Certification

Links to More Information

State Board for Educator Certification

The State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) regulates and oversees all of the certification, continuing education, and standards fo conduct of public school educators in the state of Texas. The Board must also ensure that all candidates for certification or renewal of certification demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary to improve the performance of the diverse student population of Texas. Teacher candidates for certification must be recommended to SBEC by an approved teacher preparation program entity AFTER the candidate has completed all requirements for the baccalaureate degree and teacher preparation, including required ExCET or TExES examinations. All teacher candidates must satisfy SBEC standards and requirements for certification in order to be considered eligible for employment. Visit the SBEC web site or contact a representative by phone at 1-888-863-5880 for further information.

San Antonio Area University Administrative Offices

University	Physical Address	Email Address	Phone Number
Our Lady of the Lake University	411 S.W. 24th Street	admission@lake.ollusa.edu	(210) 431-3961
St. Mary's University	One Camino Santa Maria San Antonio, TX	uadm@stmarytx.edu
Texas Lutheran Univeristy	1000 W. Court Street Seguin, TX 78155
Texas State University	601 University Drive San Marcos, TX 78666	registrar@txstate.edu
Trinity University	One Trinity Place San Antonio, TX 78212	web@trinity.edu
University of Texas at San Antonio	6900 N. Loop 1604 W San Antonio, TX 78249	prospects@utsa.edu
University of the Incarnate Word	4301 Broadway San Antonio, TX 78209

Routes To Teacher Certification

NEISD searches for the most qualified, fully-credentialled candidates to provide for principals' consideration in filling teacher vacancies. With the challenge of meeting No Child Left Behind (NCLB) "highly qualified" standards, in addition to the requirements for credentials mandated by Texas' State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC), the vast majority of teachers hired in our district possess full state certification at the time of employment. These candidates will always be given preference in the screening and selection process for employment.

However, in identified "critical needs" areas, NEISD principals may also give consideration to candidates who have been admitted to those Alternative Certification Programs (ACPs) with official approval and sanction by Texas' State Board for Educator Certification. There are also a few local and regional Post-Baccalaureate programs leading to Masters Degrees and Teacher Certification in "critical needs" areas whose candidates are given consideration by NEISD.

NEISD typically considers candidates from these programs ONLY in these "critical needs" shortage areas:

Special Education EC-12
Bilingual/ESL Education EC-4 or 4-8 Bilingual Generalist

Other certification areas where ACP/Post-Bac Masters program candidates may be given consideration on an as-needed basis include:

Math 4-8, 8-12
Science 4-8, 8-12
4-8 Generalist
Technology Applications (General ED) 8-12, EC-12
Computer Science (General ED) 8-12
Career Technology
- Health Care Science Technology 8-12
- Family Consumer Science Education 6-12, 8-12
- Technology Education 6-12, 8-12

NEISD does not administer its own in-house Alternative Certification Program.

NEISD gives preference to ACP/POST-BAC program candidates in critical needs areas who have taken and mastered their content area TExES exam prior to consideration for employment.

If you are interested in pursuing teacher certification through approved alternative certification or post-baccalaureate progams, you need to:

Contact the individual program office for information on admission and fee requirements, procedures, timelines, areas of certification available, program requirements for completion, etc.
Gain individual program admission based on program criteria.
Seek certification through the approved program in one of the designated "critical needs" areas listed above.
Follow program requirements for presenting yourself as a candidate to NEISD for employment consideration.
Take and master your content area TExES exams in area of certification you are pursuing, based on program recommendation.

A school district may choose to employ an ACP or Post-Bac program candidate, based on its needs. Once employed, the candidate is placed on a Probationary Certificate during the initial year of teacher service (commonly called the Internship Year). At the end of the first year of teacher service, with program and school district endorsement, and assuming the teacher has completed all ACP/Post-Bac program requirements for certification, to include required TExES/ExCET testing, the ACP/Post-Bac Program is responsible for recommending the teacher to the State Board for Educator Certification for the Initial Standard Certificate.