| (a) Approval to Operate. A public institution of higher education must provide documentation to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) of approval to operate in Texas prior to submitting a proposal to offer an educator preparation and/or alternative certification program. (b) New Entity Approval. An entity seeking initial approval to deliver an educator preparation program shall submit an application and proposal with evidence indicating the ability to comply with the provisions of this chapter and Chapter 227 of this title (relating to Provisions for Educator Preparation Candidates). The proposal shall include the following program approval components: entity commitment to adequate preparation of certification candidates, program standards, and community collaboration; criteria for admission to an educator preparation program; curriculum; program delivery and evaluation; and a plan for ongoing support of the candidates. The proposal must also identify the certificates proposed to be offered by the entity and meet applicable federal statutes or regulations. The proposal will be reviewed by the TEA staff and a pre-approval site visit will be conducted. The TEA staff shall recommend to the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) whether the entity should be approved. (c) Continuing Entity Approval. An entity approved by the SBEC under this chapter prior to September 1, 2008, shall be reviewed at least once every five years under procedures approved by the TEA staff; however, a review may be conducted at any time at the discretion of the TEA staff. At the time of the review, the entity shall submit to the SBEC a status report regarding its compliance with existing standards for educator preparation programs and the entity's original proposal. An entity approved by the SBEC under this chapter after August 31, 2008, shall be approved for a term of ten years and must reapply every ten years thereafter for approval by the SBEC in the same manner as a new educator preparation program seeking approval. (d) Approval of Clinical Teaching for an Alternative Certification Program. An alternative certification program seeking approval to implement a clinical teaching component shall submit a description of the following elements of the program for approval by the TEA staff: (1) general clinical teaching program description, including conditions under which clinical teaching may be implemented; (2) selection criteria for clinical teachers; (3) selection criteria for mentor teachers; (4) description of support and communication between candidates, mentors, and the alternative certification program; (5) description of program supervision; and (6) description of how candidates are evaluated. (e) Addition of Certificate Fields. (1) An educator preparation program that is rated "accredited," as provided in §229.3 of this title (relating to The Accreditation Process), may request additional certificate fields be approved by TEA staff, by submitting the curriculum matrix; a description of how the standards for Texas educators are incorporated into the educator preparation program; and documentation showing that the program has the staff knowledge and expertise to support individuals participating in each certification field being requested. The curriculum matrix must include the standards, framework competencies, applicable Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, course and/or module names, and the benchmarks or assessments used to measure successful program progress. An educator preparation program rated "accredited," as provided in §229.3 of this title, and currently approved to offer a content area certificate for which the SBEC is changing the grade level of the certificate may request to offer the preapproved content field at different grade levels by submitting a modified curriculum matrix that includes the standards, course and/or module names, and the benchmarks or assessments used to measure successful program progress. The requested additional certificate fields must be within the classes of certificates for which the educator preparation program has been previously approved by the SBEC. An educator preparation program that is not rated "accredited" may not apply to offer additional certificate fields or classes of certificates. (2) An educator preparation program that is rated "accredited" may request the addition of certificate fields in a class of certificates that has not been previously approved by the SBEC, but must present a full proposal for consideration and approval by the SBEC. (f) Addition of Program Locations. An educator preparation program that proposes to provide educator preparation in a different geographic location from that contained in its approved proposal shall present a new proposal for consideration and approval by the SBEC that includes provisions for meeting all program requirements at the new location. The educator preparation program will be notified in writing of its proposal approval or denial within 60 days following a determination by the SBEC. If an educator preparation program has already added additional locations or is already providing educator preparation in locations different from that contained in its original approved proposal as of January 1, 2009, the additional locations are not required to be presented to or approved by the SBEC. However, the educator preparation program shall inform the SBEC of the existence of the additional locations at which the program is providing educator preparation within 60 days of the adoption of this subsection. (g) Contingency of Approval. Approval of all educator preparation programs by the SBEC or by the TEA staff, including each specific certificate field, is contingent upon approval by other lawfully established governing bodies, such as the THECB, boards of regents, or school district boards of trustees. Continuing educator preparation program approval is contingent upon compliance with superseding state and federal law. |
| Source Note: The provisions of this §228.10 adopted to be effective July 11, 1999, 24 TexReg 5011; amended to be effective October 12, 2003, 28 TexReg 8608; amended to be effective August 9, 2007, 32 TexReg 4755; amended to be effective December 14, 2008, 33 TexReg 10016 |
