How to Become a Bilingual Teacher in Texas: Certification & Requirements

<p>Bilingual certification in Texas is added on to a teacher's existing certificate after passing a series of exams. The general requirements are summarized in the table below. </p> <p /> <table border="1"><tr><td>Education/Experience Required</td><td> Bachelor's degree) <br /> Teacher education program</td></tr> <tr><td>Exam Requirements </td><td> TExES PPR and content area exams <br /> Bilingual Education Supplemental TExES exam <br /> Additional TExES or ACTFL exams, depending on the teaching language</td></tr> <tr><td>Certification Renewal Period </td><td>Five years (standard certificate)</td></tr> <tr><td>CPE Credits Required for Renewal </td><td> 150 CPE Hours</td></tr> <tr><td>Texas Median Salary (2018)* </td><td> $56,520 (elementary school teachers)<br />$56,580 (middle school teachers)<br />$58,190 (secondary school teacher )</td></tr> <tr><td>Estimated Job Growth, Nationwide (2016-2026)* </td><td>7% (elementary school teachers); 8% (kindergarten, middle and high school teachers)</td></tr> </table><p><i>Source: *U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics</i> </p> <h3 id="section---EducationRequirementsForStandAloneCertificates">Education Requirements for Stand-Alone Certificates</h3> <p>An individual who's interested in becoming a bilingual teacher in Texas first must earn an educator certificate for the subject area and grade level they're interested in teaching. For this, the candidate must be at least 18 years old and hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university. . They must also complete an educator preparation program that is offered by an institution approved by the Texas Education Agency. These programs can often be completed as part of a prospective teacher's undergraduate course of study and include a student teaching experience in addition to educational psychology and pedagogy coursework. The final step toward certification is to complete a background check that includes the collection of the candidate's fingerprints in order to obtain their criminal history. </p> <h3 id="section---ExamsRequirementsForStandAloneCertificates">Exams Requirements for Stand-Alone Certificates</h3> <p>All educators must take and pass a TExES Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities (PPR) EC-12 examination in order to receive the standard certificate. Passing scores on content tests in a candidate's teaching area are also required. These exams are available in subjects ranging from art and chemistry to history, life science and social studies. </p> <h3 id="section---TypesOfBilingualTeacherCertification">Types of Bilingual Teacher Certification</h3> <p>There are two types of bilingual teachers that are recognized. There are those who speak a second language and would like to work with children who are learning English and those who would like to teach English-speaking children a second language. Bilingual certifications are available in Spanish, American Sign Language, Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese and Japanese. </p> <h3 id="section---ExamRequirements">Exam Requirements</h3> <p>All educators who wish to add a bilingual certification to their existing certificate must take and pass the Bilingual Education Supplemental TExES exam. This test includes 80 multiple-choice questions designed to measure examinees' knowledge of instructional strategies related to language acquisition. </p> <p>They must also take an additional exam or two for the language in which they want to provide in instruction. These are TExES exams or tests developed by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). The ACTFL exams include an Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) and a Writing Proficiency Test (WPT). The exams to teach Japanese, for example, are comprised of the Bilingual Education Supplemental TExES exam and the ACTFL Japanese Oral Proficiency Interview as well as the Japanese Writing Proficiency Test. </p> <p>The TExES and ACTFL exams are conducted at centers in Texas and nationwide as required. Interested candidates can register for the exams online and will be directed how to proceed.</p>