The Region XIII Educator Certification Program has a fifteen-year history certifying teachers in the region through this alternative route. The ECP has evolved and grown throughout the years by adapting to the legislative requirements and continually revising the curriculum to meet the needs of today’s beginning teachers.

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Innovation and Improvement has featured the Region XIII ECP in its recently released booklet, Innovations in Education: Alternative Routes to Teacher Certification. Six programs from around the nation are profiled in the guide and are recognized as successful and original. Read full report.

SRI International also selected the Region XIII ECP to be highlighted in their national study of seven alternative certification programs, funded by a Carnegie Corporation grant, Alternative Certication, A National Study. According to the principal investigator and project director, “This study will have the attention of policy-makers across the nation who are looking for solutions to teachers shortages while meeting new federal requirements for teacher qualifications.”

Although ECP interns go through their first year of teaching as participants of the program, they are contracted and paid as teachers-of-record with their employing school district, and receive full benefits and full-time salary per the hiring district's salary schedule.

Region XIII has always emphasized the importance of mentoring and retention systems in teacher preparation programs. A beginning teacher’s experience is both informational and emotional; therefore giving novice teachers the support they need to fulfill their professional mission is necessary. The ECP offers one of the most innovative support systems which has been used as a model for teacher preparation programs throughout the state.

ECP interns gain not only from the relationships and networks they build in the program, but also from the irreplaceable relationships the ECP and Region XIII have built with many districts in the state of Texas over the years. Each year, quality teachers graduate from our program having been recommended for their standard teaching certificate.

The ECP realizes the face of society is changing by becoming increasingly technological and multi-tasking. In order to accommodate the non-traditional student in this setting, online versions of the curriculum have been developed. Research proves that students prefer and benefit most from blended training and its ability to combine the luxury of personal scheduling with peer-to-peer interaction.

The Educator Certification Program's curriculum is based on state standards established by the State Board for Educator Certification and are aligned with the state board exams, the state Professional Development and Appraisal System Framework, as well as the state curriculum established for Texas public schools (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills-TEKS) This ensures that teachers are prepared with information which is relevant to them and to the teaching profession.

The Pedagogy and Professional Responsibility curriculum units:

Instructional Design
In addition to covering all aspects of instructional planning, this unit covers identifying key knowledge and skills, designing activities that promote learning and selecting appropriate methods to assess learning.

Instructional Delivery
While emphasizing the “heart of teaching,” the instructional delivery unit focuses on the ability to deliver focused, rigorous, and engaging instruction.

Classroom Environment
This comprehensive unit develops a novice teacher’s ability to create a community of learners based on rapport and mutual respect.

Professionalism
Professional educators know teaching is a responsibility, not just a job. The professionalism unit covers the areas outside of the classroom - from reflection and professional growth to contributions to the school and profession as a whole.

Content Specific Curriculum for Certication Areas:

Math, Science, Special Education, Bilingual Generalist, Elementary Generalist. Although the transcript evaluation helps to determine the preparation and knowledge of the applicant for the content exam at the middle and secondary level certificates, the ECP does prepare the special education, bilingual, and elementary applicants in their content area.

During the month of May, ECP interns in the ATA and GEN programs participate in two weeks of “field experience.” Throughout this time, interns gain experience including designing instruction, performing observations, and conducting lessons in a classroom setting. This experience contributes to employability and networking.

No Child Left Behind and Alternative Certification

The Federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) places, among other things, an emphasis on ensuring that all of the nation's children have the benefit of a highly qualified teacher. NCLB places an increased emphasis on a teacher's knowledge of the subject matter they are responsible for teaching and requires prospective teachers to demonstrate subject matter competency prior to teaching. Each state is responsible for developing procedures and guidelines to ensure that teachers have subject matter competency before they enter the classroom.

For alternative certification programs in Texas, this has created a need to move the timeline for state testing in subject matter competency to an earlier position in the preparation program. For those certificates that do not require an academic major (all certificates other than grades 8-12 and the following middle level (grades 4-8) certificates: Math, Science, Social Studies, and English Language Arts/Reading), program participants will complete their subject competency state licensing examination in April preceding their internship experience. As a result, these candidates will begin their program preparation earlier than the secondary level grades 8-12 certificate candidates and will be required to pass their respective licensing examination prior to accepting employment with a school district.

For candidates who are required to test in April, preparation is provided by an online delivery method of coursework. This will require a high level of personal discipline, as candidates will be responsible for managing their time, completing all readings, assignments, and course tests in a timely manner. Prior to the start of the online coursework, an orientation session will be held to introduce candidates to the online course system and to explain course requirements.

For applicants interested in Special Education, the NCLB legislation requires that all teachers be "highly qualified" in their content area. For special education teachers state and federal departments of education are currently leaning toward interpreting this to mean highly qualified in the content they teach, that is math, science, language arts, etc. Therefore, at this time, special education applicants will need to determine the instructional level and/or content area they prefer to teach; EC-4, 4-8, or 8-12. Applicants who indicate the EC-4 will need to take and pass the EC-4 Generalist exam prior to employment. Applicants who indicate 4-8 or 8-12 will need to designate a content area and pass the appropriate content exam. It will be critical that the applicant have a high knowledge of this content, as the state board exam in that content area must be taken and passed prior to employment. For all three of the certificate levels, the online coursework that will start in January will focus on the specific knowledge required for the state board exam and for successful teaching. All Special Education applicants must attend a mandatory information session which will provide additional information about the changes in Special Education certification.

“Everything we did was so relevant to being a good teacher.”

- ECP Teacher

“Region 13 provided me with the necessary tools to make me successful in my first year of teaching. I had a support system that I knew I could depend on and had to on many occasions.”

- ECP Teacher

“This program is concise (clear, brief, and to the point) for the working teacher with real world experience respected!”

- ECP Teacher

“I am in my third year of teaching and have built my program from the ground up. I still use all the materials that I received with program and I even share them with other veteran teachers. It’s the way to go!!!!!!!!”

- ECP Teacher

“I was a community college culinary instructor and industry professional, but going through the ECP helped me to understand, from a research-based perspective, exactly how and why my instruction was effective. For me, the program was a real confidence-builder. Thanks!”

- ECP Teacher

“The teacher certification program provided me with a hands-on teaching/learning approach that gave me tools to use in my classroom the very next day. I even had veteran teachers asking me for tips and tools my very first year as a teacher!”

- ECP Teacher

“The CTE certification program thoroughly prepared me to be the best teacher I could be. As an experienced teacher, I learned and used as much in my own classroom as novice teachers did! It is taught by quality education professionals using current, proven methods that help you succeed. The best thing? They taught the classes using the actual strategies we should use in our classrooms.”

- ECP Teacher

“The best benefit that I receive is your prompt and always helpful assistance. I know I can count on you to assist with our CTE candidates and keep me informed about their processing. Another big plus for us, since our district tends to hire rather late, is the last-minute enrollment. It seems like teachers are always resigning and we can count on Region XIII to help us out if it is at all possible.”

-District HR Director

“ In the past, it has been very difficult to locate a quality CTE certification program for our teachers. It has been helpful that Region XIII offers certifications in all 7 CTE areas developed from the ground up for Career & Technology Education. We have been very pleased with the growth of our CTE teachers who have participated in the Region XIII program and highly recommend it to all school districts.”

-Administrator