Texas Policies

Relay seeks full-time educators in the state of Texas who demonstrate a willingness to work hard, a commitment to improving their practice, and a belief that all PK-12 students can learn, grow, and achieve. In order to be eligible to apply for admission to a degree and/or educator preparation program at Relay, applicants must meet the following admissions criteria:

• Applicants must have an official, degree-conferred transcript that shows proof of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution of higher education. 
• Applicants who are submitting a transcript from a non-U.S. institution must demonstrate English language proficiency skills:
  • Submit an official score report demonstrating scores of at least 24 for speaking, 22 for listening, and 22 for reading, and 21 for writing sections of the TOEFL-iBT. unless an undergraduate or graduate degree was earned at an institution of higher education in a country outside of the United States listed in Figure: 19 TAC §230.11(b)(5)(C)
• Applicants must have secured a full-time classroom position at a partner PK–12 school. 
• Applicants must have at least a 2.50 GPA from an official transcript on all coursework previously attempted at an accredited institution of higher education from which the most recent bachelor’s degree or higher was conferred (or is in progress). Applicants with an undergraduate GPA below the state minimum of 2.50 may be considered for admission to Relay’s Texas educator preparation programs if they have: 
  • Earned a 2.50 GPA in their last 60 credit hours of their undergraduate program, or
  • Earned a master’s degree or higher with a GPA of 2.50 or higher.
  Relay does not allow exceptions to the GPA policy.
• Applicants receive information about criminal history background checks. Applicants must acknowledge that they have received information about their right to request a preliminary history evaluation letter from the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
• Applicants must demonstrate content knowledge for the certification category being pursued. Texas Administrative Code provides two ways for applicants to demonstrate their content knowledge for a certification category. These include:
• Transcript Eligibility: Providing evidence of having completed at least 12 semester credit hours in the subject-specific content area for which certification is sought, or 15 semester credit hours for Mathematics 4-8, Mathematics 7-12, Science 4-8, Science 7-12, and Mathematics/Science 4-8. [TAC §227.10(a)(4)(A)-(B)] OR
• Test Eligibility: Submitting a passing TX PACT (after 1/27/2020) or TExES exam score corresponding to the certification category (through 2020) [TAC §227.10(a)(4)(C)].

Applicants with a degree-conferred transcript that reflects only pass/fail grades, competency-based grading, or narrative/qualitative evaluation must pass the TX PACT to be eligible for admission into Relay’s certification program.

The chart below shows what is required for each certification category. Applicants only need to meet one of the two requirements (transcript eligibility or test eligibility). 

All Relay candidates must obtain an Intern or Probationary Certificate and complete a full academic year internship as a teacher of record in the certification area in a TEA-accredited school in order to complete a Relay Texas certification program. Upon successful completion of Relay’s program requirements, candidates are recommended for a Standard Certificate. The requirements for these certificates are listed below:

Pursuant to Texas Education Code (TEC), §22.083 and TEC , §22.0835, candidates must undergo a criminal history background check prior to employment as an educator and prior to clinical teaching. The state of Texas also requires a criminal history background check in order to receive teacher certification. If you have been convicted of an offense that is considered inappropriate for an educator, you could be ineligible to earn certification from the state of Texas. 

Pursuant to Texas Administrative Code (TAC) §227.1(d)(3), you have a right to request a preliminary criminal history evaluation letter from the Texas Education Agency prior to admission into this program. The Texas Education Agency currently charges a $50 fee for this criminal history evaluation.

More information on the Preliminary Criminal History Evaluation may be found at: https://tea.texas.gov/Texas_Educators/Investigations/Preliminary_Criminal_History_Evaluation-FAQs/

Relay’s program completers have achieved an overall Title II certification pass rate of 100% in the 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20 academic years. Please visit the TEA Data Dashboard for up-to-date information on Relay’s educator preparation program

Supply and Demand for Educators in Texas

Texas is currently experiencing a shortage of teachers due to increasing student enrollments and high teacher attrition rates in an aging teacher workforce (TEA, 2017). The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) expects that Texas will continue to experience high demand for teachers across the state. According to TWC, employment is expected to increase by 20% for elementary, middle, and secondary school teachers during the decade from 2016-2026. For more detailed information, including regional employment projections, please see the following resources provided by TWC:

• Elementary School Teacher Employment Projections
• Middle School Teacher Employment Projections 
• Secondary School Teacher Employment Projections

According to the Texas Education Agency, the state of Texas continues to face a shortage of teachers in the following areas:

• Bilingual/English as a Second Language – Elementary and Secondary Levels
• Special Education – Elementary and Secondary Levels
• Career and Technical Education – Secondary Levels
• Technology Applications and Computer Science – Elementary and Secondary Levels
• Mathematics – Secondary Levels

Relay publishes its institutional grievance policy here.

Additionally, candidates or former candidates in Relay’s Texas Alternative Certification Program, applicants for candidacy in the Relay Texas certification program, employees or former employees of Relay, cooperating teachers, mentors, and administrators in partnering school districts, charter schools, or private schools may submit a complaint pertaining to educator preparation-program requirements listed in Title 19 of Texas Administrative Code (TAC) §§ 227, 228, 229, ethics (19 TAC § 247), fingerprinting (19 TAC §§ 227, 232) and certification (19 TAC §§ 230, 231, 232, 239, 241, 242) for investigation and resolution in accordance with the Texas Educator Preparation Program Complaint Policy. 

Please see the 2021-2022 calendar of program activities here.