November 2021 Committee on School Initiatives Item 5

Review of Proposed Amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 229, Accountability System for Educator Preparation Programs

November 19, 2021

COMMITTEE ON SCHOOL INITIATIVES: ACTION
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION: ACTION

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. Chapter 229 establishes the performance standards and procedures for educator preparation program (EPP) accountability. The proposed amendments would provide for adjustments to the 2020–2021 Accountability System for Educator Preparation (ASEP) Manual due to the ongoing public health situation; implement House Bill (HB) 159, 87th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2021, to add students with disabilities to the student achievement ASEP performance indicator regarding student performance; provide additional clarity for certificate category calculations; and provide updates to the ASEP Manual.

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), 21.0441(c) and (d); 21.0443; 21.045, as amended by HB 159, 87th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2021; 21.0451; and 21.0452.

TEC, §21.041(a), allows the SBEC to adopt rules as necessary for its own procedures.

TEC, §21.041(b)(1), requires the SBEC to propose rules that provide for the regulation of educators and the general administration of TEC, Chapter 21, Subchapter B, in a manner consistent with TEC, Chapter 21, Subchapter B.

TEC, §21.041(d), states that the SBEC may adopt a fee for the approval and renewal of approval of an educator preparation program, for the addition of a certificate or field of certification, and to provide for the administrative cost of appropriately ensuring the accountability of EPPs.

TEC, §21.043(b) and (c), require SBEC to provide EPPs with data, as determined in coordination with stakeholders, based on information reported through the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) that enables an EPP to assess the impact of the program and revise the program as needed to improve.

TEC, §21.0441(c) and (d), require the SBEC to adopt rules setting certain admission requirements for EPPs.

TEC, §21.0443, states that the SBEC shall propose rules to establish standards to govern the approval or renewal of approval of EPPs and certification fields authorized to be offered by an EPP. To be eligible for approval or renewal of approval, an EPP must adequately prepare candidates for educator certification and meet the standards and requirements of the SBEC. The SBEC shall require that each EPP be reviewed for renewal of approval at least every five years. The SBEC shall adopt an evaluation process to be used in reviewing an EPP for renewal of approval.

TEC, §21.045, as amended by HB 159, 87th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2021, states that the SBEC shall propose rules establishing standards to govern the approval and continuing accountability of all EPPs.

TEC, §21.0451, states that the SBEC shall propose rules for the sanction of EPPs that do not meet accountability standards and shall annually review the accreditation status of each EPP. The costs of technical assistance required under TEC, §21.0451(a)(2)(A), or the costs associated with the appointment of a monitor under TEC, §21.0451(a)(2)(C), shall be paid by the sponsor of the EPP.

TEC, §21.0452, states that to assist persons interested in obtaining teaching certification in selecting an EPP and to assist school districts in making staffing decisions, the SBEC shall make certain specified information regarding EPPs in this state available to the public through the SBEC's Internet website.

The full text of statutory citations can be found in the statutory authority section of this agenda.

PREVIOUS BOARD ACTION: None.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND JUSTIFICATION: EPPs are entrusted to prepare educators for success in the classroom. The 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 rules in 19 TAC Chapter 229 establish the process used for issuing annual accreditation ratings for all EPPs to comply with these provisions of the TEC and to ensure the highest level of educator preparation, which is codified in the SBEC Mission Statement.

At the April 2021 meeting, Texas Education Agency (TEA) staff presented draft rule text and received direction from the SBEC related to potential rule changes in Chapter 229. The SBEC directed staff to receive additional feedback on certificate category pass rates. Staff hosted a meeting with the Educator Preparation Advisory Committee (EPAC) on May 21, 2021, to receive feedback on the proposed text.

Following is a description of the topics for the proposed amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 229. The proposed amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 229 are presented in Attachment I. The updated Figure: 19 TAC §229.1(c), which is the ASEP Manual, is presented in Attachment II. A detailed description is included below.

