Applicants for the 2009-2010 cycle satisfy the “HQ” admission requirement if they have passed a TExES content exam or have 24 semester hours in college course work in the single subject teaching field they wish to teach.
All applicants who fail to meet regular and "HQ" admission requirements will be considered for 2010-2011 cycle admission.
TOPP General Admission Requirements 2009-2010
Admission requirements to the Teacher Orientation & Preparation Program 2009-2010 cycle are based on adopted rule revisions of the Texas Administrative Code Chapters 227 and 228. The adopted rule revisions are effective January 1, 2009. In an effort to be consistent and fair the Teacher Orientation and Preparation Program will apply the following admission and program requirements to all applicants who applied for admission into the 2009-2010 program cycle. All other applicants prior to the 2009-2010 cycle must meet the following admission requirements effective January 1, 2009.
All applicants for the Teacher Orientation and Preparation Program 2009-2010 (TOPP) must:
General Admission Requirements
For individuals with undergraduate or graduate degrees from regionally accredited United States institutions of higher education
1. Online Application - Submit a completed on-line application, criminal background check history release form, supporting documentation and applicable application fee on or before application deadline. All supporting documentation submitted by mail must be postmarked by application deadline. 2. Interview - Interview with program staff to determine the educator preparation candidate’s appropriateness for the certification sought and any other criteria for admission. 3. Conferred Degree - Possess a conferred undergraduate or graduate degree from a regionally accredited college/university recognized by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB). 4. Official Transcripts - Submit official transcripts from each college and/or university attended and has an overall grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.5 or at least 2.5 in the last 60 semester credit hours of course work. 5. Basic Skills Test - An individual who has graduated with a baccalaureate or graduate degree from a regionally accredited United States institution of higher education is exempt from the basic skills test requirement under 19 Texas Administrative Code, Part 1, Chapter 4, Subchapter C (relating to Texas Success Initiative). 6. English Oral Proficiency - An individual who has graduated with a baccalaureate or graduate degree from an accredited United States institution of higher education meets the English language oral proficiency requirement.
General Admission Requirements
For individuals with undergraduate or graduate degrees from institutions of higher education outside the United States
1. Online Application- Submit a completed on-line application, criminal history release form, supporting documentation and applicable application fee on or before application deadline. All supporting documentation submitted by mail must be postmarked by application deadline. 2. Interview - Interview with program staff to determine the educator preparation candidate’s appropriateness for the certification sought and any other criteria for admission. 3. Foreign Transcripts - Foreign transcripts must be evaluated by an approved credential evaluation service. Evaluation must include semester hour equivalent, grade point evaluation and a statement confirming that the foreign degree is equivalent to a degree conferred by a college or university in the United States. The evaluation must indicate that the applicant has an overall grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.5 (See www.sbec.state.tx.us/SBECOnline/certinfo/becometeacher.asp for a list of credential evaluation services). 4. Basic Skills Testing- All applicants who have foreign transcripts evaluated by an approved credential evaluation service and who have not completed an undergraduate or graduate degree in the United States must also complete a basic skills test requirement. Accuplacer or Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) (formerly TASP Test) offered by National Evaluation Systems, Inc. The following minimum passing standards shall be used.
Accuplacer: Reading Comprehension - 78; Elementary Algebra - 63; Sentence Skills - 80; and Written Essay - 6. The minimum passing standard for the written essay portion of all tests is a score of 6. However, an essay with a score of 5 will meet this standard if the student meets the objective writing test standard.
5. English Oral Proficiency- Be able to speak and understand the English language sufficiently to use it easily and readily in conversation and teaching. English Language proficiency may be evidenced by one of the following: a. Completion of an undergraduate or graduate degree at an institution of higher education in the United States. b. If an undergraduate or graduate degree was earned at an institution of higher education outside of the United States, evidence must be provided under procedures approved by the SBEC executive director that the primary language of instruction was English. c. Completion of a state-approved educator preparation program within the United States d. Verification of three creditable years of teaching experience as defined in Subchapter Y of this title (relating to Definitions), in an educational setting within the United States or, if the experience was earned in an education setting outside of the United States, evidence under procedures approved by the SBEC executive director that the primary language of instruction was English. e. Verification of satisfactory scores on an English language proficiency exam(s) approved by the executive director of SBEC. The information for the Test of English as a Foreign Language may be found at http://www.toefl.org. (Oral Proficiency score of 26 required)
Other Program Requirements
College Hour Requirements for Single Subject Certification:
Minimum of 12 semester credit hours in the specific content area for the 4-8 and 8-12 single subject certification sought, a passing score on a content certification exam, or a passing score on a content examination administered by a vendor on the Texas Education Agency (TEA) approved vendor list published by the commissioner of education for the calendar year during which the candidate seeks admission.
Note: Teacher candidates with only twelve hours of content in a single subject area are not highly qualified by NCLB rule unless they pass the TExES exam that correlates with their specific single subject content area.
Field Based Experience (State mandated requirement that must be met prior to internship)
Requires that all teacher candidates to complete thirty hours of field based experience prior to an internship. Field based experience is defined as the primary activity of a candidate for certification is to observe or interact in the performance of professional educator activities with Early Childhood-Grade 12 students, teachers, and faculty/staff members in a school setting that is part of regular classroom instruction. The professional activities include more than observation within a classroom. The interaction with students, teachers, and entity faculty/staff must be ongoing and relevant. Classroom observation, substitute teaching, instructional aide, student mentoring, campus or classroom volunteer and paraprofessional experiences may be used to meet the field base experience requirement. Failure to complete this requirement prohibits a teacher candidate from securing an internship. In the case of late hires, the employing entity needs to provide the teacher candidate with the opportunity to complete thirty-hours of field based experience prior to employment as a teacher of record and the teacher candidate must also complete 80 clock- hours of training as well as 30 hours of field based experience prior to the end of the first semester or within ninety-days from the initial teacher assignment.
Following the completion of Content Preparation (Phase I), the pre-employment summer training (Phase II) and passing the appropriate TExES exam, applicants will be eligible for a one year paid internship teaching position (Phase III) for the 2009-2010 academic year with a TEA accredited Texas public, charter or private school. TEA link to search for accredited private schools in Texas: (http://www.tepsac.org/search_start.cfm). Upon successful completion of the internship, program, district and state testing requirements, teacher interns will be approved for a standard Texas teaching certification.
NOTES: Teacher Orientation and Preparation Program: Reserves the right to withhold admission and/or certification if, in the professional judgment of ESC-20 staff an individual has demonstrated attitudes and/or behaviors that detract from the learning environment of a classroom or campus or do not serve in the best interest of students.
May not admit a candidate who has completed another education preparation program or who has been employed for three years in a public school under a temporary or probationary certificate.
The program director may allow a teacher candidate on a case by case basis, who has not met all admission requirements, the opportunity to begin Phase I training. No teacher candidate will be given permission to test, begin phase II training or be recognized as an Education Service Center, Region 20 Teacher Orientation & Preparation Teacher candidate until they have met all program admission requirements.
For application deadlines and more information about how to become part of the 2009-2010 training cycle you may attend our free monthly information sessions posted on our web site, www.esc20.net/topp, e-mail toppstaff@esc20.net or call us at (210) 370-5450.
Documents indicated with either the Adobe Reader® icon or (pdf) are PDF format files. To view or print Portable Document Format (pdf) files, you must have the free Adobe Reader software installed in your computer. If you do not have Adobe Reader®, click Get Adobe Readerto download a free copy from the Adobe website.
For the best viewing experience, please use one of the following browsers:
