
Accelerated Secondary
Begin your rewarding career as a secondary teacher in Texas! The application for the 24-25 statewide cohort will open on October 25, 2023. Austin-area candidates are encouraged to apply for our Secondary Program.
Become A Certified Teacher
In the Accelerated Secondary (ASEC) Program, we aim to help educators integrate their passion and knowledge into the secondary classroom using evidence-based teaching practices. Teachers within our program will receive a blended model of online and teacher-directed classes as well as continuous support in and out of the classroom.
ASEC is an accelerated program, designed to provide a pathway to teacher certification for professionals across the state of Texas by way of a Statewide Cohort and a local, Austin-based cohort.
ASEC has admission cycles occurring from March – August. Participants will prepare for content TExES Exams while simultaneously securing their own teaching position. Instruction to prepare for the first days with students begins mid-July.
Accelerated Secondary Certification Options

Middle Level
- Mathematics 4-8
- Mathematics/Science 4-8
- Science 4-8
- Social Studies 4-8

Secondary Level
- Chemistry 7-12
- English Language Arts & Reading 7-12
- Life Science 7-12
- Mathematics 7-12
- Math/Physics 7-12
- Math/Physical Science/Engineering 6-12
- Physical Science 6-12
- Science 7-12
- Social Studies 7-12
- Dance 6-12
- Journalism 7-12
- Speech 7-12

All Level
- American Sign Language (ASL) EC-12
- Art EC-12
- Health EC-12
- Languages Other Than English (LOTE) French EC-12
- Languages Other Than English (LOTE) German EC-12
- Languages Other Than English (LOTE) Latin EC-12
- Languages Other Than English (LOTE) Spanish EC-12
- Music EC-12
- Physical Education EC-12
- Theatre Arts EC-12
ASEC Cohorts

Austin Cohort
- Austin and Surrounding area
- Teacher-interns employed by schools within the Region 13 service area, as well as those from schools within a 100-mile radius of Austin

Statewide Cohort
- Teacher-interns employed by schools within a defined area surrounding each of the distance learning sites.
- Cities and their surrounding areas include: Abilene, Amarillo, Beaumont, Del Rio, Denton, El Paso, Huntsville, Houston, Lubbock, Midland, Pittsburg, San Angelo, San Antonio, Killeen
Program Requirements

Bachelor's Degree
Candidates must have a degree earned from and conferred by an accredited institution of higher education.

Min 2.5 Grade Point Average
Minimum 2.5 GPA on all coursework or 2.75 in the last 60 semester hours of completed coursework.

Official College Transcripts
Request your official transcripts be sent to the ECP office.

Content Specific Course Work
Candidate’s college transcript must include 24 semester hours (12 upper level) in content specific related content

Pre-Admission Content Test
Applicants who do not meet the content specific course work requirement may submit evidence of a passing score on the Pre-Admission Content Test (PACT).
Curriculum
Our certification program curriculum is aligned with Texas Education Agency standards and educational best practices. All curriculum is taught by certified staff and content area experts.
Training
About 2/3 of our classes are live instruction (live at a local site or via zoom) and 1/3 of our classes are online, self-paced. Participants employed by schools within the Region 13 service area, as well as those from schools within a 100-mile radius of Austin, will attend classes at the Education Service Center Region 13 in Austin.
Participants will be required to attend training that will continue to build on instruction learned during pre-service training.
- delivering engaging instruction
- integrating content specific strategies into lesson design
- developing and using student assessments
- understanding student diversity and instructional differentiation
- preparing for formal classroom observations
- preparing for TExES PPR exam
- preparing for TExES content exams
- implementing Marzano’s high-yield strategies
- developing and using a variety of questioning strategies
- integrating the core principles from The Fundamental Five
Technology
- incorporating the effective use of current technology in instruction
- evaluating students’ technologically produced products and projects
- utilizing technology applications in problem-solving situations and project-based learning activities
- using developmentally appropriate instructional practices, activities, and materials to integrate the Technology Applications TEKS into the curriculum
- managing technology platforms to increase communication with student families on academic and behavior progress