Educator Testing
Welcome to the Office of Educator Testing at the Texas Education Agency. The Office of Educator Testing is responsible for the overall management and monitoring of the statewide educator certification testing contract as well as the development and implementation of testing rules. This page provides testing information related to obtaining a Texas educator certificate. Texas law requires that educators pass appropriate tests to become certified. The appropriate examination(s) required for certification are specified in the Texas Administrative Code, §230.21(e).
Testing, Certification and Residency
Testing Announcements and Updates
Announcements for Candidates
Effective with Governor Abbott’s signing of HB 2 on June 4, 2025, teachers seeking certification in Special Education or Bilingual Education fields will have both their certification exam fee waived for their first attempt on the associated content pedagogy exam and certification application fee waived. This means that at the time of exam registration or certification application, the associated fee will be $0.
Details of HB2 implementation are still being refined. Please visit the TEA House Bill 2 website for updated information as it becomes available.
To support school districts in complying with the new HB 2 educator certification requirements, the Texas Educator Certification Examination Program offers a set of in-depth preparation resources that are intended to help teacher candidates prepare for their certification exams. These preparation resources provide exam-specific information that candidates can review to better understand the content knowledge and skills measured on these exams.
Certification exam vouchers are available for purchase by educator preparation programs to provide candidates with codes to be used during registration for a Texas educator certification exam. Please contact your preparation program for more information.
The following content-pedagogy assessments will be updated to include both multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. The dates below represent the current target launch date and are subject to change to a later date. Any updates to the schedule will be made on this site.
All new assessments will have approved new or updated exam frameworks released about 12-18 months before the scheduled launch and will be posted online as soon as they become available.
| September 1, 2026 | |
| No earlier than September 2027 |
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| No earlier than September 2028 |
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Discontinued Exams and Deadlines to Apply
- ELAR 7-12 (231), Physical Education EC-12 (158). and Health EC-12 (157) - have expired and can no longer be used for certification after September 1, 2025.
- Special Education EC-12 (161), and Special Education Supplemental (163) - were last offered on August 31, 2025, and can be used for certification through September 1, 2026.
- Bilingual Target Language Proficiency Test (BTLPT) (190) - will last be offered on August 31, 2027 and can be used for certification until September 1, 2028.
- Core Subjects EC-6 (391) - will last be offered on August 31, 2027 and can be used for certification until September 1, 2028.
Rulemaking Updates
State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) rules are part of a larger body of state agency rules known as the Texas Administrative Code (TAC). The Office of the Secretary of State collects and publishes these rules. SBEC rules are codified under Title 19, Part VII, of the TAC. Title 19 is Education, and Part VII is the State Board for Educator Certification. The SBEC may adopt new rules or amendments to or repeals of existing rules.
State Board of Education (SBOE) rules are part of a larger body of state agency rules known as the Texas Administrative Code (TAC). The Office of the Secretary of State collects and publishes these rules. SBOE rules are codified under Title 19, Part II, of the TAC. Title 19 is Education, and Part II is the Texas Education Agency. The SBOE may adopt new rules or amendments to or repeals of existing rules.
Commissioner of education rules are part of a larger body of state agency rules known as the Texas Administrative Code (TAC). The Office of the Secretary of State collects and publishes these rules. Commissioner rules are codified under Title 19, Part II, of the TAC. Title 19 is Education, and Part II is the Texas Education Agency. The commissioner of education may adopt new rules or amendments to or repeals of existing rules.
Exam Development Committee and Scorer Recruitment
There are upcoming opportunities for Texas educators to participate in exam development committees. Committee members receive Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits for their participation in these exam development activities.
- Visit our recruitment website for information about the development process, the types of meetings conducted, and how to get involved.
Our testing vendors are continually seeking experienced educators and administrators to work on a temporary basis as professional scorers.
- Information on scoring exams for the Texas Educator Certification Examination Program can be found on the Pearson website.
- Information on scoring the Principal as Instructional Leader (PASL) exam can be found on the ETS website.
Staff are available and quickly responding via the TEA Help Desk.
Please submit a Help Desk ticket through the link above or leave us a message at 512-463-9039.