• courtesy of the Sul Ross Education Department •
The Sul Ross State University Educational Leadership Program-Alpine has been awarded a new certificate by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), replacing the previous “Principal Certificate.” The new certificate titled “The Principal as Instructional Leader” allows Sul Ross to continue its principal preparation program beyond 2019.
To receive the new certificate, principal preparation programs are required by TEA to create nine Pillar assignments that embody the Principal Standards newly-revised by the 85th Texas Legislature. All of the courses in the Sul Ross Program were updated to incorporate these Pillar assignments and to align to the new Principal Standards.
The Legislature’s revised Principal Standards also called for TEA to revise the Principal Certification Examination. The new two-part test includes a more rigorous essay and multiple-choice test (the TExES 268) as well as three Performance Measures or tasks (the TExES 368).
Sul Ross Program Coordinator and Principal Preparation Initiative (PPI) Director Dr. Rebecca Schlosser is confident that the new Sul Ross Program will prepare principal candidates for the rigorous TExES 268 and 368 assessments.
“The Texas Education Agency reviewed our updated Program when we applied for a PPI Grant with Clint ISD recently, and we were the only applicants in our region to be awarded the grant,” said Schlosser. “They recognized our Program’s preparedness.”
TEA also made a one-year Practicum mandatory for applicants of the PPI-Cycle 2 (2019-20) Grant, and Schlosser noted that the Sul Ross Program has already implemented the one-year Practicum.
“We believe that change was instrumental in Sul Ross being awarded the PPI Grant with Clint ISD for 2018-2019,” she said. “The one-year Practicum allows our principal candidates the time they need to devise, implement, and reflect on the action research projects which are now required by the TExES 368. We look forward to partnering with more school districts for the PPI-Cycle 2 Grant and are confident that our Program will pass all reviews with flying colors.”