To become a principal in the state of Texas, you must possess a master's degree from an accredited university, hold a valid classroom teaching certification, have two years of teaching experience, successfully complete an approved principal educator preparation program, and pass the Texas principal certification exams.
The required examinations for principal certification in Texas are the TEXES 268 Principal as Instructional Leader exam and Praxis Performance Assessment for School Leaders (PASL). Due to evolving standards for school leadership, the Texas State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) adopted new principal standards in 2016, redesigning the previous TExES 068 Principal Exam into today's TEXES 268 Principal as Instructional Leader exam. The board implemented the new exam on September 1, 2019.
The Texas State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) created the TEXES 268 Principal as Instructional Leader exam to prepare educational leaders for their role in effectively managing students, faculty, and staff, improving school performance, and increasing student achievement.
Overview and TExES 268 Exam Framework
The Texas principal certification test, or TExES 268 Principal as Instructional Leader exam is a computer-administered test (CAT), consisting of 70 selected-response(multiple choice) questions and four constructed-response (essay) questions. You will have a 5 hour time period to take the exam, including a 15 minute CAT tutorial and compliance agreement. TExES testing centers are located in Texas and nationwide at any Pearson testing site. Exam dates are on a first-come, first-serve basis as there is limited administration during 2-week testing periods. You can check testing appointment availability for your location and preferred date on the Texas Educator Certification Examination Program website. The TExES exam passing score for the TExES 268 exam is 240.
TExES 268 Principal Exam Registration
First, you need to create an online account on the Texas Education Agency website to register for the TEXES 268 Principal as Instructional Leader exam. After creating your account, you will be given a TEA ID number to register for a Pearson account on the Texas Educator Certification Examination Program website. Once you have logged in to your Pearson account, you will have access to registration and test appointment scheduling. Completing the TExES exam registration does not schedule your testing appointment; you will need to do so separately within 170 days of registration. There is a $200 TExES 268 principal exam registration fee.
TEXES 268 Principal as Instructional Leader exam was created using the Texas Principal Standards implemented by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to ensure quality leadership within Texas schools. The following five standards promote continuous reflection and effectiveness:
Standard 1: Instructional Leadership
This standard ensures that every student receives high-quality education and instruction.
Prioritize student achievement.
Develop a clear definition of "high-quality" education.
Implement and analyze curriculum within state standards.
Ensure teachers align content that meets their students' diverse learning needs.
Model instructional strategies and set expectations for content, rigor, and structure of instruction.
Monitor and improve instruction by being present in classrooms, attending meetings, and providing constructive feedback to faculty and staff.
Standard 2: Human Capital
This standard gives you the responsibility of hiring and maintaining quality faculty and staff throughout the entirety of the school.
Treat faculty and staff as valuable resources and invest in their development.
Strategically select and hire candidates that will match the school's needs.
Build support through regular observations, feedback, mentoring, and coaching.
Create opportunities for high-quality educators to take on leadership roles.
Be clear in your expectations and evaluations.
Encourage faculty and staff to support one another and collaborate.
Aim for constant evolution and improvement.
Standard 3: Executive Leadership
This standard details your personal responsibility for modeling and improving student outcomes.
Model an unending pursuit of excellence.
Be reflective in your practice, striving to learn, grow, and improve continually.
Acknowledge and learn from your mistakes.
When something fails, understand what went wrong, and develop strategic solutions.
Keep staff inspired and focused.
Develop a strong school community.
Promote productivity, quality, and purpose.
Create an environment of respect, communication, and strong relationships.
Standard 4: School Culture
This standard requires you to establish a shared vision and culture of high expectations for staff and students.
Drive improved outcomes and high expectations.
Create a shared vision of what high achievement looks like.
Provide supportive feedback.
Establish and communicate clear expectations to faculty, staff, students, and family members of students.
Inspire resilience, self-advocacy, and communication.
Standard 5: Strategic Operations
This standard has you outline and track clear goals that will improve effectiveness and positive outcomes.
Assess the needs of your school and set priorities for how those needs will be met.
Set measurable goals with strategies to complete them and a method for tracking progress.
Provide formal development opportunities where faculty and staff can help make decisions, provide feedback on goals, and develop strategies to meet goals.
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The table below outlines the content of the TExES 268 Principal as Instructional Leader exam including 6 distinct domains that cover 11 specific competencies.