§229.1. General Provisions and Purpose of Accountability System for Educator Preparation Programs.

Update of ASEP Manual:

The proposed amendment to Figure: 19 TAC §229.1(c) would update the ASEP Manual to do four things:

Updates to Chapter 3 would include language to exclude candidates issued a probationary certificate under the condition of the waiver issued by the governor. These candidates are removed from the calculation per 19 TAC §229.4(a)(1)(D), therefore, this update clarifies this removal in the ASEP Manual. Chapter 3 would also be updated to align with the pass rate approach for the 2020–2021 academic year (AY), per 19 TAC §229.4(a)(1)(B). This update aligns the ASEP Manual with existing rule language. Chapter 3 would further be updated with clarification about the Core Subjects Adjustment, which is no longer needed due to changes in how data is reported to TEA but is still used for historic data. A new section, Disaggregation at the Certification or Category Level, would be added to the ASEP Manual, providing clarity on the calculations for proposed new 19 TAC §229.5(c). These changes were prompted by feedback from the SBEC and stakeholders, as noted in the description of changes to 19 TAC §229.5(c) below. The old section, The Disaggregation at the Test Level, would be removed. Finally, updates to the worked examples would be made, removing old examples and providing new ones, to align with the text updates. The updates include a new example pertaining to 19 TAC §229.5(c).

Updates to Chapter 5 would implement HB 159, 87th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2021, to clarify that all students, including students with disabilities, would be used in the calculation of the standard.

Updates to Chapter 8 would provide the new focus area for the Innovative EPP commendation. This focus area was approved by the EPP commendation committee at its meeting on April 29, 2021.

Updates to Chapter 9 would remove the date reference to streamline the text.

Updates throughout the ASEP Manual would correct date references and correct minor technical errors as well as provide transparency to the field as to the calculations used to determine accreditation statuses.

§229.4. Determination of Accreditation Status.

The proposed amendment in §229.4(a) would prescribe that due to the governor’s ongoing disaster declaration, the 2020–2021 AY data for the performance indicators would be reported to EPPs but not be used for accountability purposes. Given that the governor declared a disaster during which many campuses, facilities, and services were closed, impacting the ability of EPPs to meet these accountability measures, this amendment would prevent EPPs from receiving accountability ratings based on data that are partial or incomplete.

Determination of Accreditation Status:

The proposed amendment to §229.4(b), (b)(1), and (b)(2) would delay the implementation of the previously adopted index system. This would continue to provide a year in which the recommended accreditation status would be the more favorable outcome of the index system described in the §229.4(b)(1)(A)–(D) or the existing system in §229.4(b)(2)(A)–(D) for each EPP. This would align with the previous approach to the implementation timeline as being the year immediately following the end of the Not Rated: Declared State of Disaster accreditation status.

The proposed amendment to §229.4(b)(4) would extend the accreditation status of Not Rated: Declared State of Disaster to the 2020–2021 reporting year for all EPPs. This status is based on the governor’s declaration of disaster on March 13, 2020, due to COVID-19. This status would limit the continued impact of test center closures and local education agency (LEA) closures on EPP accreditation statuses. The proposed amendment to §229.4(b)(4) would prescribe that the ASEP status that each EPP was assigned by the SBEC for the 2018–2019 reporting year would be the operative accreditation status for purposes prescribed in 19 TAC Chapter 228, Requirements for Educator Preparation Programs, for 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 AYs.

Proposed new §229.4(b)(4)(D) would prescribe that EPPs that were not assigned an ASEP status of Accredited for the 2018–2019 AY and meet the requirements to be assigned an ASEP status of Accredited for the 2020–2021 AY, as described in §229.4(b)(1)(A) or (2)(A), would provide for a break in consecutively measured years or next most recent years as prescribed in §229.4(b)(1)–(3), and would allow an EPP to be eligible for commendations as described in §229.1(d). Proposed new §229.4(b)(4)(D) would allow an EPP that has made program improvements during the pandemic that would have resulted in an Accredited status if ASEP was not paused to break from the 2018–2019 ASEP status for purposes of determining future ASEP accreditation status based on consecutive years of poor performance and be eligible for a commendation.

