Benjamin Riley
March twenty, 2013

Benjamin Riley

Benjamin Riley

What if I told you that:

  • There is a major national pedagogy reform nether mode, with its origins in California;
  • which may event in the cosmos of a national "bar test" to enter the teaching profession;
  • and notwithstanding few in the education customs seem to exist paying attention to this attempt or weighing in on whether information technology's worth supporting?

This is the story of the pedagogy Instructor Performance Assessment, or edTPA. Even if you follow instruction problems closely, you may take missed the rapid rise of this new cess to evaluate prospective teachers. Developed by researchers at the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity (SCALE) and enthusiastically supported past the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE) and Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond – who also chairs California's Commission on Instructor Credentialing (CTC) – the edTPA is at present being used in at least 25 states (to varying caste) to make up one's mind whether newly trained teachers are ready to fix foot in the classroom.

Then what exactly is edTPA? That's not an like shooting fish in a barrel question to answer, really, unless you are willing to spend some quality time spelunking through obscure corners of state government and university websites. According to San Diego State Academy, "the edTPA is an updated, national version of the Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT) that was developed by SCALE . . . and is existence implemented in partnership with Pearson Didactics." The edTPA requires prospective teachers in participating programs to prepare a comprehensive portfolio that includes lesson plans, handouts, "daily reflection notes," video clips of instruction, and cess of "whole class assessment" and "assay of learning of two students," though I'm not sure what that ways. (Encounter slide x from this SCALE presentation.) Teacher candidates then upload this portfolio to a database managed by didactics behemoth Pearson, which then passes the portfolio along to reviewers, likewise selected by Pearson, comprised of a 50-50 split of college of education faculty and actual classroom teachers. The reviewers score the candidate'due south portfolio items according to rubrics that are subject field-specific, such equally secondary mathematics, early childhood, and even physical education. (Run across slide 17 here.) It appears that candidates are free to select which lessons they choose to upload, and information technology's unclear if there'south any cap on how many times they can retake the test if they don't pass. And I'k non sure how much whatsoever of this costs; the National Quango on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) pegs it around $200-$400 per candidate, though I'm not sure who is paying whom for what.

That is what we know about the exam itself. We also know that a number of states have already enacted laws tied to the edTPA. Starting this fall, for example, prospective teachers in New York must pass the edTPA to be licensed, and other states, including Illinois, Washington, Tennessee and Minnesota, are poised to follow in the next two to iii years. Hither in California, state law already requires that teachers pass a operation cess – there are three dissimilar options that prep programs tin can choose from – but in typical California fashion, we've made the requirement all only meaningless. That'southward because all of the assessments are well-nigh impossible to fail. In fact, in 2022 a whopping 98% of prospective teachers passed the exam – a troubling fact largely obscured in this CTC report. That same report besides highlights the fact, "building on work in California, the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE) and Stanford University have formed a partnership to develop a national teaching functioning assessment" –  in other words, the edTPA. Given Darling-Hammond's role in developing edTPA and position chairing CTC, it's fair to wonder whether the edTPA will soon be replacing California'south existing operation exams (based on the existing passage rates, that might not be a bad affair).

Before getting to what nosotros don't know about edTPA – and there's a lot we don't know – I desire to highlight three positive aspects of the assessment: First, the materials promoting the edTPA emphasize a shift in the definition of effective pedagogy, moving away from mere curriculum delivery to actually improving pupil learning. That is exactly the correct outcomes-based goal that teacher candidates, and the institutes that train them, should focus on. Second, the rapid proliferation of edTPA across multiple states and institutions creates at least the potential for developing a mutual metric for evaluating the effectiveness of particular programs in training teachers. Third, I've spoken to a scattering of deans of colleges of didactics who believe edTPA can help drive comeback within their institutions, in part by revealing which faculty members are virtually (and least) constructive in training candidates. If edTPA can drive accountability beyond teacher-training programs and faculty, that will exist a major reform worth supporting.

