An Examination of the edTPA Portfolio Assessment and Other Measures of Teacher Preparation and Readiness

Abstract

The authors examined the outcomes on several measures of world language teacher preparedness, including university‐ and state‐mandated summative evaluations and the edTPA portfolio assessment, for seven world language teacher candidates during their final semester of clinical practice. The candidates were enrolled in an initial certification program (Spanish P–12) at the same university in Georgia. The results revealed that edTPA scores were not well aligned with mentor teachers’ and supervisors’ evaluations on the university‐wide instrument and that measures of teacher content knowledge and target language proficiency did not correlate well with candidates’ edTPA scores. The disparity between edTPA scores and other measures of teacher preparation was most apparent for the two nonnative English speakers. The findings suggest that candidates whose primary language is not English may need additional support with academic English. Moreover, the present study found that candidates, mentors, and supervisors lacked an understanding of how the various university, state, and national assessments fit together to measure the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that are necessary for effectively teaching a world language. Training on the content and purpose of the edTPA may be needed so that stakeholders understand the benefit of having a national‐level view of candidates’ knowledge and skills.

Communicative Learning Outcomes and World Language edTPA: Characteristics of High-scoring Portfolios

“…While the WL edTPA remains under researched (Behney 2016;Hildebrandt and Swanson 2016;Kissau and Algozzine 2017;Russell and Davidson Devall 2016;Troyan and Kaplan 2015), this research expands the literature base by examining teacher educators' analyses of edTPA portfolios.…”

“…Additionally, its $300 price tag adds to the already high expense of becoming a teacher, with newly certified teachers in Georgia paying more than $800 for required mandated teacher testing (Hildebrandt and Swanson 2014). There is a dearth of investigations regarding this high-stakes assessment (e.g., Behney 2016; Hildebrandt and Swanson 2016;Russell and Davidson Devall 2016), and we call for further studies documenting its impact on beginning teacher preparation practices and K-12 student learning, along with factors influencing teacher candidate edTPA performance.…”

“…edTPA's subject specificity, widespread usage, high-stakes nature, and focus on learning objectives prompt the present investigation. Given its widespread usage across the country, the World Language (WL) edTPA remains understudied despite recent investigations of the topic (e.g., Behney 2016;Hildebrandt and Swanson 2016;Kissau and Algozzine 2017;Russell and Davidson Devall 2016;Troyan and Kaplan 2015).…”

Future directions in assessment: Influences of standards and implications for language learning

“…First, many states have mandated that preservice teachers obtain an official ACTFL computerized OPI or OPI test score of Advanced Low or Intermediate High (ACTFL and CAEP, ) as required in their target language for K–12 certification and/or that they pass the portfolio/task‐based Education Teaching Performance Assessment (edTPA; see Behney, , for an overview). However, research has also shown that future teachers find it difficult to pass the language proficiency portion of these teacher certification tests, in part because their language classes at the university level tend to not focus on the skills that are needed, including the ability to produce sustained and lengthy discourse in both speech and writing (Russell & Davidson Devall, ). For example, Glisan, Swender, and Surface (, p. 276) found that 45% of 1,957 preservice teachers from 2006 to 2012 did not meet the minimum proficiency level for teacher certification.…”

“…For example, Glisan, Swender, and Surface (, p. 276) found that 45% of 1,957 preservice teachers from 2006 to 2012 did not meet the minimum proficiency level for teacher certification. In light of the dramatic and ongoing shortage of language teachers across the nation (Russell & Davidson Devall, ), researchers have proposed changes to teaching curricula that address the proficiency needs of preservice teachers (Behney, ; e.g., Kissau, ; Troyan & Kaplan, ).…”