Review of Proposed Repeal of 19 TAC Chapter 229, Accountability System for Educator
Preparation, and Proposed New 19 TAC Chapter 229, Accountability System for Educator
Preparation Programs
March 12, 2010
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 repeal 19 TAC Chapter 229, Accountability System for Educator Preparation, and propose new 19 TAC Chapter 229, Accountability System for Educator Preparation Programs. The proposed rule actions would be necessary as a result of Senate Bill (SB) 174, 81st Texas Legislature, 2009, which requires expanded accountability requirements for SBEC-approved educator preparation programs (EPPs). Proposed new 19 TAC Chapter 229 would specify requirements for the new accountability system for EPPs, including the assignment of an EPP accreditation status, and would allow the SBEC to intervene in cases of low-performance. In addition, SB 174 requires the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to develop a website with consumer information to assist teacher candidates in selecting an EPP and to assist school districts in hiring decisions.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY: The statutory authority for the proposed rule actions to 19 TAC Chapter 229 is the Texas Education Code (TEC), §§21.041(c) and (d), 21.045, 21.0451, and 21.0452.
EFFECTIVE DATE: The proposed effective date of the repeal of and new 19 TAC Chapter 229 would be April 18, 2010.
PREVIOUS BOARD ACTION: None.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND SIGNIFICANT ISSUES: The TEC, §21.045, states that the SBEC shall propose rules establishing standards to govern the approval and continuing accountability of all EPPs.
Current SBEC rules in 19 TAC Chapter 229 provide for rules that establish the process used for issuing annual accreditation ratings for all EPPs, based on certification test scores of completers. The rules currently in effect in 19 TAC Chapter 229 are proposed for repeal, as shown in Attachment II, in response to SB 174.
Prior to the 81st Texas Legislative Session in 2009, the TEA staff held six stakeholder meetings around the state to allow stakeholders to share their ideas regarding the accountability system for EPPs. Stakeholder meetings were held in Corpus Christi, Dallas, Kilgore, Midland, San Antonio, and Austin to allow as many stakeholders to participate as possible.
Following the 2009 legislative session, the TEA Division of Educator Standards also held stakeholder meetings on July 23, 2009, August 11, 2009, and August 17, 2009, to ensure stakeholder input.
Proposed new 19 TAC Chapter 229, as shown in Attachment III, would establish the new accountability system for EPPs, including the assignment of an accreditation status, and would allow the SBEC to intervene in cases of low performance. In addition, as required by SB 174, the TEA would develop a website with consumer information to assist teacher candidates in selecting an EPP and assist school districts in hiring decisions.
In response to public comment and further legal review, the definitions in proposed new 19 TAC §229.2(5), "Beginning teacher," and §229.2(17), "First year in the classroom," would be revised to remove references to required field supervision. The effect of these revisions would be to eliminate the required evaluations, specified in proposed new 19 TAC §229.4(a)(2), by principals of candidates who are not employed as classroom teachers and to limit the accreditation standard, specified in proposed new 19 TAC §229.4(a)(4), relating to frequency, duration, and quality of required field supervision to candidates who are employed as classroom teachers.
In addition, the following technical edits would be made to proposed new 19 TAC §229.3 and §229.4. Language would be amended in proposed new 19 TAC §229.3 to clarify that any Texas public school or open-enrollment charter school that fails to provide required information would be referred to the commissioner of education with a recommendation that sanctions be imposed. The SBEC does not have statutory authority to sanction Texas public schools and open-enrollment charter schools. Language in proposed new §229.4(a)(4) would be amended to cross reference SBEC requirements in §228.35(f).
Currently the accountability system uses only certification test scores of EPP completers to establish the accountability ratings for SBEC-approved EPPs. With the enactment of SB 174, there are more opportunities for the collection of data and other accountability indicators for the purpose of governing SBEC-approved EPPs.
SBOE Review of Proposed SBEC Rules
Under 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 rules by a vote of at least two-thirds of the members of the SBOE present and voting.
FISCAL IMPACT: SB 174, 81st Texas Legislature, 2009, mandates an expanded accountability system for EPPs approved by the SBEC. Proposed new 19 TAC §§229.1-229.9 specifies requirements for the new accountability system for EPPs. Currently, there are approximately 177 SBEC-approved EPPs. The following fiscal implications are based on costs per entity for state government (public universities and education service centers with approved EPPs), local government (school districts with approved EPPs), persons (private universities and private companies with approved EPPs), and small businesses and/or microbusinesses (small-size EPPs) for fiscal years (FYs) 2010-2014.
There are anticipated fiscal implications for EPPs as a result of enforcing proposed new 19 TAC §§229.1-229.9. EPPs would be required to collect and submit data for determining an EPP's accreditation status. The required data collection for submission to the TEA may result in a need for each EPP to hire additional personnel for data entry. The total estimated personnel cost per entity would be $50,000 for 1.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) for each year of FY 2010-FY 2014.
