001Welcome to this presentation on the prep program aotment verification of participation. The goals of today's presentation are that viewers will understand what the verification of participation form confirms. Know who contributes to the form, completes the form, and who signs it. Know the sections of the form. Understand what partnership agreements are required and why. Know what happens after a school system submits the form and how funding flows in October. And know what resources are available to support the VOP and prep participants in general. Let's start with the basics. What is the verification of participation or VOP as I'll likely call it the rest of the time? School systems applied to participate in the PREP program aotment via the lasso 4 application process way back in October and November of 2025. PREP was still super new and
002not many details were available at the time. We created the VOP to give school systems a chance to make final decisions about their participation in prep now that they've had access to a detailed program guide book, a financial planning tool, and most importantly, the final version of the new Commissioner of Education rules that govern the program. During the VOP, school systems that were awarded the prep aotment can confirm their participation in awarded programs or opt out of any or all of them without any negative ramifications. They're far more knowledgeable now about what PREP is, how it can benefit them, and what time, effort, and resources it takes to implement. After VOP closes, the official records of PREP participants are finalized for 2627, and the focus shifts to implementation. A key part of that implementation is
003the submission of participant data in ECOS. Within the VOP form, school systems are providing information in three primary buckets. Participation decisions about which prep programs to implement, partnership information submissions, and estimates for participant counts for each program. Please keep in mind that these estimates are for planning purposes only. They are not used for the allotment calculations. We encourage school systems to make their best guesses on these, their best informed guesses, but don't sweat making it perfect. There are two primary roles in the completion and submission of the VOP form. The initial email with guidance and links for the process was sent to the person who submitted the lasso4 application on behalf of the school system way back in October and November. The recommendation is that this person completes and submits the VOP form as well.
004It is likely that this person completing the form will need to collaborate with the initiative leads for the prep programs that the school system was awarded prior to submitting the form. Before final submission, the superintendent must sign the form on behalf of the school system. One of the reasons for the timing of the VOP window was to give school systems access to a final version of the Commissioner of Education rules that govern this program prior to making their final decisions. Those rules were adopted and published to the Texas Register on May 8th. They officially become effective on May 17th, giving school systems a couple weeks before the final version of the submission form needs to be completed. This slide goes a little deeper into the weeds of the information collected by the VOP. As mentioned
005before, a school system that is implementing multiple prep programs will likely need program leads to support the collection of the relevant data. In the initial email, we included a link to a word version of the entire VOP form, which we are calling the working document, so that school system staff could work collaboratively to compile the needed information before submitting it within the VOP form. The information to submit includes contact info for the person submitting the form and other opportunities throughout the form to update contact information for program leads. Confirmation of which prep programs the school system is implementing. Partnership information for GIO and residency which includes who the partners are. Copies of their written agreements and assurances that the partnership agreements meet requirements defined in the guide book. Estimated counts of participants for each program.
006Remembering that these are for planning purposes only. They do not determine aotment amounts. And identification of approved Texas mentorship training providers for the mentorship program which is required and the residency program which is optional. The VOP form itself is divided into six sections. General information gathering. Here the school system selects their name from a drop-own list of prep awardees and provide the contact information for the person submitting the form. Program selection. Here the school system selects which of the awarded programs it wishes to implement for the 2627 school year. One section for each program. Here the school system provides program specific information including participant estimates, names of partners and copies of partnership agreements. School systems only see the sections of for the programs they indicate that they will implement for the 2627 school year. Signature
007and opt out feedback. Here the superintendent signs the form and the school system has the opportunity to provide feedback on why they opted out of any of the programs which helps TEA with the future planning. Section one collects basic information about the school system doing the submission and the individual completing it. Section two collects program selection information to accommodate all the possible award combinations. All the prep program options are available to select, but school system should only select from those that they were awarded. In the original email that was sent out, they received the link to a document with all the awards as a reference. Choosing different combinations of programs send school systems down different pathways within the form. Section three is focused on the grow your own program. There are four main components that
