Abstract:

This presentation will provide a coordinator's perspective of supporting pre-service teachers through the process of the edTPA. The edTPA is a performance-based assessment that is required for the pre-service teachers in our state to become licensed. Our institution was in the original pilot in 2009 and has continued this assessment as a measurement of efficacy and teacher readiness ever since. Now that it is a requirement in our state for licensure, this presentation will give the attendees a strong sense of effective ways to support their pre-service teachers through the process, as well as, how to prepare the faculty. Being a previous edTPA Coordinator and now the Program Coordinator, the presenter has 10 years of experience supporting candidates through multiple content areas and training faculty for local and national evaluation.

Due to the high demands and timeframe placed on the candidates to complete their edTPA within the beginning weeks of their final semester, necessary support structures are needed for candidates as well as faculty. This presentation will focus on reasons why structures are necessary for successful edTPA submissions. The purpose of this presentation is to provide participants support methods that are in place at our institution to assist faculty and teacher candidates with the edTPA submission. The presentation will provide an overview of the technology resources used to scaffold and support teacher candidates and faculty. These resources include equipment, computer access, software used, and data storage systems. This presentation will address the implementation of this assessment from the student support perspective, and therefore would be intended for University faculty and administration involved in teacher education and technology integration. This includes those currently utilizing the edTPA assessment and those considering the use of it or another form of standardized assessment in the future. The presenter will incorporate a technology-rich multimedia presentation to present and reinforce the practices used for the implementation and submission of the edTPA. Participants will be asked to share their experiences and how we can all learn about effective practices around the world. Finally, the presentation will illuminate pitfalls and lessons learned across the last ten academic years.

Keywords:

Performance-based assessment, assessment, pre-service, teachers, teacher candidates, edTPA.