At the International Summit on the Teaching Profession last week, Stanford University announced that it will collaborate with Pearson for delivery of the Teacher Performance Assessment (TPA)-a nationally available, performance-based assessment for measuring the effectiveness of teacher candidates.
The TPA was developed by a team of Stanford researchers led by Drs. Linda Darling-Hammond and Raymond Pecheone. The work was grounded in the successful experiences of developing performance assessments for licensing of teachers in California. The development was supported by a consortium of more than 20 states and their state departments of education, licensure boards, and institutions of higher education, as well as the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE).
The Teacher Performance Assessment features the Teaching Event, focusing on student-teaching experiences over a 3-5 day learning segment with a class of students. Throughout the learning segment candidates organize and submit evidence of their teaching (e.g., video clips of instruction, lesson plans, student work samples, teacher assignments, daily reflections) to create their own personal Teaching Event portfolio.
Based on the submitted evidence, which is later scored by trained evaluators, faculty and candidates can discuss how various classroom activities impact student learning. Faculty can examine this evidence and analyze their students’ scores across several dimensions of teaching to evaluate and improve their programs.
The TPA pilot project is occurring during the 2010-2011 school year, with increased field testing in 2011-2012. Once field testing is complete, it is expected states may begin using the TPA to satisfy their licensure requirements.
Pearson will provide Stanford University with the capability to deliver the TPA nationally via a web-based platform that allows for electronic submission and nationwide scoring of the assessment.
Core Education helps states provide customized solutions that make for a seamless transition from evaluation of teacher candidate performance to evaluation of inservice teachers. For more information, see our complete list of services at www.CoreEducationLLC.com/page12.php