Domain
Domain Title
Approximate Percentage of Selected Response Questions
Approximate Percentage of Constructed Response Questions
Approximate Percentage of the test
Competencies Assessed
I
School Culture
12%
10%
22%
001, 002
II
Leading Learning
17%
25%
42%
003, 004
III
Human Capital
13%
5%
18%
005, 006
IV
Executive Leadership
6%
0%
6%
007, 008
V
Strategic Operations
6%
0%
6%
009, 010
VI
Ethics, Equity, and Diversity
5%
0%
5%
011
Total
60%
40%
Domain I: School Culture on Principal Certification Texas
This domain covers approximately 22-23% of the total exam and addresses competency 001: Establishing and Implementing a Shared Vision and competency 002: Culture and Working with Stakeholders. The definition of stakeholders is all students, staff, parents, and community members who impact the school.
Questions about competency 001 may address the following:
Set high expectations in order to create an amicable, connected school environment and work together to reach school goals.
Utilizing research and data about students, learning, and individual perceptions, act as a team to create a campus vision and a plan for executing it.
In conjunction with faculty and staff, create a method to track progress and make adjustments to the campus vision and goals.
Consistently communicate your expectations and provide feedback to help stakeholders meet these expectations.
Foster an environment of safety considering the physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing of all stakeholders.
Distribute resources to impact the school vision positively.
Serve as an example of continuous improvement and development.
Questions asked about competency 002 assess your ability to do the following:
Appreciate all stakeholder contributions that positively impact the campus vision.
Cultivate strong relationships and stakeholder participation in the school community.
Include stakeholders in the planning process, encourage positive communication, and communicate that they are an essential part of school culture.
Domain II: Leading Learning on Principal Certification Texas
This domain covers approximately 41-45% of the total exam and addresses competency 003: Developing and Implementing High-Quality Instruction and competency 004: Monitoring and Assessing Classroom Instruction.
Questions about competency 003 will assess your knowledge of the following:
Make high-quality instruction and student success a top priority by distinctively outlining educational best practices.
Reinforce the use of well-researched methods in the school curriculum and activities, ensuring that needs (academic, developmental, social, cultural) are being met.
Using state standards, develop and enforce a strict curriculum that guides students towards college and career readiness.
Integrate evolving technology to boost learning.
Questions asked about competency 004 will test your understanding of the following:
Advance instructional techniques through classroom observation, individual or group meetings, and empirical, constructive feedback.
Individually and in collaboration with educators, inspect curriculum considering all factors to guarantee every student's needs are being met.
Limit the gap in student success rates by supporting fair, developmentally appropriate instruction.
Help teachers interpret assessment data to make decisions about their students' needs and instructional methods.
Domain III: Human Capital on Principal Certification Texas
This domain covers approximately 18-19% of the total exam and addresses competency 005: Providing Staff Evaluation, Supervision, and Professional Growth and competency 006: Using Selection, Placement and Retention Practices.
Questions about competency 005 will test your comprehension of the following:
Communicate clear expectations and the process of measurable evaluations to all staff.
Mentor educators individually and encourage them to reflect and set goals.
Collaborate to develop a plan addressing staff needs, utilize data from student information, staff input, and educational trends. .
Foster the development of professional development opportunities, including logistics of what resources will be used and activity planning that will increase staff learning/growth.
Work with campus and district leadership when you need help and in the decision-making process.
Questions about competency 006 will assess your ability to do the following:
Focus on effective time management skills in your support and supervision of staff.
Create leadership opportunities, define roles, and delegate responsibilities.
Implement effective strategies for recruitment, screening, hiring, assignment, retention, promotion, etc.
Creates and oversees a team-oriented supportive structure for professional and academic communities by reviewing raw data, and ensuring that the proper policies and processes are followed to improve the teaching and learning performance levels within the school.
Domain IV: Effective Leadership on Principal Certification Texas
This domain covers approximately 6% of the total exam and addresses competency 007: Communicating with Stakeholders and competency 008: Improving Student Outcomes.
Questions about competency 007 will test your knowledge of the following:
Use communication skills to impart information in a variety of circumstances to a diverse group of individuals.
Establish methodological procedures for communicating within the school and to the stakeholders outside of the school.
Formulate a program that will help involve the stakeholders in campus culture, curriculum, activities, etc.
Establish connections with parents, businesses, and other community organizations to promote campus goals.
Questions about competency 008 will assess your comprehension of the following::
Be conscious of potential challenges that could affect your community and school by creating distractions or obstacles in learning. This can include community health, social, economic, or political matters.
Encourage innovative ideas, analytical thinking, and problem-solving in both students and staff. Utilize these skills individually to create solutions for problems on campus.
Develop a system to keep staff focused, stimulated, and enthusiastic.
Utilize planning, time management, and organization to work towards goals.
Domain V: Strategic Operations on Principal Certification Texas
This domain covers approximately 6% of the total exam and addresses competency 009: Determining Goals and Implementing Strategies and competency 010: Coordination of School Operations and Programs.