That said, in that location are a number of unanswered questions surrounding edTPA that the education customs should exist seeking answers to, particularly before enacting policies based on its adoption. Hither's my short list:

  • Which is a ameliorate long-term predictor of teacher performance: edTPA or data taken during a instructor's first year in the classroom? Co-ordinate to Sharon Robinson, president of AACTE, the edTPA is designed "to respond the essential question: 'Is this new instructor fix for the job?'" But I have searched in vain for evidence indicating the edTPA or whatsoever of its predecessors are superior to using bodily classroom data to brand that effectiveness determination. Is there any such research? If not, does Calibration plan to commission whatever?
  • What are the laissez passer rates on the edTPA and volition there be a national "cut score"? I actually posed this question to Andrea Whittaker of SCALE at a contempo AACTE conference. She answered past first stating that edTPA is in "field testing manner," then hinted that SCALE would be pushing for a national cut score – while acknowledging that it would be up to individual states to set policies on this. Until we know what the passage rates are, however, it'due south impossible to know whether to accept edTPA seriously. We do know, however, that last yr in California the laissez passer charge per unit on the PACT assessment – the precursor to edTPA – was 98%, with a shocking 94% passing the first fourth dimension they took the test. If edTPA follows a similar pattern, there is no take a chance – none – that edTPA will drive whatsoever meaningful modify in educator preparation, because kinesthesia will rightfully feel gratuitous to ignore information technology. SCALE, mayhap with the assist of the Council for Chief State Schoolhouse Officers, needs to show leadership in supporting a unmarried, rigorous common cut-score across states.
  • Is the edTPA truly Common Cadre aligned? Virtually every education vendor claims these days that its product or service is aligned to the Common Cadre state standards – a claim they seem to recall is fabricated true by slapping a sticker that says "Common Core aligned" on the encompass of whatever it is they are selling. Likewise, the creators of edTPA claim the assessment is aligned to the Common Cadre, but how confident tin can we be in that merits? Consider the following edTPA rubric: "Learning tasks draw on students' prior academic learning and experience, as well as personal/cultural/customs assets." This appears at least potentially at odds with the (admittedly controversial) guidance from David Coleman, builder of the Common Core, that teachers eliminate prereading activities to focus instead on close readings of actual texts. Of form, ane reason information technology's hard to determine alignment is that the edTPA rubrics do not announced to be posted anywhere online – why not?
  • Whither the role of Pearson in all this? I practise non gnash my teeth or rend my garments when the words "for profit" and "pedagogy" happen to fall anywhere near each other, nor volition I join Diane Ravitch'southward black-helicopter-esque bemoaning of the "Pearsonization" of didactics. But given that Pearson is responsible for selecting the faculty and teachers that actually, you know, form the edTPA, shouldn't we know more near how they are selected and trained? And is at that place a conflict of interest involving Darling-Hammond'southward relationship with Pearson? I take no reason to doubtable any impropriety and co-ordinate to the CTC Pearson does not have any direct contract in California. That said, given the Darling-Hammond's dual roles here, transparency is disquisitional to maintaining the legitimacy of this effort.

I want to believe edTPA will aid professionalize the practice of education, amend the quality of our colleges of education, and ensure teachers are well trained and effective. Answering these questions will go a long way toward determining whether my hope is justified or not.

Update: In response to this piece, Dr. Darling-Hammond wrote to EdSource to clarify her human relationship to the edTPA, SCALE, and Pearson.  "Pearson is the administrative partner for edTPA and I was involved in the original design team for the assessment several years ago. I take no personal financial relationship with Pearson, but because Stanford owns the edTPA I have recused myself from all considerations effectually the edTPA assessment at the CTC," she wrote. She further noted that although she does piece of work on some Calibration projects, "the way academy enquiry operates, there is no extra money in information technology for professors to a higher place their salary. Stanford professors – at to the lowest degree in the Ed Schoolhouse – are not allowed to earn actress consulting money above their salary for conducting Stanford research projects." I capeesh the clarification from Dr. Darling-Hammond, which answers my asking for transparency around the edTPA.

Benjamin Riley is the Director of Policy and Advocacy at NewSchools Venture Fund, a nonprofit organization that supports education entrepreneurs. He also currently serves as a commissioner on the Council for Accreditation of Educator Grooming Committee, the trunk charged with promulgating new national standards for accreditation of educator-preparation programs.

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