TIA Eligibility

State Requirements

TEA processes new and higher designations annually in April and verifies teacher eligibility. Teachers must meet the following criteria to earn a new or higher designation through their local designation system:

  • Submitted for designation by the district based on prior-year teacher performance data and does not already have an active designation at the same level or higher.

  • Employed as a teacher by the designating district (087 PEIMS Role ID).

  • Met or will meet the creditable years of service requirement by the end of the school year.

  • Does not have a Texas teaching certificate revoked, suspended, voluntary surrender, or permanent surrender status.

  • Is not listed on the Texas Do Not Hire registry.

  • Reported by the designating district in the Class Roster Winter Submission as meeting eligibility criteria as employed  in a 087 teaching role as of the last Friday in February, and met/will meet the creditable years of service by the end of the school year.

  • Creditable year of service is calculated as a being employed and compensated for 50% or more of the day for a minimum of 180 days; or 100% of the day for a minimum of 90 days, or the equivalent of one semester.

  • If a teacher leaves the designating district prior to the last Friday in February, they forfeit designation eligibility.

  • Score a minimum of "proficient" on all observable T-TESS dimensions (2 and 3) during the data capture year that includes one or more observations of a teacher instructing students for a minimum of 45 minutes.

 

Local Requirements

Under TEC §21.3521, districts may create a local system to designate high-performing teachers as Recognized, Exemplary, or Master for a five-year period based on the results of single or multi-year appraisal data. Alongside statewide performance standards, districts set their own criteria for evaluating teachers and determining which teachers qualify for each level of designation.

In addition to the state requirements, Castleberry ISD requires teachers to meet the following conditions: 

  • Have a start date on or before the first day of instruction for students during the data capture year.

  • Be present for at least 90% of the school year, or at least 162 instructional days, during the data capture year.

  • Serve at least 15 students during the data capture year and have at least 15 students or a 90% testing participation rate for enrolled students (whichever is higher) who have beginning of the year and end of the year data.