Thread by @TTUEducation

Our panelists:
– Kevin Bastian, @UNCPublicPolicy
– Dan Goldhaber, @CEDR_US
– Doug Hamman, @TexasTech
– Charles Peck, @UWCollegeOfEd
– Arthi Rao, @UIC_CollegeofEd
– Martin Winchester, @teainfo

Moderator: @jjgottlieb

https://twitter.com/TTUEducation/status/1100508306047528960

Follow along as we live tweet the discussion.

Have questions about edTPA? Tweet them at us!

Winchester, deputy commish of educator support at TEA, is starting by outlining the interest/need for edTPA in Texas, which is moving toward implementation.

Winchester says part of rationale for edTPA adoption is that Texas has shown some gains on student achievement, but we are not where we need to be.

Changing demographics of teachers are another reason: Nearly 40 percent of teacher workforce has less than 5 years of teaching experience.

Peck, professor at @UWCollegeOfEd: “What you get out of it depends on how you approach the implementation of the tool.” Studies show if you approach implementation from compliance point of view, just trying to get students through assessment, you’re likely to get poor a outcome

Peck, who has implemented the assessment at prep programs: "If it's used thoughtfully with intention ... it can be quite a powerful tool."

Rao, professor at @UIC_CollegeofEd: "What's challenging, in our context, is the high stakes nature." She said she has seen talented candidates do worse than expected, which hurt their confidence.

Goldhaber of #CEDR_US: "I'm a little concerned about the performance of teacher candidates of color on edTPA."

Bastian of @UNCPublicPolicy says there is concern about where a teacher does student teaching affecting scores. "You can't standardized student teaching."

Winchester of @teainfo: There are a disproportionate number of first- and second-year teachers at high-poverty schools. "We need those teachers to be as prepared as possible on day one" and we hope edTPA will help accomplish that.

Hamman: "One thing I worry about with move to edTPA is how would it disrupt a program that's already strong." Also: how will this change the curriculum already in place? He says Texas Tech uses the TAP rubric for evaluating candidates.

Peck in response to Hamman: You begin the process by inventorying existing processes and examine the way that edTPA might be useful. "The real energy is not in the scores. It's in the candidate's work portfolio." That's where you learn what they can really do.

Rao: Many students have anxiety with the writing part of edTPA. She also says her teacher candidates all teach in Chicago public schools, which makes them nervous about behavior issues being recorded during the assessment.

Goldhaber: "You could have a strong relationship between edTPA performance and student scores, and implementing edTPA could do zero for the quality of workforce." He emphasizes that using "feedback loops" from edTPA to improve training is most important to improving workforce.

Winchester: We have Title II money to invest in a very rigorous pilot of edTPA to get an accurate profile of how it works across the state, with different demographics.

Bastian says an important part of edTPA is that it can help people at different institutions work together. Goldhaber agrees but adds that he hasn't seen states mapping how edTPA will actually translate to an improved workforce.

Peck: edTPA scoring can be inconsistent, so how can you coordinate and collaborate? "It's like a Tower of Babel." He says local scoring, as opposed to scoring by Pearson, is better and hopes Texas uses it.

Audience Q: Are we simply looking at this as a mechanism to keep more bad teachers out of the profession?

Winchester: “That’s not the goal at all.” We hope using edTPA will attract a “high-quality and diverse pool of candidates” who see the rigor and relevancy. He hopes the use of edTPA will decrease the number of teachers who abandon their contracts.

Peck says there's a danger that faculty at prep programs will voice dissatisfaction with edTPA in a way that hurts teacher candidates. “It implicitly teaches the candidates to treat it as a trivial, hoop-jumping-type experience."

To avoid that, Peck says the professional community needs a collective stance on supporting candidates with the instrument as much as possible.

Last question: Why is it being implemented if there’s not evidence that it works?

Bastian: You have to be cognizant that this isn’t a “done deal.” This is a pilot. But there is evidence of a relationship between edTPA scoring and student performance.

Winchester: We do feel that this tool is as closely aligned as anything we have seen to preparing teachers for the reality of the classroom. We need to be open to feedback while trying to implement edTPA across such a large, diverse state, he says.

That's all, folks! Thanks for tuning in. 📺

If you missed the discussion, a video will be posted here: bit.ly/2GlsvoI

Keep an eye out for future webinars hosted by #TexasTech! bit.ly/2Nvrk7R