Technical edits would be made to §229.4(a) to apply Texas Register style requirements.

§229.5. Accreditation Sanctions and Procedures.

The proposed amendment to §229.5(c) would clarify that the determination of pass rates evaluated at the level of a certification class or category is calculated at the exam level, and that all exams required for certification, as listed in Figure: 19 TAC §230.21(e), are included. This amendment would require EPPs to meet the performance standard for all non-PPR exams required for certification within a certification class or category. This aligns with the requirements for candidates to be certified.

At the May 21, 2021 meeting of the EPAC, there was discussion about the update to §229.5(c). Stakeholders noted the importance of using all tests available and ensuring specifically that results from the Science of Teaching Reading (STR) exam were able to be used. The group discussed a number of options, including combining pass rates and having each pass rate count separately. Stakeholders also noted that candidates are required to pass all exams for certification and that expectations for EPPs should be aligned. Proposed amendments in §229.5(c) and Chapter 3 of the ASEP Manual would provide for this alignment.

Proposed new §229.5(c)(3) would prescribe that EPPs that failed to meet the performance standard in subsection (c) regarding performance on a certification examination in the 2018–2019 academic year and would meet the requirements for the 2020–2021 AY will provide a break in consecutively measured years for that class or category for the purposes of determining future consecutive years of poor performance. This would allow an EPP that has made program improvements in a certificate class or category that would have resulted in a reset if the calculation was not paused to break from the 2018–2019 consecutively measured years.

The proposed amendment in §229.5(c) would provide technical edits to renumber and reletter subsections (d) and (e) to paragraphs (1) and (2) and subsections (f) and (g) to subsections (d) and (e).

SBOE Review of Proposed SBEC Rules

Under the TEC, §21.042, the SBEC must submit a written copy of each rule it proposes to adopt to the SBOE for review. The SBOE may reject the proposed rule by a vote of at least two-thirds of the members of the SBOE present and voting but may not modify a rule.

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.

LOCAL EMPLOYMENT IMPACT: No changes have been made to this section since published as proposed. The proposal has no effect on local economy; therefore, no local employment impact statement is required under Texas Government Code (TGC), §2001.022.

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.

TAKINGS IMPACT ASSESSMENT: No changes have been made to this section since published as proposed. The proposal does not impose a burden on private real property and, therefore, does not constitute a taking under TGC, §2007.043.

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, it would limit an existing regulation by removing accountability requirements for EPPs for the 2020–2021 academic year due to the ongoing disaster declaration. EPPs will not be held accountable for performance metrics during this time as outlined in this proposed rule.

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 require an increase or decrease in fees paid to the agency; would not create a new regulation; would not expand or repeal an existing regulation; would not increase or decrease 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 proposal 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 no new data and reporting impact.

PRINCIPAL AND CLASSROOM TEACHER PAPERWORK REQUIREMENTS: No changes have been made to this section since published as proposed. The TEA staff has determined that the proposal would not require a written report or other paperwork to be completed by a principal or classroom teacher.

PUBLIC COMMENTS: In accordance with the SBEC rulemaking process, a summary of comments received by the SBEC on its proposed rules is shared with the SBOE under separate cover prior to this SBOE meeting.

MOTION TO BE CONSIDERED: The State Board of Education:

Take no action on proposed amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 229, Accountability System for Educator Preparation Programs.

Staff Members Responsible:
Emily Garcia, Associate Commissioner, Educator Preparation, Certification, and Enforcement
Mark Olofson, Director, Educator Data, Research, and Strategy

Attachment I:
Text of Proposed Amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 229, Accountability System for Educator Preparation Programs

Attachment II:
Text of Proposed Figure 19 TAC §229.1(c)