Overview
In December 2016, following a successful two-year pilot involving several Connecticut Educator Preparation Providers (EPPs), the Connecticut State Board of Education (CSBE) officially adopted edTPA as a requirement for EPP program completion.
Developed for educators by educators, edTPA is a performance-based, subject-specific assessment and support system used by educator preparation providers (EPPs) to emphasize, support, and measure the skills and knowledge that teacher candidates need from day one to help all students in real classrooms learn.
Available in 27 licensure areas and used in more than 30 states, edTPA builds on decades of teacher performance assessment development and research regarding teaching skills and practices that improve student learning. edTPA’s common architecture consists of three interconnected tasks embedded in clinical practice as shown the following image.
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edTPA requires teacher candidates to prepare a portfolio of materials during their student teaching experience demonstrating readiness to teach. Teacher candidates must also tailor their teaching to your district context and engage students in learning consistent with your district’s mission, curricula, and national and state standards. Specifically, teacher candidates:
- Choose a learning segment of 3-5 lessons in one class.
- Collect artifacts (lesson plans, instructional materials, teaching videos, assessments, and sample student work).
- Write commentaries in response to prompts in the subject-specific edTPA handbook that provide a rationale to support their instructional practices, based on their students' learning strengths and needs.
- Submit their artifacts and commentaries for professional scoring.
Although the responsibility of completing edTPA requirements rests with teacher candidates and their EPPs, cooperating teachers will assist teacher candidates with documenting school context, school demographics, and academic strength and needs of their students.
edTPA portfolios are scored by highly trained educators, using scoring rubrics to evaluate high-leverage teaching competencies. The five-level scale used for edTPA rubrics represents a continuum of practice from not quite ready to teach to advanced beginning teacher. Each rubric progression shows an expanding repertoire of skills and strategies for teaching, as well as a deepening rationale for instructional choices.
For candidates who submit edTPA portfolios for official scoring, policies and procedures have been developed for the handling of materials and data for each phase of the submission and scoring process.
Connecticut edTPA Timeline and Completion Requirements:
Effective September 1, 2019, a passing score based on national professional performance standards will be required for edTPA for all initial licensure teacher candidates enrolled in a CSBE-approved EPP program and completing student teaching, including Connecticut alternate route to certification (ARC) programs:
- For all edTPA handbook certification areas based on 15 scoring rubrics, the national professional performance standard range is 37–42 score points (adjustment of minus a full standard error of measurement).
- For the edTPA World Language and Classical Languages handbook based on 13 scoring rubrics, the national professional performance standard range is 32–36 score points (adjustment of minus a full standard error of measurement).
- For the edTPA Elementary Education – Literacy with Mathematics Task 4 handbook based on 18 scoring rubrics, the national professional performance standard range is 44–50 score points (adjustment of minus a full standard error of measurement).
The initial edTPA passing scores for Connecticut are shown below for each of the three handbook types. Each cut score represents one Standard Error of Measurement (SEM) below the national recommended professional performance standard. The CSBE will monitor implementation of edTPA and review candidate performance data annually to determine if adjustments to cut scores are warranted in the future.
| Connecticut | 13 Scoring Rubrics (65 Possible Points) |
15 Scoring Rubrics (75 Possible Points) |
18 Scoring Rubrics (90 Possible Points) |
|---|---|---|---|
| edTPA Cut Score | 32 | 37 | 44 |
Connecticut edTPA Waiver Policy
- For any candidate, if student teaching is waived by the Connecticut EPP based on at least 10 months of prior, full-time teaching experience, the candidate does not have to complete edTPA (substitute teaching does not count towards the 10-month requirement).
- Candidates serving under a Durational Shortage Area Permit (DSAP) must complete edTPA, except in the case of a candidate that the EPP has waived student teaching due to the candidate having at least 10 months of prior, full-time teaching experience. Please note that any candidate for which an EPP determines that the DSAP teaching experience will be used in lieu of student teaching must complete edTPA during the DSAP teaching experience.
- A DSAP candidate, who already holds a Connecticut educator certificate, seeking a cross endorsement does not have to complete edTPA.
Connecticut edTPA Links
edTPA: This site includes candidate registration links, edTPA scoring and reporting procedures, state requirements, and other candidate and faculty resources, including frequently asked questions and answers.
AACTE edTPA: This site includes a resource library with edTPA handbooks, edTPA updates and other documents, and general edTPA information.
edTPA Coordinator Responsibilities and Resources: The EPP edTPA Coordinator is the central point of contact for receiving information about edTPA (assessment materials, handbooks, rubrics, distribution instructions, etc.) and the primary source of communication about edTPA for other EPP faculty, administration and Pk-12 partners. If you are a newly-appointed edTPA coordinator at your EPP, here are specific resources from the edTPA and edTPA AACTE websites to get you started:
- edTPA 101 Video Recording. This webinar provides an orientation to edTPA, including assessment purpose, tasks and rubrics, and scoring.
- edTPA 101 PowerPoint Slides. This presentation corresponds to the edTPA 101 Video Recording.
- edTPA: Orientation for Program Leaders, Faculty, and P12 Partners. This document can be used for initial edTPA orientation meetings with faculty, supervisors, or P-12 partners.
- edTPA Connections to CAEP. This document describes the alignment of edTPA to CAEP standards and how edTPA data can be used for CAEP accreditation.
- edTPA Resource Library
Video Consent Forms (multiple languages) – Connecticut EPPs can download and use these letters to inform Connecticut parents or guardians about edTPA video recording.
edTPA Scorers: become and edTPA scorer and earn clock hours.
For more information related to edTPA, please contact Lauren Tafrate at the Connecticut State Department of Education (lauren.tafrate@ct.gov; 860-713-6841).