Music Education Program Requirements and Deadlines

This page is is a general guideline to the deadlines and important dates for music education majors. Please keep-track of these dates and contact your university supervisor and/or the ETBU Department of Teacher-Education as soon as any issues arise.

The Abridged Version

(This section of the website is designed for entry-level students who may have questions about music education requirements)

Senior Year

During the Senior year, as components of your upper-level education and music education courses, you will take practice teacher-certification exams (the PPR [general education] and the TExES [music content]). Also, as a component of these courses, you will be required to complete a criminal background check that clears you to observe and intern in local schools, prior to the student-teaching semester.You will also apply for Student Teaching, and apply for graduation.

During Student-Teaching Semester (Your Final Semester as a student)

During student teaching, you will apply for teacher certification. This process is governed by the State Board for Educator Certification and the Texas Education Agency. As a result, there are a number of steps that will be explained in detail during the student-teaching semester. This process requires you to apply for finger-printing (fee is assessed), take your teacher-certification exams (fee assessed), and successfully complete student teaching. All ETBU students in a teacher-preparation program are required to attempt all sections of the teacher-certification exams during the student teaching semester.

The Unabridged Version

This section contains detailed instructions for each step in the process toward graduation. Although this information may be useful, it is primarily included for current, upper-level music education majors who are nearing completion of their degree programs.

*Note: these steps and the applicable fees are assigned by the State Board for Educator Certification and the Texas Education Agency, not by ETBU.

Prior to student-teaching you should have:

• Taken and passed your T.H.E.A. exam
• Have maintained the required GPA for entrance into the Teacher Education Program and Student Teaching
• Taken your practice exams
  • Content (administered by the ETBU Music Department)
  • Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities (EC -12 Practice Test)(Administered by the Teacher Education Department)
• Applied to the student-teaching program (in EDUC 4307 / EDUC 4357)
• Apply for graduation in the Registrar’s Office. Pick-up a form in the Registrar’s office or down-load from the following site: http://www.etbu.edu/Registrar/forms.htm

You may also:

• Apply for certification (see instructions below). Specifically, this will create an account for you and give you a TEA I.D. number.
• Complete your fingerprinting (see  instructions below)
• Pay the certification / fingerprinting fees (see below). The fee does not “expire” so this does not lock you into a specific time-frame.

During the Student Teaching Semester – If you have not already done so

• Apply for graduation (you may be expected to pay a late-fee)
• Re-take all practice exams you have not yet passed

      Applying for Certification

At this point you are creating a profile

• Log-on to www.sbec.state.tx.us
• Follow the links to apply for certification
  • You will need social-security number, date of birth, other related information
  • Be sure to:  Provide a permanent address (not your ETBU address)
                 Provide a permanent phone number (not your dorm number)
• The computer will assign you a TEA I.D. number
• Pay the fee: $77.00

     Fingerprinting:

• Can be done at Davis Insurance in Longview (across from Walmart)
• You must have an appointment (call before you go) 
• You must pay the fee: $47.00
• You will get a “fast pass” once you pay the fingerprinting fee that will allow you to complete this task. 

     Taking your Exams (Once you have passed all your practice exams)

     Step 1: The forms:

            There are 2 forms in your student-teacher handbook that must be signed and handed-in to the Education Department receptionist

1.      TExES Approval form (PPR) – must be signed be Education Department Faculty

2.      TExES Approval form (music) – must be signed by Dean of music department and Music Education faculty

     Step 2: Registration

• Go to www.texes.ets.org
• Find the Register link and follow that link
• Use your TEA ID number to create an account
• The test for which you have been approved will appear on your screen
• If you see nothing, either you have missed a step or your information has not yet been entered (contact the education office)
• Pay the necessary fees. The registration fee for each test is $120.00 

Test dates for 2010-2011

                        Excerpted from http://www.texes.ets.org/texes/testDates/

     Once you have taken your exams

• Scores are reported to the Education office and to you within 4 to 5 weeks
• Pending passing scores on all domains, the Education office recommends you for certification SBEC (Certification office)
• Within 2 to 3 weeks, you should receive your certification (assuming you passed your tests)
• If you do not receive notification and/or confirmation from the TEA office (in Austin) after 3 weeks following graduation, you need to contact the education office to double-check your status.
• You are done!!!

At the end of the Student (before you leave your assigned schools)

Have all miscellaneous forms completed by Cooperating Teacher and/or University Supervisor and handed-in to the University Supervisor.

1. Student-Teacher Clearance Form from 1^st and 2^nd assignments (elementary and secondary)
2. Evaluation of Student Teaching Form from 1^st and 2^nd assignments (elementary and secondary)

A Summary of Fees

       1. Certification               $77.00

       2. Fingerprinting             $47.00

       3. PPR Exam                 $120.00

       4. Content Exam            $120.00