SB 174 authorizes and requires that EPPs pay fees for continuing approval/monitoring visits required in 19 TAC §228.10. The anticipated fiscal implications per entity would be at least $1,500 by FY 2014.
As stated earlier, there may be an anticipated economic impact for small businesses and microbusinesses that serve as approved educator preparation entities with alternative certification programs. It is estimated that the proposed rule actions will affect between 1-100 small businesses and 1-100 microbusinesses (businesses with 20 or fewer employees). The projected economic impact may be for compliance costs such as an increase in personnel and continuing approval/monitoring visits.
No regulatory flexibility analysis will be conducted under the Texas Government Code, §2006.002. The proposed new rule sections are explicitly required by state mandate. There is no flexibility in implementing these new statutory requirements; therefore, no regulatory flexibility analysis can be performed.
For the TEA to implement new EPP standards related to growth in academic performance of students taught in a teacher's first three years of teaching, new data establishing a teacher-student link for assessment results would be collected. The TEA has received a federal grant to develop this link, which is scheduled to be in place in FY 2013. The TEA estimates the cost of software updates associated with the collection of data necessary to implement the standards at $650,000 in FY 2012 and $130,000 in each year for FY 2013 and FY 2014. Conducting the analysis to implement the standards would require 1.0 additional FTE at a cost of $98,844 in FY 2012 and $90,844 in each year for FY 2013 and FY 2014, inclusive of salary, benefits, and other operating expenses. It is assumed that these costs would be offset by increased fee revenue authorized by SB 174.
The provisions of SB 174 related to sanctions for EPPs that fail to meet the accountability standards would require 1.0 additional attorney FTE at the TEA at a cost of $98,844 in FY 2010 and $90,844 in each year for FY 2011-FY 2014, inclusive of salary, benefits, and other operating expenses. It is assumed that this cost would be offset by increased fee revenue authorized by SB 174.
Programming costs for updates to the TEA web site to provide the information regarding individual EPPs required by SB 174 are estimated at $250,000 in FY 2010 and $50,000 in each year for FY 2011-FY 2014 in maintenance costs. The TEA estimates 1.0 FTE would be necessary to compile and analyze results of exit surveys for inclusion on the web site at a cost of $76,491 in FY 2010 and $68,491 in each year for FY 2011-FY 2014, inclusive of salary, benefits, and other expenses. The TEA estimates the cost of software updates associated with the collection of data necessary to implement new EPP standards at $650,000 in FY 2012 and $130,000 in each year for FY 2013 and FY 2014. The TEA estimates programming costs of $50,000 in FY 2010 and $10,000 in each year for FY 2011-FY 2014 to provide for a web-based application for school principal surveys. It is assumed that these costs would be offset by increased fee revenue authorized by SB 174.
PUBLIC AND STUDENT BENEFIT: The public and student benefit anticipated as a result of the proposed rule actions would be an accountability system that informs the public of the quality of educator preparation provided by each SBEC-approved EPP.
PROCEDURAL AND REPORTING IMPLICATIONS: The TEA staff have determined that in order to implement SB 174, all SBEC-approved EPPs would follow all reporting procedures outlined in proposed new 19 TAC §§229.1-229.9. EPPs would report data according to the reporting dates stated in the proposed new sections. In addition, as required by SB 174, principals would be required to submit survey responses evaluating the performance of beginning educators and the preparation of beginning educators by EPPs.
LOCALLY MAINTAINED PAPERWORK REQUIREMENTS: The proposed rule actions would require all SBEC-approved EPPs to maintain locally all required data according to proposed new 19 TAC §§229.1-229.9. In addition, EPPs would submit and maintain data in the state accountability system for EPPs.
PUBLIC COMMENTS: In accordance with the SBEC rulemaking process, a summary of comments received by the SBEC on its proposed rules were shared with the SBOE in a separate mailing prior to this SBOE meeting.
ALTERNATIVES: None.
OTHER COMMENTS AND RELATED ISSUES: None.
COMMISSIONER'S RECOMMENDATION: I recommend that the State Board of Education:
Take no action on the proposed repeal of 19 TAC Chapter 229, Accountability System for Educator Preparation, and proposed new 19 TAC Chapter 229, Accountability System for Educator Preparation Programs.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert Scott
Commissioner of Education
Staff Members Responsible:
Raymond F. Glynn, Deputy Commissioner
School District Leadership and Educator Quality
Jerel Booker, Associate Commissioner
Educator and Student Policy Initiatives
Karen Loonam, Deputy Associate Commissioner
Educator Certification and Standards
Janice Lopez, Director
Educator Standards
Attachments:
I. Statutory Citations
II. Text of Proposed Repeal of 19 TAC Chapter 229, Accountability System for Educator Preparation
III. Text of Proposed New 19 TAC Chapter 229, Accountability System for Educator Preparation Programs