Dig into the Research: Teacher licensure, student achievement, and the edTPA

The edTPA is the most widely used performance assessment for aspiring teachers, required by eight states and an option in another 10. The purpose of performance assessments, like the edTPA, is to establish a common language and standard for pre-service teacher preparation. But, what impact does the implementation of the edTPA as a requirement for licensure have on new teacher supply? And, does the edTPA really improve the quality of new teachers?

A recent working paper, Teacher Licensing, Teacher Supply, and Student Achievement: Nationwide Implementation of edTPA, claims to offer the first causal evidence about the effects of edTPA on teacher supply and student outcomes. In this recorded conversation, NCTQ President Kate Walsh discusses the findings with a panel of expert researchers in teacher preparation, including the paper’s two authors.

Watch the full discussion, which includes an overview of the new findings and discussion on how the edTPA influences new teacher supply, the student teaching experience, and teacher diversity by clicking on the video below.

Panelists:

Dr. Bobby Chung, Assistant Professor of Economics at St. Bonaventure University

Dr. Dan Goldhaber, Director of the Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER) at the American Institutes for Research and the Director of the Center for Education Data & Research at the University of Washington

Dr. Charles “Cap” Peck, Professor of Teacher Education and Special Education, University of Washington

Mr. Jian Zou, PhD student in the Department of Economics at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Moderator:

Kate Walsh, President of the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ)

Paper Discussed:

Chung, B. W., & Zou, J. (2021). Teacher Licensing, Teacher Supply, and Student Achievement: Nationwide Implementation of edTPA. (EdWorkingPaper: 21-440). Annenberg Institute at Brown University. Available at https://www.edworkingpapers.com/sites/default/file…

Additional Research:

Goldhaber, D., Cowan, J., & Theobald, R. (2017). Evaluating prospective teachers: Testing the predictive validity of the edTPA. Journal of Teacher Education, 68(4), 377-393. Available at https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1151175.pdf.

Goodlad, J. I. (1990). Teachers for our nation’s schools. Jossey-Bass Inc., San Francisco, CA.

Peck, C. A., Young, M. G., & Zhang, W. (2021). Using teaching performance assessments for program evaluation and improvement in teacher education. National Academy of Education Committee on Evaluating and Improving Teacher Preparation Programs. National Academy of Education. Available at https://naeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11…

Williams III, J. A., Hart, L. C., & Algozzine, B. (2019). Perception vs. reality: edTPA perceptions and performance for teacher candidates of color and White candidates. Teaching and Teacher Education, 83, 120-133. Available at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/…