Professor Consults with TEA on Teacher Standards for Early Childhood Certification

Dr. David L. Brown, professor of Early Childhood Education at Texas A&M University-Commerce, is consulting with the Texas Education Agency on the teacher standards for Early Childhood Certification.

Dr. Brown supported the HB2039 bill creating an early childhood certification to teach students in pre-kindergarten through grade three, which went into effect on June 15, 2017. Dr. Brown is a member of the Educator Standards Committee, a group charged with discussing, proposing, adopting, and implementing the standards for teachers hoping to get certified, with the first tests ideally being administered in 2020.

43,000 children were held back in primary grades in Texas last year, making the importance of a robust early education undeniable for Dr. Brown and other educators. “The classroom teacher is the most important factor in the teacher-learning process,” Dr. Brown emphasized in his testimony supporting HB2039. “Moreover, it is essential that classroom teachers are well trained to work with children in diverse classrooms throughout the State of Texas.”

Dr. Brown has been a professor of Early Childhood Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Texas A&M University-Commerce for over 35 years. Prior to coming to A&M University-Commerce, he served as a classroom teacher in the Dallas Independent School District. He taught kindergarten, first grade and a kindergarten/first mixed age class. He has worked with the Texas Education Agency on other efforts related to early childhood education.

Dr. Brown was the recipient of the William L. Mayo Professorship Award in 2010 as well as the Texas Association for the Education of Young Children (TAEYC) Teacher Educator of the Year Award in 2011. In 2012, He was inducted into the African American Educator's Hall of Fame. He also received the Texas A&M System Chancellor's Academy of Teacher Educators Award and the Texas Association of Black Professors of Higher Education (TABPHE) Affiliate Award in 2016. Dr. Brown chaired and served on a variety of departmental, university and national committees over the course of his remarkable career.