Sec. 21.048. CERTIFICATION EXAMINATIONS

(a) The board shall propose rules prescribing comprehensive examinations for each class of certificate issued by the board.

(b) The board may not administer a written examination to determine the competence or level of performance of an educator who has a hearing impairment unless the examination has been field tested to determine its appropriateness, reliability, and validity as applied to, and minimum acceptable performance scores for, persons with hearing impairments.

(c) An educator who has a hearing impairment is exempt from taking a written examination for a period ending on the first anniversary of the date on which the board determines, on the basis of appropriate field tests, that the examination complies with the standards specified in Subsection (b). On application to the board, the board shall issue a temporary exemption certificate to a person entitled to an exemption under this subsection.

(c-1) The results of an examination administered under this section are confidential and are not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code, unless:

(1) the disclosure is regarding notification to a parent of the assignment of an uncertified teacher to a classroom as required by Section 21.057; or

(2) the educator has failed the examination more than five times.

(d) In this section:

(1) "Hearing impairment" means a hearing impairment so severe that the person cannot process linguistic information with or without amplification.

(2) "Reliability" means the extent to which an experiment, test, or measuring procedure yields the same results on repeated trials.

(3) "Validity" means being:

(A) well-grounded or justifiable;

(B) relevant and meaningful;

(C) correctly derived from premises or inferences; and

(D) supported by objective truth or generally accepted authority.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, Sec. 1, eff. May 30, 1995. Amended by: Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1372 , Sec. 4, eff. June 15, 2007.