Certification Testing

The State Board for Educator Certification requires that each candidate for teacher certification takes and passes a minimum of two certification tests.

One test is in the specific content area (the content area will dictate whether the test is an ExCET or a TExES), and the other test is in educational pedagogy and professional responsibilities (TExES PPR). Additionally, Bilingual Generalist are required to take the BTLPT and EC-12 Bilingual Generalist exams.

Research has shown that individuals taking only one certification test during a test administration have a higher pass rate than individuals taking two tests on an administration date. Therefore, we suggest that iteachTEXAS candidates take only one test on a single administration date.

Passing a content area test indicates to school districts that an individual is highly qualified under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The only way to be highly qualified in the content areas of EC-6 Generalist or 4-8 Generalist is to take and pass the content area test. You must have demonstrated content mastery to be hired in a core content area.

Limited guidelines have been issued by the state and the Department of Education regarding the highly qualified requirements of special education. Therefore, all candidates seeking special education certification should plan to take the EC-6 Generalist or the 4-8 Generalist content test.

Currently, there is not a shortage of EC-6 Generalist teachers. Since it is most difficult to obtain an EC-6 Generalist teaching position, we encourage you to be flexible and open to additional content area testing, such as the 4-8 Generalist area.

Approval to take the Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities (PPR) test is not released until the candidate has successfully completed the six instructional courses, passed content area test, completed the Comprehensive Review course and obtained a Field Experience position or paid the instructional fee.

Study guides for the tests are available at www.texes.ets.org.

Choice of Testing Methods
All certification tests are offered four times during an academic year on specific, identified dates and are paper-based tests (PBT). Several of the certification tests are offered more frequently by computer administered testing (CAT). For a complete listing of the CAT tests, please visit www.texes.ets.org.

TExES/ExCET
The PPR test cannot be taken until the content test has been passed, the TOPT test has been passed if applicable, the iteachTEXAS instructional courses have been successfully completed, and the candidate has secured an Field Experience position or the instructional fee has been paid in full.

TOPT
The Texas Oral Proficiency Test (TOPT) is taken by candidates seeking certification in a language related content area, i.e., Spanish, French, Bilingual. This test is taken in addition to the content area test and the PPR.

Testing Schedule

2010-11 Test Dates and Registration Deadlines

TExES, ExCET, and TExMaT

Test Date Regular Registration Deadline Late Registration Deadline Emergency Registration Deadline Score Reporting Date for Multiple-Choice Tests Only Score Reporting Date for Multiple-Choice Tests and Written-Response Tests
10/02/10 09/03/10 09/10/10 09/24/10 10/25/10 11/01/10
01/29/11

(all tests offered except TExMaT)

12/31/11 01/07/11 01/21/11 02/21/11 02/28/11
04/16/11 03/18/11 03/25/11 04/08/11 05/09/11 05/16/11
06/25/11

(all tests offered except TExMaT)

05/27/11 06/03/11 06/17/11 07/18/11 07/25/11

TASC and TASC-ASL

Test Date Registration Deadline Score Reporting Date
11/20/10 10/22/10 12/20/10
03/26/11 02/25/11 04/25/11

