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Important: Educator Certification Examination Retake Limit Change and Test Change Information
07/13/2018

Education Code §21.048 limits candidates to four attempts to retake any educator certification examination. This means that candidates are limited to a total of five attempts to pass a certification examination. The five attempts include the first attempt to pass the examination and four retakes. A subsection of the law, which currently counts all attempts of the same examination taken before September 1, 2015 as only one attempt, is set to expire. Beginning September 1, 2018, all attempts of the same examination will count toward the five-attempt testing limit regardless of when the examination was first attempted.

 

 Candidates who did not test before 09/01/2015 are not impacted by the change. All attempts have always been included in the attempt count for these candidates. Please see the example represented in the chart below.

 

principal certification test attempt chart

 

Given the evolving role of the principal as an instructional leader and the needs of Texas schools and communities, the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) adopted new principal standards in 2016. Informed by the expertise of practicing principals, principal preparation program faculty, and other educators and aligned with the Texas Principal Evaluation and Support System (T-PESS), the new standards emphasize the critical role of the school principal with an increased emphasis on instructional leadership.

 

With the implementation of the new standards, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) began working with principal preparation program faculty and practicing principals to develop a new test framework and new test instruments to certify Texas principals. Future candidates will need to pass the new TExES Principal (268) and complete the Performance Assessment for School Leaders (PASL) to obtain a standard principal certification starting on 9/1/2019.

 

How does this impact the current TExES Principal (068) test?

The TExES Principal (068) test will be available to first-time test takers through 12/31/2018 and for re-testers through 8/31/2019. To remain eligible to take the current 068 principal exam, anyone in a PPCP cohort before the 2018-2019 class should request test permission and complete the exam before December 2018. If you do not test before December 2018, previous coursework will not have prepared you for the new 268 exam and test approval will NOT be given as content and competencies have changed. If you have questions, please contact Deena Cornblum - 254-297-1126.