11 May2015

edTPA Consultants Supporting Implementation Nationwide

Since the launch of the edTPA National Academy consulting service in January, dozens of consultants have been trained and deployed across the country to lead workshops and provide other support for edTPA implementation. In addition, once a consultant is requested through the “Seek Support” feature, a new searchable database is now available to help programs make the right match. AACTE and the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity recently announced the official launch of the service in a press release:

The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) is proud to partner with the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity (SCALE) to officially launch the edTPA National Academy—an invited cadre of consultants who are trained to provide professional development and support edTPA implementation efforts in teacher preparation programs across the nation. Most importantly, consultants have deep expertise in both disciplinary knowledge and pedagogy. By offering consistent quality support and knowledge building, the National Academy will sustain the growing community participating in edTPA, currently numbering 615 institutions in 33 states and the District of Columbia.

The edTPA National Academy connects teacher preparation programs with free and fee-for-service consultants who provide face-to-face or webinar-based professional development. More than 50 edTPA National Academy consultants have been prepared and endorsed by SCALE. These individuals are educators, administrators and PK-12 teacher leaders experienced with edTPA, having served as coordinators, benchmarkers, scorer trainers and local and national leaders.

“We identify consultants through a refereed and selective process,” said Raymond L. Pecheone, executive director of SCALE. “Criteria include involvement in state or local implementation, edTPA leadership within a program, experience developing and delivering edTPA-related professional development, disciplinary expertise and training and previous work in national scoring and training.”

Already, National Academy consultants have led workshops and other events in six states since the program was introduced in January, supporting edTPA implementation and promoting the educative value of an assessment built by the profession for the profession. This effort is now supported by a newly developed National Academy Consultant Database, searchable by areas of expertise and geographical location, that connects programs with consultants.
Common workshop topics include the following:

General introduction to edTPA

“Deep-dive” handbook and rubric walk-throughs

Preparation for local evaluation

Curriculum mapping

Academic language

PK-12 support

Candidate support

AACTE and SCALE collect feedback from each workshop to inform continual improvement of the National Academy, which is intended to be an adaptive and responsive resource addressing programs’ evolving needs.

“This team of scholars and edTPA experts not only supports implementation efforts around a specific assessment,” said Sharon P. Robinson, president and CEO of AACTE, “but it also accelerates meaningful improvement in educator preparation by promoting accountability and assessment linked to PK-12 student outcomes.”

For more information about edTPA, visit http://edtpa.aacte.org.