Questions about competency 009 will test your knowledge of the following:
Using many sources, evaluate the pressing needs of the school to create a measurable campus goal.
Establish structures to track goal progress, ensure there is a method to make adjustments as needed.
Determine which resources should be distributed to whom in order to achieve school objectives and goals.
Ask for help and seek additional resources when needed to better the learning environment of the school.
Utilize management techniques, including but not limited to expressing your expectations of different roles, attributing responsibilities, and delegating tasks in order to attain goals.
Questions about competency 010 will assess your comprehension of the following::
Ensure the safety of students, faculty, staff, and visitors to the campus, including creating a crisis plan.
Consider state laws and district policies when making decisions.
Manage finances, school management, curricular coordination, discipline, and attendance.
Domain VI: Ethics, Equity & Diversity on Principal Certification Texas
This domain covers approximately 6% of the total exam and addresses competency 011: Providing Ethical Leadership.
Questions within competency 011 will assess your understanding of the following:
Policies and procedures outlined in the Educators' Code of Ethics.
Model high standard of conduct, ethical principles, and integrity.
Advocates for all children, ensuring students have effective educators and continuous opportunities to learn.
Promote appreciation and awareness of diversity throughout the campus community, including but not limited to learning differences, multicultural awareness, gender sensitivity, and ethnic appreciation.
Support special campus programs that provide every student with services that meet their individual needs, such as health, guidance, counseling, etc.
Apply legal guidelines regarding students with disabilities, bilingual education, confidentiality, and discrimination to protect the rights of students and staff and improve the learning environment.
Highlight the importance of education in our society.
Integration on Principal Certification Texas
This section of the Texas principal certification exam covers the constructed-response (essay) questions. There will be 4 questions that emphasize domains I, II, and III. The questions are formatted as individual case studies with a reading section, question, and text box to enter your response. Case studies could address the following:
Classroom observations
Teacher-led meetings
Curriculum in relation to state standards and college readiness
Support of staff and constructive feedback
Communication of consistent expectations
Creation of a positive, collaborative, and equitable classroom and campus culture
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Test takers can find practice questions on TExES Principal exam practice tests, which can be found in digital and print formats. Utilizing online practice tests might be the most convenient option since candidates will have immediate access to these resources. Test takers can also take advantage of the TExES 268 Preparation Manual that includes detailed information about the exam, a study guide, and practice questions. When studying, it can be beneficial to work through TExES principal exam practice questions. By reading the TExES principal exam competencies before and after completing the question, you will increase your understanding of the competency and establish a connection between it and the types of questions it may ask.
TExES Principal Certification Study Tips
A good starting place to determine what you should study for your TExES principal certification exam is assessing what you already know. You can do this by looking over the preparation manual or test description to see what subjects you are comfortable with, or you can take a TExES practice test to get a baseline for where you are at. It is strategic to begin studying the things you do not know, leaving the review of subjects you are more familiar with for when you are closer to test day to retain the most information. How you study is up to your learning style. You can utilize online materials, make flashcards, find resources at your local library, or even find a study partner or group. The most important thing is that you are studying and preparing yourself to the best of your ability for the TExES exam.
Find self-paced TExES Principal as Instructional Leader prep courses.
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Amy Lopez, M.A. is a high school teacher with over 8 years of experience teaching Family Consumer Science Education. She has passed the TExES PPR exam and the Praxis Family and Consumer Science Exam. Amy completed a B.S. in Family Consumer Sciences from Tarleton State University, an M.A. in Teaching from Grand Canyon University, and an Education Specialist degree from Northcentral University.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are principal standards?
The principal standards of Texas are an established set of 5 criterion for individuals who wish to become school leaders.
How many principal standards are there?
There are 5 principal standards. They are Instructional Leadership, Human Capital, Executive Leadership, School Culture, and Strategic Operations. These standards helped create the content for the TExES 268 exam.
What is the principal certification called in Texas?
The principal certification in Texas is called the Texas Principal as an Instructional Leader certification. It can also be called Texas Administration/Principal certification.
To obtain a principal certificate in Texas, you are required to have a masters degree, a valid teaching certificate, two years teaching experience, completion of a principal educator preparation program, and passing the TExES 268 Principal as Instructional Leader exam and Praxis Performance Assessment for School Leaders (PASL).
What is a Texas principal certification?
Texas principal certification is the process of obtaining set requirements in order to be a school leader in the state of Texas. One of these requirements is successfully passing the TEXES 268 Principal as Instructional Leader exam.
What score do you need to pass the TExES 268?
A passing score for the TExES 268 is 240. Your test will be graded with raw points for each question you answer correctly verses the total number of questions. The raw score with then be put on a scale from 100-300, where 100 is equal to 0% and 300 is equal to 100%.
