As part of
the Teacher Education program at Miami, during student teaching, all
prospective teachers are required to complete the edTPA. While I personally
have not yet completed the edTPA, I have done some research to try and figure
out what exactly it’s all about.
Through
talking with students who have completed the edTPA and attending different
informational talks on campus, in addition to some online research I completed
last semester, I’ll share what I know about this rather daunting process.
The “TPA”
in edTPA stands for Teacher Performance Assessment and it is used to determine if teachers possess the skills necessary to be a teacher and help all students learn.
In terms
of the requirements, they are different for each assessment area, but there are
a few universal elements. Most notably, every teacher candidate needs to
complete a portfolio, and in that portfolio, there is a set list of
requirements based on assessment area.
One key
aspect that is included for all assessment areas, is the video portion. While
student teaching, teacher candidates are expected to video tape themselves
teaching, and there is a list of guidelines that explain how one should go
about this.
For some
content areas, this number differs, but in general, the edTPA usually includes
15 rubrics, all of which are on a five point scale. This means that the highest
score possible is a 75. The edTPA website lists 42 as a recommended score, which
they refer to as the professional performance standard, or PPS.
As
previously noted, some content areas have a different PPS because they have
either more or less than 15 rubrics.
However,
the edTPA website does not list a passing score, because it is up to each state
to create their own, as a result of the edTPA taking different state standards
into account. Currently, Ohio has not set a passing score.
One main
thing I have taken away from talking to students who student taught last semester
is that it is key to start the edTPA process early on in student teaching. It
is lengthy, so when spread out over a few weeks of student teaching, it makes
the process less stressful.
Since I
have not yet completed the edTPA, I am still trying to learn about the process,
so I am unable to offer any firsthand experience with it, but I hope to share
my experiences with the process next fall as I student teach.
If you’re
seeking more information about the edTPA, here are a few helpful resources:
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