URGENT
TAKE ACTION on Proposed Certification Exam Changes
— Support the NYS edTPA Task Force Proposals —
This is the first real opportunity for New York teacher educators, K-12 teachers and students to provide input and press for changes in the flawed teacher certification exams and process mandated in 2014. The proposed changes reflect a commitment to high, equitable and reasonable standards for entry into the teaching profession.
After months of collaboration and compromise, the NYS edTPA Task Force issued a report and recommendations to the Board of Regents. The Regents may take action on the recommendations at their meeting Feb. 13-14. There is no guarantee that all task force recommendations will be acted on by the Regents.
They need to hear from YOU.
Contact Your District Regent, At-Large Regents, and the NYS Commissioner of Education NOW and urge them to take action.
Contact information for Commissioner and Regents:
PDF: http://uupinfo.org/committees/pdf/teached/2017Regentscontactinfo.pdf
SED website: https://www.regents.nysed.gov/members/findrep
edTPA Task Force recommendations to the Regents & State Education Department include:
- Convene a standards setting committee to review and potentially recalibrate edTPA score requirements;
- Establish a multiple measures review process so a teacher candidate who fails the edTPA within a narrow margin may be recommended for certification by program faculty based on other evidence of readiness to teach;
- Work with teacher educators to review edTPA handbooks of concern, with two possible outcomes:
- Handbook revision, or
- SED approval of an alternative performance assessment when a mismatch occurs between the edTPA and professional practices in a particular teacher education specalty area;
- Review certification exam costs and evaluate pass rate variations in different certification areas and across different student populations, as well as why they occur;
- Eliminate the Academic Literacy Skills Test, which duplicates other parts of the certification process;
- Examine the Educating All Students exam for possible content problems and to assess variations in pass rates across certification areas; and
- Examine statewide discrepancies regarding the length and content of the student teaching experience.
SED’s summary of the edTPA Task Force recommendations is posted at the following link:
http://www.regents.nysed.gov/common/regents/files/117hed2.pdf
