Researching edTPA Promises and Problems: Perspectives from English as an Additional Language, English Language Arts, and World Language Teacher Education(Contemporary Language Education)

Teacher effectiveness and licensure in the United States continue to be scrutinized at the state and national levels. At present, 40 states plus the District of Columbia have adopted edTPA to inform initial teacher licensure and/or certification decisions (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, n.d.). edTPA is designed to measure novice teachers’ readiness to teach their content area, with a focus on student learning and principles from research and theory (SCALE, 2015). Composed of planning, instruction, and assessment tasks, edTPA portfolios seek to provide evidence of teacher candidate readiness in three areas: (1) intended teaching, (2) enacted teaching, and (3) the impact of teaching on student learning. Specifically, edTPA measures teacher candidates’ ability to: • develop knowledge of subject matter, content standards, and subject-specific pedagogy • develop and apply knowledge of varied students’ needs • consider research and theory about how students learn • reflect on and analyze evidence of the effects of instruction on student learning (p. 1) Teacher candidates create extensive portfolios that include written commentaries explaining each task and video excerpts of a recorded teaching event. Teacher candidates must submit evidence to show their teaching prowess and pay $300, at present, to Pearson Education for their portfolio to be evaluated by external reviewers. In this volume, researchers share their experiences working with edTPA in three areas of language learning: English Language Arts, English to Speakers of Other Languages, and World Languages. The volume provides empirical research in the areas of multicultural perspectives, pedagogical practices, and edTPA (in)compatibility. Findings are of interest to multiple stakeholders such as teacher candidates, mentor teachers, teacher preparation faculty members and program coordinators, and administrators.

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments.
Chapter 1. edTPA History, Promises, and Problems; Pete Swanson and Susan A. Hildebrandt.
Section I. Multicultural Perspectives.
Chapter 2. Native and Non-Native English Speaker Perceptions of the World Language edTPA; Victoria Russell and Kelly Davidson Devall.
Chapter 3. Multicultural Perspectives in Secondary English Language Arts edTPA Portfolios; Sarah Cannon.
Chapter 4. Native/Heritage Spanish Speakers and edTPA; Sarah Jourdain.
Chapter 5. Developing Linguistic and Cultural Awareness for Working With ELLs: Activities for Beginning Teacher Preparation; Clara Vaz Bauler and Daryl M. Gordon.
Section II. Pedagogical Practices.
Chapter 6. Revising and Creating Formative Assessments of Teacher Candidates in Preparation for the World Language edTPA; Pamela M. Wesely, Sarah Rissler, and Ann DeVault.
Chapter 7. Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Language Awareness as Evidenced in World Language edTPA; Susan A. Hildebrandt and Anne Cummings Hlas.
Chapter 8. Language Teaching and Language Learning: Supporting Candidates' Readiness for edTPA; Joan R. Lachance and Scott P. Kissau.
Chapter 9. Performance on the Instruction and Assessment Tasks of the World Language edTPA and Avenues for Further Research; Jennifer Behney.
Chapter 10. The Criticality of the Integrated Performance Assessment in the World Language edTPA; Pete Swanson and Elizabeth Goulette.
Section III. edTPA (In)Compatibility.
Chapter 11. TESOL Teacher Candidate Evaluation: A Comparison of Evidence from edTPA and a Local Performance-Based Assessment; Tabitha Kidwell, Christina M. Budde, Natalia L. Guzman, Johanna M. Tigert, Megan DeStefano, and Megan Madigan Peercy.
Chapter 12. Performance and Perceptions of World Language Teacher Candidates on edTPA: The Case of a Teacher Education Program in Georgia; Marcela T. Ruiz-Funes.
Chapter 13. Specific Challenges Faced by World Language Student Teachers, Cooperating Teachers, and Program Coordinators in Development of edTPA Portfolios; Michael K. Olsen and Tobias Barske.
About the Editors.
About the Contributors.