Section 228.2 - DefinitionsThe following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Academic year--If not referring to the academic year of a particular public, private, or charter school or institution of higher education (IHE), September 1 through August 31.(2) Accredited institution of higher education--An IHE that, at the time it conferred the degree, was accredited or otherwise approved by an accrediting organization recognized by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.(3) Alternative certification program--An approved educator preparation program, delivered by entities described in §228.25(a) of this title (relating to Governance of Educator Preparation Programs), specifically designed as an alternative to a traditional undergraduate certification program, for individuals already holding at least a bachelor's degree from an accredited IHE.(4) Analysis--examining teaching and/or instructional resources (e.g., student work samples, a video of teaching practices) to recognize key teaching practices enacted in a variety of ways, build understanding of the practice through repeated review, develop a shared vision for a teacher practice, and compare their own practice for improvement.(5) Assignment start date--For an internship, clinical teaching, or residency, the first day of instruction with students. For a nonteacher practicum experience, the first day of the window in which the candidate is authorized by the EPP to begin the practicum experience.(6) Authentic school setting--For the purpose of field-based experiences, during the school day and the school year and including summer school; not to include professional development, extracurricular activities, workdays when students are not present, and before- or after-school childcare or tutoring.(7) Benchmarks--Reference points throughout the preparation process where candidates are assessed for progress toward completing EPP requirements (e.g., admission, passing a specific course or courses, passing a certification exam, completing preservice requirements).(8) Campus supervisor--A school administrator or designee responsible for the annual performance appraisal of an intern or a candidate pursuing a residency certificate.(9) Candidate--An individual who has been formally or contingently admitted into an EPP; also referred to as an enrollee or participant.(10) Candidate coach--A person as defined in §228.39(b)(1)-(3) of this title (relating to Intensive Pre-Service) who participates in a minimum of four observation/feedback coaching cycles provided by program supervisors, completes a Texas Education Agency (TEA)-approved observation training or has completed a minimum of 150 hours of observation/feedback training, and has current certification in the class in which supervision is provided.(11) Certification category--A certificate type within a certification class, as described in Chapter 233 of this title (relating to Categories of Classroom Teaching Certificates).(12) Certification class--A certificate, as described in § 230.33 of this title (relating to Classes of Certificates), that has defined characteristics; may contain one or more certification categories, as described in Chapter 233 of this title.(13) Classroom teacher--An educator who is employed by a school or district and who, not less than an average of four hours each day, teaches in an academic instructional setting or a career and technical instructional setting. This term does not include an educational aide, a full-time administrator, or a substitute teacher.(14) Clinical experience--A supervised educator assignment through an EPP at a public school accredited by the TEA or other school approved by the TEA for this purpose where candidates demonstrate proficiency in the standards for the certificate sought and that may lead to completion of a standard certificate. Clinical experience includes clinical teaching, internship, practicum, and residency.(15) Clinical teaching--A supervised teacher assignment through an EPP in the classroom of a cooperating teacher at a public school accredited by the TEA or other school approved by the TEA for this purpose that may lead to completion of a standard certificate; also referred to as student teaching.(16) Clock-hours--The actual number of hours of coursework or training provided; for purposes of calculating the training and coursework required by this chapter, one semester credit hour at an accredited IHE is equivalent to 15 clock-hours. Clock-hours of field-based experiences, clinical teaching, internship, residency, and practicum are actual hours spent in the required educational activities and experiences.(17) Contingency admission--Admission as described in § 227.15 of this title (relating to Contingency Admission).(18) Completer--A person who has met all the requirements of an approved EPP; also referred to as finisher. In applying this definition, the fact that a person has or has not been recommended for a standard certificate or passed a certification examination shall not be used as criteria for determining who is a completer.(19) Cooperating teacher--For a clinical teacher candidate, an educator who is collaboratively assigned by the EPP and campus administrator who supports the candidate during the clinical teaching experience.(20) Co-teaching--A practice in which two or more teachers share instructional responsibility for a single group of students to address specific content and related learning objectives through a variety of approaches that best support the students' learning needs.(21) Educator--An individual who is required to hold a certificate issued under TEC, Chapter 21, Subchapter B.(22) Educator preparation program--An entity that is approved by the SBEC to prepare and recommend candidates for certification in one or more educator certification classes.(23) Enactments--Opportunities to engage teacher candidates in sheltered/protected practice to develop a skill through such examples as doing student work, role playing student interactions, coached lesson rehearsals, and peer run throughs of a proposed lesson. Candidates should have the opportunity to receive feedback on current practice and integrate feedback into future practices.(24) Enhanced standard certificate--A type of certificate issued to an individual who has met all requirements as specified in §230.39(b) of this title (relating to Enhanced Standard Certificates) under the teacher class of certificates.(25) Entity--The individual, corporation, partnership, IHE, public school or school district that is approved to deliver an EPP.(26) Field-based experiences--Introductory experiences for a classroom teacher certification candidate, incorporated with preparation coursework that involve, at the minimum, reflective observation of and interaction with Early Childhood-Grade 12 students, teachers, and faculty/staff members engaging in educational activities in an authentic school setting.(27) Field supervisor--A currently certified educator, who preferably has advanced credentials, hired by the EPP to observe candidates, monitor their performance, and provide constructive feedback to improve their effectiveness as educators.