Teacher candidates posted an extraordinary 99 percent passing rate for the edTPA, a high-stakes performance assessment implemented last fall by the state of Illinois that is used to determine whether would-be teachers are ready to enter the profession.
The edTPA evaluates how well a candidate completes tasks that effective teachers do as part of their planning, assessment and reflection process. EdTPA requires teacher candidates to submit unedited video recordings of themselves teaching lesson plans.
If candidates fail to pass the edTPA, they can neither obtain a teaching license nor graduate with a teaching degree. The COE piloted the edTPA for several semesters before its official implementation to ensure that candidates would be sufficiently prepared for the real thing.
“Completion of the edTPA indicates that candidates can apply their knowledge and skills to their student teaching placement and also critically reflect on their performance as well as their students’ performance,” said Gregory Conderman, chair of the Department of Special and Early Education. “Candidates have to make connections among various critical instructional tasks and also connect their instruction to theory. These are all tasks that teachers employ.”
“We have a high level of confidence that candidates passing the edTPA have the skills to approach their instruction in a purposeful and meaningful way and can make connections among important tasks,” Conderman said
