edTPA Local Evaluation: Engaging Our Partners, Improving Our Practice

Abstract

Numerous teacher preparation programs now require teacher candidates to complete teacher performance assessments (TPA) to determine their readiness for the classroom. One of the newest assessments, edTPA, has been used by over 700 teacher preparation programs, with 12 states setting policy tying the successful completion of edTPA to teacher licensure. While edTPA is considered an educative tool for teacher candidates, it has also become a tool for teacher preparation programs to improve and change, as well as engage with their district partners on teacher practice. This chapter will describe one university's story of edTPA local evaluation, including its decisions to use local mentor teachers and local National Board Certified (NBC) teachers to assess the edTPA. It will reveal how bringing partners together through local evaluation can create a common language for teacher preparation, empower actors (mentors, supervisors) to share their voices with university faculty, and help bridge the gap between a pre-service candidate's student teaching year and the first year of induction.