Texas educator preparation programs will soon be part of the state’s accountability system for education.
The Project on Educator Effectiveness and Quality (PEEQ), the entity developing a metric to determine the effect that graduates of the state’s teacher preparation programs have on student achievement, met with stakeholders early in November. PEEQ researchers asked stakeholders for additional feedback on how PEEQ data should be used to rate educator preparation programs (EPPs). PEEQ is in its second year of developing the system, which resulted from legislation passed in 2009 (S.B. 174, now TEC §21.045). The system will focus on first- through third-year teachers.
Momentum for reform of teacher education programs is building nationwide and Texas is among the first states to take steps in that direction. Texas joins Louisiana and Tennessee in creating an accountability system for its EPPs that includes student achievement data. In addition, PEEQ’s efforts parallel new U.S. Department of Education reform initiatives outlined in the report Our Future, Our Teachers: The Obama Administration’s Plan for Teacher Education Reform and Improvement 
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PEEQ’s metric will include measures of growth in student performance, observations of teachers, principal appraisals, and school-wide growth in student performance. The performance of new teachers will be aggregated and reported to their EPP. The effort will shine a light on weak EPPs and provide all EPPs with feedback aimed at helping them strengthen their programs.
“The new accountability system is really an accountability system for everyone,” said Cynthia Osborne, PEEQ director. “Each player needs to be accountable for providing accurate information.” For HR administrators and PEIMS coordinators, that means ensuring that all recordkeeping linking students to teachers is correct to ensure that all teachers are included in the accountability metric. Principals will likely need additional training on completing new teacher surveys to better distinguish between good, average, and below average performers. Osborne said PEEQ is working to limit the reporting burden on districts but the new system “…will require an even higher level of accuracy and attention on everyone’s part.”
In February 2012, PEEQ will provide the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) with a broad overview of its efforts. PEEQ and TEA are working on separate standards in the accountability system and will present preliminary “impact data” showing what the results would be were the system up and running this year (this preliminary data won’t be used for accountability purposes). They will make their recommendations on a final system to SBEC. The new accountability system is expected to be in place sometime in 2014.
