Teacher Certification
Test requirements
Students seeking initial teacher certification need to satisfy several exam requirements:
THEA (Texas Higher Education Assessment)
Before you enter a teacher education program, the state requires that you demonstrate your critical thinking and analytical skills. The THEA test is designed to evaluate this. If you have a high score on a previous ACT, SAT, or GRE test or have completed a master's degree, you may not have to take the THEA (contact Certification Officer Scott Simmons at glenn.simmons@tamucc.edu or 361-825-2433).
The THEA has three areas, each with a minimum required score:
- Reading (250 minimum)
- Mathematics (230 minimum)
- Writing (240 minimum)
More information is available at the THEA web site.
TExES (Texas Examination of Educator Standards)
The state uses these exams (formerly called ExCET) to measure an educator's competency in their specific field and in overall education theory. To become a certified teacher in Texas, you must pass both of these exams.
Registering for the TExES Test
Each time you wish to take a TExES test, you must notify the College of Education by submitting your request electronically via the TExES Approval Request (TAR) web site. Before registering, make sure you have met all prerequisites (talk with your program coordinator). The system will respond to your request via your Islander email.
For detailed information on using TAR and registering for TExES, please visit the Steps for Registering site.
After carefully reading Steps for Registering, proceed to the TAR site to register.
Contact State Testing Coordinator Candy Skelton at 361-825-3261 or candy.skelton@tamucc.edu for any questions about TExES.
*Plan ahead: the TAR web site shuts down at noon on the day before the regular registration deadline to process all existing requests. If you submit your request late, you will be charged additional testing fees. TAR does not operate on most holidays or on spring break. Some "request to test" deadlines may differ from ETS regular registration deadlines.
For more details, visit the College of Education's TExES web site.
Texas Oral Proficiency Test (TOPT)
If you are seeking Texas teacher certification as a bilingual generalist, the state also requires that you demonstrate listening, speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish. This is in addition to the two TExES exams. The current exam is called the TOPT and will be available until January 2010. (After that the BTLPT, below, will replace the TOPT).
More information is available at http://texes.ets.org.
Bilingual Target Language Proficiency Test (BTLPT)
In January 2009, the BTLPT will begin replacing the TOPT, described above (there will be a one-year overlap period in which either test will count).
More information will be available at http://texes.ets.org.
