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edTPA Preparation

EdTPA

In the past two years, the Texas Education Agency [TEA] and Texas State Board for Educator Certification [SBEC] started revising the Texas teacher certifications and other procedures for Educator Preparation Programs. Most recently, the culminating test that teacher candidates must take to become a fully certified teacher is under revision.

The proposal ahead of TEA is for the certification test called the Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities [PPR] test be removed and replaced with an educative assessment that demonstrates a teacher candidate’s understanding of the teaching and learning process. The proposal led to SBEC voting and passing a two [2] year pilot study approving the use of one only assessment known as edTPA in the July 2019 meeting (information about edTPA below). The timeline proposed spans 3 years, with the fourth year slated as a full implementation with a cut score defined. TEA will revisit at the end of spring 2021 to review the data and decide on the implementation. Due to the disruption of COVID-19, there may be potential changes to this timeline.

2018-2019: Introductory participation. Portfolios are completed & scorable.

2019-2021: Exploratory participation using pilot programs across Texas educator preparation programs. Portfolios are completed and scorable.

2021-2022: Full implementation state-wide. Portfolios are completed & scorable

2022-2023: Full implementation state-wide continues with consequential implementation. Portfolios are completed with cut scores defined.

Goals

TAMIU’s College of Education was awarded a grant through TEA to support a pilot program for edTPA assessment. We are thrilled to not only provide valuable feedback and data to the state agencies, but also to improve our understanding of the assessment and process to prepare for the potential changes. For this reason, we diligently began preparing for a pilot by participating in webinars and trainings and becoming more involved with the research and process over the last year. This will inform our process, improve course curriculum, and guarantee the program effectiveness if full implementation is passed. The goals are:

· Build relationships with district partners including cooperating teachers with in-depth meetings

· Inform and train faculty to provide ongoing support to student teacher candidates

· Analyze and improve course curriculum across the program

· Build teacher candidates’ capacity, effectiveness, and preparedness

· Establish teacher candidates’ high proficiency of the teaching and learning processes

· Build the capacity of field- based supervisors to provide consistent feedback

We want our students to be Texas ready from day 1! With our own initial pilot program, we also started the Champions for Learning initiative.

 

If you are a TAMIU student enrolled in the College of Education Educator Preparation Program and will be a Block III student for Fall 2020 or Spring 2021, you can sign up to volunteer for our pilot program. This sign-up is only showing interest and you can decline at a later time. Remember, due to COVID-19, changes to timelines or program may change.

Anyone interested in more information can contact the edTPA coordinator below.

Dr. Cynthia Pina

Cynthia L. Piña, Ed.D.
edTPA Coordinator
956.326.2684
cynthia.pina@tamiu.edu