008school systems will see in the verification of participation form. Firstly, school systems will be asked to indicate how many GIO employees they estimate participating in the program for the 2627 school year. As a reminder, the cap for prep GIO is 40 employees per year with funding of 8,000 to $12,000 total per employee depending on the factor. As previously stated, these estimates are for planning purposes only, not for aotment calculations. Secondly, they will indicate whether they will be offering the high school pathway as an optional part of the prep GIO programming. If offering the high school pathway, they will indicate yes and the estimated number of high school students that will be participating in the program. Keep in mind the number of high school students is not included in the 40 cap. School systems will also
009be asked to name at least one IE partner from which GIO participants are receiving their bachelor's degree. They will need to upload the written partnership agreement which must align with the PREPGIO requirements. The PREPGIOU template available on the prep web page provides a helpful template and guidance to create new or to modify existing agreements. The submitted agreement can be in draft form pending THECB authorization and/or approval processes. Lastly, for GIO, school systems will be asked to indicate whether they are committing to engage in the optional inind technical assistance. As a reminder, this is a free support being offered by the center for reigniting the educator workforce or crew. School systems who commit to engaging in these supports must attend all regional webinars and submit planning documents in alignment with the crew support and resources. In
010terms of ICE partners for GIO, an eligible IICH partner consists of a Texas public or private institution that confers bachelor's degrees and has THECB authorization to operate in Texas. If an IICH does not already fit these criteria, they must seek authorization through THECB before PREP GIO implementation for the 2627 school year. A school system can submit a draft agreement indicating that their IICH is seeking THECB authorization if not yet finalized by May 31st. School systems must indicate at least one I partner, but may indicate up to 10 IG partners in the form and must upload the corresponding written partnership agreements. Please note that there will be an opportunity for school systems to add more ICE partners in August if updates need to be made. A couple of points to stamp for prep GIO implementation. First
011is the theme around encouraging persistence with G.IO participants. School systems should not be surprised if their initial cohort is smaller than desired or intended as the focus is on building a robust long-term talent management focusing more on quality over quantity. In line with this, prep Gio implementation should also emphasize the importance of the IICH partnership and how the intentional coordination can help ensure that the candidates are being provided an easy, affordable, and flexible path to earning their bachelor's degree. This approach is different from previous GIO grant implementation with more intentionality around how candidates are receiving supports while earning their degree. For section four, we will move to the prep pre-ervice residency. In this section, we'll focus on three major areas: estimates, partners, and agreements, and optional TMT for host teachers. In part one, school systems
012will be asked to identify how many prep pres-ervice residency candidates the school system plans to host. School systems can host up to 40 at the full prep residency funding level, which will include candidates who start in the fall and the spring. Any additional candidates above 40 can be funded at the prep traditional rate with up to 80 additional candidates funded. In part two, the school system will name their EP partners and upload the written partnership agreements. School systems may partner with up to 10 EPS, although we would strongly recommend against such a high number. School systems will also attest that the written agreements meet the prep guidebook requirements. If the written agreements are not finalized due to pending schoolboard approval, school systems should upload a draft version of the written agreement. In part three, school
013systems electing to send host teachers through the Texas mentorship training for 2627 should name their TMT provider. Please note that TMT training is optional for 2026 2027, but will be required beginning with the 2728 school year. Persistence matters. As a reminder, school systems taking part in prepo must also participate in prep residency. If your EP partner cannot send residents to your school system for 2026 2027, don't drop out of the prep residency. Maintaining participation in the prep residency program, even with no active residents, allows school systems to continue participating in prep Q.io. Participation also helps TEA prepare for future cycles of the prep aotment. School systems participating in GIO can also generate their own residence for the future. An academic year without residents also provide school systems with an extremely valuable design year, providing school
014systems and EPS with the opportunity to carefully craft and design a partnership that fully meets the needs of each organization. When completing the VOP, school systems will identify their EP partners. These partner EPS must have received SPEC approval by September 30th, 2025 to offer the prep residency route in 2026 2027. The prep mentorship section of the VOP asks for three things. Beginning teacher estimates, Texas mentorship training provider and estimates for the Texas mentorship training. We ask school systems to provide beginning teacher estimates. School systems will share an updated estimate of how many beginning teachers in their first or second year the school systems plan to mentor in 2026 2027. The maximum number of beginning teachers in their first or second year of teaching who can generate prep mentorship funds is 40 with each generating $3,000.
