Filing for Educator Certification

The Texas Educator Agency (TEA) and State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) has established a totally paperless, online process for filing for educator certification in Texas.

If you have questions or difficulty with regard to the TEA web page, you may phone 1-512-936-8400. If you have any questions of East Texas A&M University, you may contact Bob Nottingham (Certification Advisor) at [email protected] , or our general office number at 903-886-5630.

EDUCATOR CERTIFICATE APPLICATION PROCEDURES FOR THE ALTERNATIVE CERTIFICATION PROGRAM

Please read all “Requirements” and “Procedures” (below) prior to accessing the SBEC online web page.

After completion of ALL certification plan requirements, students must apply for the teaching certificate on-line at the TEA Online web page at www.tea.state.tx.us Requirements that must be met prior to filing for certification:

1. Continued admission and retention in the Alternative Certification Program.
2. Successful completion of all program requirements, including teaching assignments, required GPAs, and appropriate tests.
3. Recommendation from University Field Supervisor, Mentor Teacher and Principal where candidate taught during their teaching assignment. The letter must include grade level and subject taught, how long you have taught at this school and a statement recommending you for certification. Failure to receive a recommendation will result in dismissal from the Alternative Certification Program. *

*NOTE: Your University Field Supervisor will facilitate this process and obtain required information and signatures. This process should be completed during the last visit of your teaching assignment. Recommendation from your University Field Supervisor, Mentor Teacher and Principal is required for certification.

Application Procedures:

1. Go to TEA website at www.tea.state.tx.us and login to or establish your TEAL account. (Click on “Create New TEAL account” if you are a first-time user.)
2. Choose East Texas A&M University (Alternative if seeking “certification only” or all your master's classes are not completed yet, or Post Bac if seeking degree [all classes complete and you will be graduating] and certification at the same time).
3. Pay appropriate fees to TEA.
4. Complete all requirements of the National criminal history background check/fingerprinting (if applicable).

* You will receive an email confirmation from TEA once the University verifies all requirements have been met and completes its recommendation. This can be checked on-line. Once all activities have successfully been performed, TEA will process the issuing of the certificate. The certificate will be issued and placed on the TEA website under the “Official Record for Educator Certificates”.

Note: Records that are not fully processed within 60 days may be deleted. If deleted, you will be required to file again through TEA Online. However, you are only required to pay once for the same certification.