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The
74th Texas Legislature created the State Board
for Educator Certification in 1995 to govern the standards
of the education profession in Texas. SBEC's 15-member board
oversees all aspects of the state's standards-based licensure
system to ensure that all Texas students have appropriately
certified teachers. One of the board's guiding principles
is the belief that educators are equipped to create and uphold
high standards for teaching preparation, practice, and conduct.
SBEC's Information and Support Center (ISC) provides information
to the public on all aspects of educator preparation, assessment,
and certification. SBEC is committed to building respect for
the teaching profession in Texas. The board welcomes input
from teachers, school staff, and community members on ways
to improve teacher training, certification, support, and professional
development. Formerly, under the auspices of the Texas Education
Agency, the primary responsibilities of SBEC included:
- Educator
Preparation. The board works with educator preparation entities
in Texas, guiding them in program development, approval,
and implementation.
- Teacher
Assessment/Accountability. The board manages the on-going
development, review, and administration of examinations
required for certification, such as the Examination for
the Certification of Educators in Texas (ExCET). SBEC also
monitors educator preparation entities with the Accountability
System for Educator Preparation (ASEP). Assessment data
of prospective teachers and performance of beginning teachers
are used to determine the quality of preparation entities
and for annual accreditation reports.
- Certification.
SBEC is responsible for issuing all educator credentials
to applicants meeting the requirements for teacher certification
in Texas.
- Investigations
and Enforcement. The board enforces the standards of conduct
for Texas educators, reviewing complaints of misconduct
and holding formal public hearings.
In
response to the legislative mandate to rethink how educators
are prepared and certified, the Board drafted the Framework
for Educator Certification and Preparation in May 1997
to serve as the basis for future policies and plans. Some
of the assumptions underlying the work of the Board include
the following:
- The
education profession must adopt high standards for all facets
of the preparation, certification, and conduct of educators
and must remove individuals who do not meet those standards.
- The
types, grade-level groupings, and fields of teaching certificates
must be designed broadly enough to assure that the state’s
required curriculum is taught by appropriately certified
teachers.
- The
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills must be the cornerstone
for subject area certificates.
- A
continuum of certificates should parallel the professional
growth of educators. This continuum begins with a conditional
certificate for the induction period, and includes a standard
certificate and an advanced certificate.
- Beginning
educators must receive ongoing, formal, and collaborative
support from a team consisting of both public or accredited
private school personnel and preparation program faculty.
In
addition to the Framework for Educator Certification and
Preparation, SBEC published Who’s Teaching in
Texas Public Schools?, a comprehensive resource of information
on Texas teacher qualifications. Among the text's relevant
data are statistics that showing that 8.7 percent of high
school music teachers in Texas are non-certified.
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