(28) Formal admission--Admission as described in § 227.17 of this title (relating to Formal Admission).(29) Head Start Program--The federal program established under the Head Start Act (42 United States Code (USC), §9801 et seq.) and its subsequent amendments.(30) Host teacher--for a teacher resident candidate, an educator who is jointly assigned by the EPP and the campus administrator who supports the candidate through co-teaching and coaching during their teacher residency field placement.(31) Initial certification--The first Texas certificate in a class of certificate issued to an individual based on participation in an approved EPP.(32) Intensive pre-service--An educator assignment supervised by an EPP accredited and approved by the SBEC prior to a candidate meeting the requirements for issuance of intern and probationary certificates.(33) Intern certificate--A type of certificate as specified in § 230.36 of this title (relating to Intern Certificates) that is issued to a candidate who has passed all required content pedagogy certification examinations and is completing requirements for initial certification through an approved EPP.(34) Internship--A paid supervised classroom teacher assignment for one full school year at a public school accredited by the TEA or other school approved by the TEA for this purpose that may lead to completion of a standard certificate.(35) Late hire--An individual who is both accepted into an EPP after the 45th day before the first day of instruction and hired for a teaching assignment by a school after the 45th day before the first day of instruction or after the school's academic year has begun.(36) Long-term substitute--An individual that has served in place of a teacher of record in a classroom for at least 30 consecutive days; also referred to as a permanent substitute.(37) Mentor--For an internship candidate, an educator who is employed as a classroom teacher on the candidate's campus and who is assigned to support the candidate during the internship experience.(38) Pedagogy--The art and science of teaching that incorporates instructional methods that are developed from scientifically based research.(39) Performance task--An assessment in which the teacher candidate applies learning and demonstrates a discrete set of skills, resulting in a tangible product or performance that serves as evidence of learning. The assessment must be evaluated using a standard rubric or set of criteria and must not include multiple-choice questions.(40) Post-baccalaureate program--An EPP, delivered by an accredited IHE and approved by the SBEC to recommend candidates for certification, that is designed for individuals who already hold at least a bachelor's degree and are seeking an additional degree.(41) Practicum--A supervised educator assignment at a public school accredited by the TEA or other school approved by the TEA for this purpose that is in a school setting in the particular class for which a certificate in a class other than classroom teacher is sought.(42) Probationary certificate--A type of certificate as specified in § 230.37 of this title (relating to Probationary Certificates) that is issued to a candidate who has passed all required certification examinations and is completing requirements for certification through an approved EPP.(43) Representations--Artifacts and illustrations of instruction used to help teacher candidates see and analyze strong teaching practices. Representations expose teacher candidates to and build understanding of specific criteria of effective teacher practices, as well as deepen their content knowledge for teaching. May include teacher educator modeling, student work, videos and transcripts.(44) Residency--A supervised educator assignment for an entire school year through a partnership between an EPP and a public school accredited by the TEA or other school approved by the TEA for this purpose that may lead to completion of an enhanced standard certificate.(45) School day--Actual school attendance days during the regular academic school year, including a partial day that students attend school for instructional purposes as adopted by the district or governing body of the school, excluding weekends, holidays, summer school, etc. For the purpose of completing clinical experiences, the school day must be at least four hours, including intermissions and recesses, but not including lunch periods, professional development, or extracurricular activities.(46) School year--The period of time starting with the first instructional day for students through the last instructional day for students as identified on the calendar of the campus or district for the school year in which the candidate is completing the clinical experience.(47) Site supervisor--For a practicum candidate, an educator who is assigned collaboratively by the campus or district administrator and the EPP and who supports the candidate during the practicum experience.(48) Standard certificate--A type of certificate issued to an individual who has met all requirements for a given class of certification, as specified in § 230.33 of this title.(49) Students with disabilities--A student who is eligible to participate in a school district's special education program under Texas Education Code, § 29.003, is covered by Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 USC Section 794), or is covered by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 USC Section 1400 et seq.).(50) Substitute teacher--An individual that serves in place of a teacher of record in a classroom in an accredited public or private school.(51) Teacher of record--An educator who is employed by a school or district and who teaches in an academic instructional setting or a career and technical instructional setting not less than an average of four hours each day and is responsible for evaluating student achievement and assigning grades.(52) Texas Education Agency staff--Staff of the TEA assigned by the commissioner of education to perform the SBEC's administrative functions and services.(53) Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)--The Kindergarten-Grade 12 state curriculum in Texas adopted by the State Board of Education and used as the foundation of all state certification examinations.19 Tex. Admin. Code § 228.2
The provisions of this §228.2 adopted to be effective July 11, 1999, 24 TexReg 5011; amended to be effective October 12, 2003, 28 TexReg 8608; amended to be effective December 14, 2008, 33 TexReg 10016; amended to be effective December 26, 2010, 35 TexReg 11239; amended to be effective August 12, 2012, 37 TexReg 5747; amended by Texas Register, Volume 39, Number 43, October 24, 2014, TexReg 8388, eff. 10/27/2014; Amended by Texas Register, Volume 41, Number 52, December 23, 2016, TexReg 10280, eff. 12/27/2016; Amended by Texas Register, Volume 43, Number 50, December 14, 2018, TexReg 8092, eff. 12/20/2018; Amended by Texas Register, Volume 44, Number 41, October 11, 2019, TexReg 5905, eff. 10/20/2019; Amended by Texas Register, Volume 45, Number 41, October 9, 2020, TexReg 7255, eff. 10/15/2020; Amended by Texas Register, Volume 47, Number 18, May 6, 2022, TexReg 2750, eff. 9/1/2022; Adopted by Texas Register, Volume 49, Number 20, May 17, 2024, TexReg 3541, eff. 9/1/2024