On April 29, the State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC) approved a controversial new test—the edPTA by Pearson—to replace the PPR for state certification. Texas AFT joined several educator organizations, educator preparation programs, and school district personnel in opposing the approval of this exam.
We signed on to a letter to the SBEC along with several other Texas stakeholders and education advocates representing nearly 700,000 Texans citing the cost of the exam to teacher candidates, the aggressive rollout of its implementation, and its lack of alignment to Texas educator standards, among other reasons to delay the implementation of edTPA. Despite substantial opposition, the governor-appointed SBEC voted to approve the exam.
The State Board of Education will vote at its June meeting to affirm or reject SBEC’s decision. Texas AFT will continue our coalition work to protect the integrity of the teacher pipeline and ensure teacher preparation in Texas remains robust and focused on serving our public school students.