Teacher Performance Assessments
Senate Bill 2042 requires all multiple and single subject preliminary credential candidates to pass the Teaching Performance Assessment (TPA). Please visit www.ctc.ca.gov for more information on the bill.
Effective July 1, 2008 all students admitted to the Teacher Education Program at Pacific Oaks College on or after this date, will need to satisfy this assessment, which is aligned with the California Standards for the Teaching Profession.
The Teaching Performance Assessment (TPA) is designed to give teacher candidates the opportunity to demonstrate their teaching knowledge and abilities during the teacher preparation program. All teacher candidates must take and pass the TPA in order to be recommended for a Preliminary Teaching Credential. The TPA, which includes four tasks, is attached to program coursework, allowing teacher candidates the opportunity to further develop their skills.
What Does the Teaching Performance Assessment Measure?
The Teaching Performance Assessment measures the domains of the Teaching Performance Expectations (TPEs) that describe what California teachers need to know and be able to do before being recommended for a Preliminary Credential.
You will be introduced to the TPEs in your first Teacher Education course and during an initial meeting with your advisor. You will be reintroduced to them throughout the program, and they are also embedded in certain courses. The TPEs are organized as follows, in six different domains.
Teaching Performance Expectations
1A. Making Subject Matter Comprehensible to Students
· TPE 1 - Specific Pedagogical Skills for Subject Matter Instruction
2B. Assessing Student Learning
· TPE 2 - Monitoring Student Learning During Instruction
· TPE 3 - Interpretation and Use of Assessments
3C. Engaging and Supporting Students in Learning
· TPE 4 - Making Content Accessible
· TPE 5 - Student Engagement
· TPE 6 - Developmentally Appropriate Teaching Practices
· TPE 7 - Teaching English Learners
4D. Planning Instruction and Designing Learning Experiences for Students
· TPE 8 - Learning About Students
· TPE 9 - Instructional Planning
5E. Creating and Maintaining Effective Environments for Student Learning
· TPE 10 - Instructional Time
· TPE 11 - Social Environment
6F. Developing as a Professional Educator
· TPE 12 – Professional, Legal, and Ethical Obligations
· TPE 13 - Professional Growth
The Four Tasks in the Teaching Performance Assessment
The Teaching Performance Assessment tasks are designed to measure aspects of the TPEs and reflect what beginning teachers should know and be able to do before receiving a Preliminary Credential.
There are four inter-related yet separate tasks that increase in complexity as you move through them over the course of the program. They were designed with a specific sequence in mind. Each task measures aspects of a number of TPEs, and many TPEs are measured in more than one task.
The four tasks are:
Task 1: Principles of Content-Specific and Developmentally Appropriate Pedagogy
· You will demonstrate your knowledge of principles of content-specific pedagogy and developmentally appropriate pedagogy.
Task 2: Connecting Instructional Planning to Student Characteristics for Academic Learning
· You will demonstrate your ability to learn important details about a classroom of students, an English learner, and a student who presents a different instructional challenge. You will plan instruction that is shaped by those student characteristics.
Task 3: Classroom Assessment of Academic Learning Goals
· You will demonstrate your ability to select a unit of study and learning goal(s) and to plan standards-based, developmentally appropriate student assessment activities for a group of students. In addition, you will demonstrate your ability to assess student learning and diagnose student needs from particular responses to the assessment activity.
Task 4: Academic Lesson Design, Implementation, and Reflection after Instruction
· You will demonstrate your ability to design a lesson based on state-adopted academic content standards for students, implement that lesson making appropriate use of class time and instructional resources, meet the differing needs of individuals within the class, manage instruction and student interaction, assess student learning, and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the lesson.
The Teaching Performance Assessment (4 tasks) are attached to specific classes (please see program checklist). Teacher Candidates will be required to respond to the abovementioned tasks as instructed by TPA Coordinator and Class Instructor.
Response to Tasks and Scoring
Teacher Candidate responses to the each Teacher Performance Assessment Task are scored on task-specific rubrics by trained assessors. Student anonymity is maintained throughout the scoring process.
There are four levels of scores for each of the four TPA tasks. A score of 1 is the lowest and a score of 4 is the highest level on any task. A score of 3 is a passing score. A teacher candidate must earn a total score of 12 across the four tasks, with no score lower than 3 on any one task.
Any questions?
Please talk to your advisor or TPA coordinator.
| 
