Frequently Asked Questions

The TECPDS account is your personal early childhood career profile, linking you to our state’s early childhood professional development system. Visit our Getting Started page to learn all about setting up your free account and how you can use this account to advance in your early childhood career. Reminder: each user MUST have their own account. Do not share your username and password with anyone else.  

If you are having difficulties logging in to your account, please submit a help ticket for assistance from our support team.

You might have multiple accounts on TECPDS. Please submit a help ticket so our support team can assist. In the ticket, provide any TECPDS IDs you have used and the email address(es) you might have used to create accounts.

Please submit a help ticket so our support team can assist. In the ticket, provide any TECPDS IDs you have used and the email address(es) you might have used to create accounts. Please ensure you provide and note the TECPDS ID you wish to keep is the most current and updated account.  

At this time, you can connect your TECPDS account to CCEI, CLI Engage, and our newest integration, AgriLife Learn. Certificates that are earned from these platforms automatically transfer to your TECPDS account as verified. To learn how to connect any of these integrations to your TECPDS account, visit our how-to guides or submit a help ticket. More integrations coming soon! 

Yes. Now integrated, it is a requirement to have an account with CLI Engage and be part of the Trainer Micro-Credential program. Trainers will make use of the program to retrieve your trainer level on TECPDS. If you’re currently a registered trainer, you have until 2024 to join the Trainer Micro– Credential and link to CLI Engage. To link to CLI Engage, submit a Help Ticket. 

No. TECPDS is a voluntary system and participation is not required in order to provide training in Texas. However, according to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) – Child Care Licensing Division, in order to provide training to a person who works in the child care industry, a trainer must meet specific requirements (see Minimum Standards for additional information). In order to provide training to public school teachers, trainers must become approved by the State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC) and the Texas Education Agency (TEA). To find out how to become a CPE provider, visit the TEA website.  

The educational qualifications vary depending on the Core Competency Area in which the trainer wishes to become approved, however, all trainers must possess at least 3 years of experience working with young children or in their area of training, and must have completed a course or 15 hours of training in adult learning. To find out more about the qualifications, watch the Orientation Presentation available on the Texas Trainer Registry page.  

The first step in the application process is to watch our Orientation Presentation which details the qualifications and application steps. Once you’ve watched the orientation, you can continue to the online application form. The presentation and application form can be accessed by visiting the Texas Trainer Registry page.

Yes, TECPDS offers opportunities for organizations that provide training to formally connect to TECPDS. Through the organizational dashboard, training organizations can upload, connect, and manage all their trainers and trainings into an organization-level account. Both Registered Trainers and Non-Registered Trainers can connect to organizational dashboards. Currently, this opportunity is available for nonprofit training organizations or organizations in formal agreements with the Texas Workforce Commission to provide professional development. To get started or request additional information, please submit a ticket.   

Visit the “How to Search for Trainings” How-to-guide to follow the steps to finding trainers and trainings on the Texas Trainer Registry. You can search the TECPDS database of Registered Trainers and approved trainings aligned to your professional development goals.

We greatly appreciate any feedback about the trainers listed on the Texas Trainer Registry. You are encouraged to complete a trainer evaluation in TECPDS when entering the training certificate into their profile. 

The Certificate Generation Tool is available at no cost to all TECPDS users, offering a quick and easy tool to create standardized training certificates that meet all state requirements for early childhood professionals. Certificates can be printed, emailed, and delivered directly to participants’ TECPDS accounts. It is highly recommended that all trainers, including center directors/administrators who deliver training to their staff, use the Certificate Generation Tool. 

TECPDS includes a new record verification process for early childhood professionals. Through this process, Texas early childhood professionals can enter their education, professional development, and work experience into their personal account on TECPDS and upload documents (records) that can be used to verify this information. Through record validation, users’ records will be reviewed for accuracy and then confirmed, if applicable, through the TECPDS website. Learn more about Record Verification on TECPDS. 

The Core Competencies help professionals know what knowledge and skills they should possess to be successful in their careers. Visit CLI Engage to find free online training on the Core Competencies for Practitioners and Administrators, up to 15 clock hours or CPEs. To access the training, complete a short sign-up form to set-up a free account on CLI Engage. This training is located in the “Online Learning” section of the website.  

TECPDS offers several reports for early childhood professionals to track their career and plan next steps to advance on their career pathway. Refer to our how-to guides to learn how to access these reports from your dashboard: 

• Find My Career Pathway Report: Documents your place on the Texas Career Pathway and offers recommendations to continue advancing on the career pathway through further education and/or credentials, work experience, or professional development. 
• Individual Professional Development Profile Report: documents your full early childhood career, including everything entered into your TECPDS account (education, credentials, professional development, and work experience). You can also use this report to identify professional development gaps to target future training opportunities. 

Additionally, center directors have access to view the profile reports for any staff who connected to their center/school on TECPDS. View our how-to guide for additional information. 

We send regular notifications to our users with existing updates and professional development opportunities. Sign up to receive our newsletter!  

Yes, TECPDS includes several aggregate reports that offer early childhood workforce data at the state, regional, and county levels.  

• ECE Reports: These reports include aggregated, deidentified data entered into the system by users. You can view information by user type (practitioner, administrator, and trainer) on a variety of metrics that include employment, education, professional development/training, and others. Please note that these reports may have duplicate and/or unclean data, since they are pulling directly from the database. 
• State of the Texas ECE Workforce Report: TECPDS also publishes an annual report that leverages data uploaded by users to answer specific questions about the workforce. This report uses only records uploaded by users that have completed the record verification process, ensuring accuracy and authenticity.