Newswise — Kevin Meuwissen, PhD, a researcher and professor at the University of Rochester Warner School of Education (Rochester, N.Y.) has been at the forefront of studying teachers’ perceptions of and experiences with the new Teacher Performance Assessment, known as edTPA, during the first two years of implementation in New York and Washington States—the first two states to require successful edTPA completion for initial teacher certification. Meuwissen can share some of the consequences of the current state teacher-licensing exam, particularly for teacher education programs across New York State and nationwide.
Meuwissen and his colleague Jeffrey Choppin, PhD, also from the University of Rochester, are one of the first researchers to take a look at teacher candidates’ experiences with the edTPA in the context of its use as a policy tool. A paper highlighting findings from interviews conducted during the first year edTPA implementation recently published in the Education Policy Analysis Archives. A link to the paper, titled “Preservice Teachers’ Adaptions to Tensions Associated with the edTPA During Its Early Implementation in New York and Washington States,” is online at: http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/2078. Their Spencer Foundation-funded study reveals that teaching candidates, also known as preservice teachers, had to mediate several tensions associated with the high-stakes nature of edTPA. In the paper, the researchers identify those issues as:
• CONTROL/AGENCY TENSIONS. Teacher candidates reported difficulties navigating external factors that are beyond their control. • SUPPORT TENSIONS. Teacher candidates reported ambiguities about what level of support was appropriate in light of the assessment’s use as a formative and summative tool.• REPRESENTATION TENSIONS. Teacher candidates reported concerns about how edTPA does not accurately represent who they are as teachers and does not capture all the important aspects of teaching, like relationship building with students.
Researchers also share how edTPA-completing candidates mediated these tensions in their efforts to successfully complete the assessment for certification. The paper then concludes with recommendations for teacher education programs aimed at utilizing the edTPA’s potential benefits and mitigating its unproductive tensions.
In March 2015, the researchers also released the first report from the first phase of their study, titled “Teaching Candidates’ Perceptions of and Experiences with Early Implementation of the edTPA Assessment in New York and Washington States,” which included findings from the surveys completed during the first year of edTPA implementation. Only half of the teacher candidates surveyed from New York and Washington States reported a good understanding of the edTPA assessment. To view this report, visit: http://www.warner.rochester.edu/files/research/files/edTPAreport.pdf.
Researchers are in the process of wrapping up data collection for phase two of the study, which focuses on the second year of edTPA implementation.
Meuwissen recently attended a meeting on November 6 at SUNY’s Buffalo State Campus (Buffalo, N.Y.) to discuss issues confronting teacher preparation programs and students. Deputy NYSED Commissioner John D’Agati, Regent Kathleen Cashin, Regent Catherine Collins, and Regent Judith Chin also attended this meeting. Meuwissen, along with other teacher education stakeholders, presented information pertaining to the new teacher certification exams and process, potential impacts on diversity in the teaching workforce, and teacher education accreditation and accountability processes.
About the Warner School of EducationFounded in 1958, the University of Rochester’s Warner School of Education (www.warner.rochester.edu) offers master’s and doctoral degree programs in teaching and curriculum, school leadership, higher education, educational policy, counseling, human development, and health professions education. The Warner School of Education offers an accelerated option for its EdD programs that allows eligible students to earn a doctorate in education in as few as three years part time while holding a professional job in the same field. The Warner School of Education is recognized both regionally and nationally for its tradition of preparing practitioners and researchers to become leaders and agents of change in schools, universities, and community agencies; generating and disseminating research; and actively participating in education reform.
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