Texas edTPA Teacher Certification Exam Rejected | Rare Techy

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The state Board of Education on Friday unanimously rejected a new teacher certification exam that supporters hailed as a solution to preparing and retaining new teachers, but critics worried would create barriers for people entering the profession.

Many board members said the test the state currently uses to certify teachers on what are known as pedagogy and professional responsibilities is not an adequate test, but they didn’t feel like switching to a new test called the Educational Teacher Performance Assessment. Retaining teachers amid a statewide teacher shortage and conducting preparation programs for current teachers on how they prepare future teachers.

“I feel like there are some unturned stones,” said SBOE Chair Kevan Ellis, a Republican who represents Northeast Texas. “I would not consider a vote to reject a tree stake through the heart of edTPA. This is not the end of the road. “

Ellis suggested bringing stakeholders back to the table on Monday to discuss developing an additional test or other potential solutions.

The edTPA exam was originally approved by the 11-member state Board for Educator Certification, which oversees the preparation, certification and conduct standards of public school teachers, but requires final approval by the state board of education to be implemented.

The test, developed at Stanford University, requires teachers to submit answers to essay questions, a sample lesson plan, a 15-minute video of classroom teaching, and a report on their students’ progress.

Proponents of the new test say it will better support and retain new teachers because a teacher’s absence can be pinpointed through video recordings and written analyses. Opponents of edTPA say it creates a barrier for people of color to enter the profession because it costs about $200 more than the pedagogy and professional responsibility exam currently in use. In New York and Washington, the two states that required the new test were repealed.

“I don’t believe that teacher candidates should be the way to clean up the system, or that they shouldn’t have to pay for it,” said Audrey Young, a Republican who represents southeast Texas and is part of the greater Houston area.

This new licensing test will replace the PPR exam, a 100-question exam that has been in use since 2002. Critics of the PPR teacher certification exam call it an inaccurate way to test a new teacher’s ability. All questions in the exam are multiple choice, making it easy to pass.

Before Friday’s vote, the board’s Committee on School Initiatives, which includes five state board of education members, recommended the full board reject the edTPA test on Thursday. She cited a lack of communication between stakeholders leading to adoption, saying that teachers and school administrators didn’t want it and that it negatively impacted people of color.

State Board of Education member Aicha Davis, a Democrat who represents the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, said Thursday that she doesn’t think enough has been done to address the concerns people have with PPR.

“We haven’t found anything to make anything better,” she said. “When we get rid of one problem we have to create another.”

Brownsville Democrat Ruben Cortez Jr. sent a letter Thursday to members of the Texas State Board of Education from 26 different teacher unions and education groups asking the board to reject and instead force the certification board to increase teacher training requirements. Preparatory programs.

But Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath told board members Wednesday that edTPA will help new teachers in Texas because they are more likely to leave the profession sooner and serve low-income students and students of color.

He called PPR “trash”.

“We’re embarrassed to have disclosed this 20 years ago,” he said. “We want to get rid of PPR.”

He said it would take a long time for Texas to come up with its own test, and it would be easier to contract out a proven test like edTPA. The TEA is willing to set aside nearly $2 million to help prospective teachers pay for the more expensive test.

But on Friday, Davis accused board members of not giving them enough information to make an informed decision and wanted more information about why other states opted out after asking for edTPA.

“I’m asking the staff and the commissioner not only to lobby us with a product they want to move forward, but also to give us unbiased data so we can make a good decision,” she said.

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