almost 500,000 students. Despite

these services, students with disabilities perform significantly lower on state assessments in

reading and mathematics than their same-aged peers. In 2018, to address this discrepancy and

improve both student outcomes and educator preparation, the TEA developed a Strategic Plan

for Special Education based on input from stakeholders across the state. Two goals of the

strategic plan relate, in particular, to preparation and staffing of special education teachers.

Since the development of the strategic plan, the SBEC has taken systematic, data-informed

action to redesign the special education certification process, in collaboration with stakeholders.

Special Education Forums 2018-2019

From October 2018 to January 2019, TEA convened a series of forums comprised of diverse

participants within the field of special education to provide a set of recommendations intended to

strengthen Texas’ special education certification process. As an outcome of these forums, TEA

State Board for Educator Certification Discussion of the Special Education Certification Redesign

and Test Development Updates

September 30, 2022 Item 15 – Page 2

staff developed a brief, which was presented to the SBEC for their consideration and feedback

in April 2019. The brief, which can be found in the attachment, presented information to the

SBEC on (a) the content of the forums and the participants, (b) current certification

requirements in Texas, (c) recommended changes to those requirements, (d) likely benefits of

changing the requirements, and (e) points of concern. A summary of the recommendations

Special Education Educator Standards Development 2019-2020

Based on the forums’ recommendations, the SBEC directed TEA staff to convene Educator

Standards Advisory Committees to develop updated special education educator standards. In

the summer of 2019, the TEA convened three committees, as well as a group of internal special

education experts, to revise and write standards according to the recommendations of the

forums. Committee members included representatives from institutes of higher education,

alternative certification programs, special education consultants, and practicing teachers. As an

outcome of the standards development process, the SBEC adopted Special Education EC-6,

Special Education 6-12, and Deafblind EC-12 educator standards in 19 TAC Chapter 235 in

aligned certification exams. The design of these certification exams will align with the structure

of other redesigned content pedagogy exams and will include both multiple choice and

constructed response questions. Exam development is currently underway.

Current and Future Special Education Stakeholder Engagement

In preparation for upcoming discussions related to implementing updated special education

certification requirements in rule, TEA staff compiled all stakeholder feedback from 2018 to

2021 into a set of initial draft policy recommendations. Beginning in Fall 2021, TEA staff

convened a Special Education State Leadership team, in coordination with the CEEDAR

(Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform) Center, to seek

preparation programs and local education agencies to successfully plan for and implement the

redesigned special education certification process.

State Board for Educator Certification Discussion of the Special Education Certification Redesign

and Test Development Updates

September 30, 2022 Item 15 – Page 3

To accomplish the first articulated goal, the Special Education State Leadership team has met

monthly between September 2021 to June 2022 to review the stakeholder recommendations to

date and provide additional feedback.

Stakeholder Recommendations and Draft Special Education Certification Redesign

Pathway

The table below summarizes the current pathways to special education certification.

*Per 19 TAC §231.701, if an individual is providing content instruction in a special education

classroom setting, a valid certificate that matches the subject and grade level of the assignment

is also required, or the individual must demonstrate competency through the state's 2010 and

2011 high objective uniform State standard of evaluation for elementary and secondary special

education teachers.

State Board for Educator Certification Discussion of the Special Education Certification Redesign

and Test Development Updates

September 30, 2022 Item 15 – Page 4

Draft Recommendations for SBEC Discussion

Based on the extensive stakeholder feedback gathered from 2018 onward, TEA staff will

discuss with the SBEC a preliminary set of certificate and certification exam recommendations

for Special Education certification redesign and new Deafblind certification. TEA staff plan to

present draft rule text to codify these recommendations related to associated certificates and

certification exams in the Chapter 230 and Chapter 233 discussion items in this agenda.

State Board for Educator Certification Discussion of the Special Education Certification Redesign

and Test Development Updates

September 30, 2022 Item 15 – Page 5

Special Education Specialist EC-12 Certificate:

TEA staff will present to the Board for discussion the recommendation to develop a new Special

Education Specialist: EC-12 certificate. This recommendation differs from the recommendations

originally made by the Special Education Forums and Standards Advisory Committees, who

recommended that the SBEC grade-band the certificates into EC-6 and 6-12 certificates. During

extensive stakeholder discussions with the State Special Education Leadership team, a number

• Stakeholders expressed concerns about the optics of grade-banded special education

standards when special education services are tightly connected to the individual needs

of the student and their individual education plan (IEP).

State Board for Educator Certification Discussion of the Special Education Certification Redesign

and Test Development Updates

September 30, 2022 Item 15 – Page 6

Implementation of the new Core Subjects with STR/Special Education: EC-6 certificate and

aligned certification exam would necessitate that EPPs apply to offer the new certificate. This

multi-year runway, with the certificate and certification exam launching in September 2026,

provides the necessary time to the field to update curriculum and coursework and apply for

approval before the certification launches.

Deafblind: EC-12 Certificate:

educator necessitated that the certificate only be available as a post-baccalaureate route

certificate for those teachers who are already certified as either Teachers of Students with

Visual Impairments (TVI) or Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHOH). In addition,

State Board for Educator Certification Discussion of the Special Education Certification Redesign

and Test Development Updates

September 30, 2022 Item 15 – Page 8

Discussion on Future Test Development

In addition to the exams currently slated for development, TEA staff plans to discuss future

exam development plans with the SBEC during the September meeting. TEA staff will discuss

opportunities to update and streamline exams, including the opportunity to also develop a

version of the Core Subjects exam that includes an ESL subtest and a new Bilingual Spanish

certification exam. TEA staff will also share an update on educator standards development and

the profession, and retention of these qualified professionals for years to come.

Staff Members Responsible:

Jessica McLoughlin, Director, Talent Pathways

DeMarco Pitre, Manager, Educator Standards and Testing

Attachment:

Special Education Data Overview

State Board for Educator Certification Discussion of the Special Education Certification Redesign

and Test Development Updates

September 30, 2022 Item 15 – Page 9

ATTACHMENT

route.

Table 1: New Special Education Certifications by Route

Table 2: Top EPP Producers of Special Education Certificates

Per 19 TAC 229.5, TEA calculates the second-attempt pass rate for all certification fields annually. Additionally, we

have information from our testing vendor which includes the first attempt pass rate and the best attempt pass rate.

Table 3 below presents the pass rate for the special education EC-12 exam for the past 5 years. This includes the

first, second, and best attempt.

Table 3: Pass Rates for Special Education EC-12 Exam