015A requirement for prep mentorship is the Texas mentorship training. School systems identified a provider on their lasso of four application and are asked to verify their confirmed Texas mentorship training provider. For TA planning purposes, school systems will be asked to provide an estimate of how many mentor teachers will attend TMT. This is forformational purposes only. Section six includes the superintendent signature field and feedback questions for the programs the school system chose not to implement for the 2627 school year. As a reminder, opting out does not have negative repercussions for the school system, nor does it prevent them from applying for prep next school year. Partnership agreement is designed to ensure that the partnership between school systems and EPS is real, accountable, and aligned to the shared instructional vision. It is intended to focus on five
016major areas. Roles and goals. The partnership agreement should identify the roles and responsibilities of each organization. What are we trying to accomplish? Who will take on which roles? Which organization is responsible for which outcome? All of these should be addressed in the agreement. Shared governance because the partnership is intended to be mutually beneficial. Governance of the partnership must be shared. In governance, decisions will be made, disputes resolved, data shared, and goals will be evaluated. According to TAC chapter 228, there must be four meetings a year, two each semester. It is strongly recommended that the participants of these meetings be empowered to make decisions in real time, as nothing kills momentum like having to check back later for answers. Financial obligations. Because the prep aotment provides funding to both school systems and EPS, the partnership agreement
017must specifically identify how funds will be used, how money will flow, and the timeline for expenditures. Training. Initial and ongoing support for both residents and host teachers is critical to the success of a residency partnership. What training will take place? Who will design and lead the training? And the cadence for this training should be included in the agreement. Monitoring. As in all successful partnerships, progress monitoring is a critical component. How progress will be monitored how data will be collected and shared and accountability should be included. As a reminder, if written agreements are still under board approval and not fully executed by VOP submission, school systems should upload a draft version of the partnership agreement. The fully executed agreement should be submitted by August 2026. Additionally, if a partnership has an existing agreement, it may be
018used provided it contains the required information discussed on this slide. It is important to stamp that prep GIO participation also requires participation in prep preservice residency. As demonstrated in previous slides, there are some similarities and differences that this visual helps to represent. The two programs have different statutes, partner types, and upload sections of the VOP form. GIO partnerships between a school system and an IICE include the goal of supporting an existing employee with bachelor's degree attainment and EP enrollment. Residency partnerships between a school system and an EP approved by ESPC include the goal of supporting residents with ultimately earning an enhanced standard certificate for both programs. School systems may indicate up to 10 partners with at least one being required. As a quick note for GIO, if a school system is partnering with an accredited
019EP that is different from the IICH partner or the one named for residency, school systems must locally retain that partnership agreement. Additionally, no partnership agreement is required for mentorship, but it does require a confirmed TMT provider. Once the VOP window closes, TEA uses the form submissions to finalize program participation records at the school system level, verify partnership agreements, and share individual participant estimates with FSP for a budgeting estimate and training providers for capacity planning purposes. This timeline shows some of the key steps between now and the distribution of the first prep initial payments in October. The new Commissioner of Education rules take effect on May 17th. The VOP window closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time on May 31st, 2026. TA will provide training for both school systems and educator preparation programs that is focused on
020the updated fields and functionality of ECOS. During this time, TA will also share which state elements need to be collected so that school systems and EPS can prepare for ECOS opening for submission in July. Data collected in ECOS from July 1st through August 28th will be used to calculate prep aotment initial payments which will begin to flow in October. Now that we've gone through the VOP form, the next recommended steps for school systems include verifying the prep aotment programs awarded from the lasso4 application, downloading the working document to compile information with the program leads, confirming partners and updating written agreements, estimating participants for each program, and scheduling time for the superintendent to sign the form before the submission deadline. to support school systems with VOP next steps. TEA will provide ondemand support through the prep
021support portal and email, a newsletter reminder on 519, and an office hour session on 520 with an added focus on VOP. There are multiple resources available to facilitate the completion of the VOP form. The prep program award sheet and the VOP working document were shared in the initial email and help with gathering the needed VOP information. The prep guide book provides the specific partnership agreement requirements for GIO and residency along with myriad other prep implementation details. The prep aotment financial planning tool allows school systems to estimate the financial impact of implementing different prep programs with different participant counts. There are numerous supports available to school systems and EPS both during and after the VOP process. For any questions related to the VOP process or form, please email scott.bodner.t texas.gov. There are program specific emails for
022any program related questions you may have and for any general questions or concerns, the prep support portal is always available. Thank you so much for watching this video and have a wonderful day.