2010-11 Administration-Based CAT Testing Schedule*

Administration Administration Window2 Registration Period3 Scores Available4
Start End Start End
TExES Bilingual Target Language Proficiency Test (BTLPT)
BTLPT Sat. 6/12/10 Sat. 6/19/10 Mon. 3/1/10 Fri.  5/14/10 Mon. 7/12/10
BTLPTT Sat.  7/24/10 Sat.  7/31/10 Mon.  4/12/10 Fri.  6/25/10 Mon.  8/23/10
BTLPT Sat. 9/11/10 Sat. 9/18/10 Mon.  5/31/10 Fri. 8/13/10 Mon.  10/11/10
BTLPTPT Sat. 10/23/10 Sat. 10/30/10 Mon. 7/12/10 Fri. 9/24/10 Mon. 11/22/10
BTLPTPT Sat. 12/11/10 Sat. 12/18/10 Mon. 8/30/10 Fri. 11/12/10 Mon. 1/10/11
BTLPTPT Sat. 2/19/11 Sat. 2/26/11 Tue. 12/21/10 Fri. 1/21/11 Mon. 3/21/11
BTLPTPT Sat. 4/30/11 Sat. 5/7/11 Mon. 1/17/11 Fri. 4/1/11 by Tue. 5/31/11
BTLPTPT Sat. 7/9/11 Sat. 7/16/11 Mon. 3/28/11 Fri. 6/10/11 Mon. 8/8/11
TExES Languages Other Than English (LOTE) Tests
LOTE - F, G, S Sat. 6/12/10 Sat. 6/19/10 Mon. 3/1/10 Fri. 5/14/10 Mon. 7/12/10
LOTE - F, G, L, S S Sat. 9/11/10 Sat. 9/18/10 Mon. 5/31/10** Fri. 8/13/10 Mon. 10/11/10
LOTE - F, G, L, S S Sat. 12/11/10 Sat. 12/18/10 Mon. 8/30/10 Fri. 11/12/10 Mon. 1/10/11
LOTE - F, G, L, S S Sat. 2/19/11 Sat. 2/26/11 Tue. 12/21/10 Fri. 1/21/11 Mon. 3/21/11
LOTE- F, S S Sat. 4/30/11 Sat. 5/7/11 Mon. 1/17/11 Fri. 4/1/11 Tue. 5/31/11
LOTE - F, G, L, S S Sat. 7/9/11 Sat. 7/16/11 Mon. 3/28/11 Fri. 6/10/11 Mon. 8/8/11
*All events and dates shown are subject to change.
**LOTE - Latin is first offered in September 2010; registration opens in Tuesday, July 6, 2010
1Administration: BTLPT = TExES Bilingual Target Language Proficiency Test - Spanish (190)
LOTE = TExES Languages Other Than English EC-12, F = French (610), G = German (611), L = Latin (612), S = Spanish (613)
2Administration Window: With few exceptions, no testing occurs on Sundays.
3Registration Period: For BTLPT and LOTE, all available test dates and test centers should be viewable to registrants in the ETS online registration system by the registration period start dates shown.
4Scores Available: Scores should be viewable in the ETS online registration system no later than 5 p.m. Central time on the dates shown.

2010-11 Administration-Based CAT Testing Schedule* (cont'd.)

Administration5 Administration Window6 Registration Period7 Scores Available8
Start End Start End
TExES Limited-Administration CAT Tests
Limited Admin. Fri. 10/8/10 Sat. 10/9/10 up to 4 bus. days before test date by Fri. 10/15/10
Limited Admin. Fri. 11/19/10 Sat.  11/20/10 up to 4 bus. days before test date by Mon.  11/29/10
Limited Admin. Fri. 1/7/11 Sat. 1/8/11 up to 4 bus. days before test date by Fri.  1/14/11
Limited Admin. Fri. 3/25/11 Sat. 3/26/11 up to 4 bus. days before test date by Fri. 4/1/11
Limited Admin. Fri. 6/3/11 Sat. 6/4/11 up to 4 bus. days before test date by Fri. 6/10/11
Limited Admin. Fri. 8/12/11 Sat. 8/13/11 up to 4 bus. days before test date by Fri. 8/19/11
TExMaT Master Technology Test (MTT) Tests
MTT Mon. 6/21/10 Sat. 7/3/10 registration by phone only by Mon. 7/19/10
MTT Sat. 11/6/10 Sat. 11/13/10 registration by phone only by Mon. 11/29/10
MTT Sat. 1/29/11 Sat. 2/5/11 registration by phone only by Mon. 2/21/11
MTT Sat. 4/16/11 Sat. 4/23/11 registration by phone only by Mon. 5/9/11
MTT Sat. 6/25/11 Sat. 7/2/11 registration by phone only by Mon. 7/18/11
Administrations beyond August 2011 have not yet been scheduled
*All events and dates shown are subject to change. class="footnotes">
*All events and dates shown are subject to change.
5Administration: TExES Limited-Administration CAT = Business Education 6-12 (176), English as a Second Language (ESL)/Generalist EC-6 (193), English Language Arts and Reading/Social Studies 4-8 (113), Mathematics/Science 4-8 (114), Special Education Supplemental (163), Technology Applications EC-12 (142)
MTT = TExMaT Master Technology Teacher (086)
6Administration Window: With few exceptions, no testing occurs on Sundays.
7Registration Period: Registration for TExES 2-day CAT administrations opens on Tuesday, August 31, 2010.
8Scores Available: Scores should be viewable in the ETS online registration system no later than 5 p.m. Central time on the dates shown.