Texas Early Childhood: Prekindergarten-3 or EC-3 Certificate

The State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) of Texas passed an amendment in 2017 to add a new certification area, the Early Childhood: Prekindergarten-3 or EC-3 Certificate. This will not take effect immediately. October 21, 2018 is the proposed date for the amendment to become effective, so we assume that is when the test will become available. The actual EC-3 certificate cannot be granted until January 2020. The state has passed this legislation to ensure teachers are highly qualified to meet the unique needs of early childhood students. More emphasis will be placed on research-based methods on how to teach reading. It appears this new certification area will be in addition to, not instead of, the Core Subjects EC-6 test. Right now there is still confusion regarding how this will work. As more information becomes available, we will be sure to keep you posted.