The Feb. 6-7 meeting of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) continued discussion of several long-term initiatives including a review of initial recommendations for improving Teacher Performance Assessments (TPAs) and new requirements for earning a Child Development Permit authorizing service to children age birth to 8 in state subsidized child care and development programs.
TPA workgroup
The Workgroup to Review the Design and Implementation of the Teaching Performance Assessments (RDI-TPA) presented its initial recommendations, along with staff-recommended interim actions to address issues identified by the RDI-TPA Workgroup to provide immediate or near-term support to current teacher candidates. The workgroup was formed to provide an analysis of any modifications needed to current assessments to ensure they are valid and authentic to the work of teaching, reasonable to implement in the wide range of classroom settings across the state, and appropriate for beginning teachers.
The recommendations were provided through the lens of five focus areas, each with a number of sub-recommendations. These can be found in the agenda item 4A.
- Focus area 1: An analysis of any modifications needed to current assessments to ensure they are valid and authentic to the work of teaching, reasonable to implement in the wide range of classroom settings across the state, and appropriate for beginning teachers. Some of the workgroup recommendations include:
- Streamlining the TPA exam structure by reducing the number of pages submitted, streamlining rubric instructions, eliminating duplicate activities and incorporating contextualized, real-world teaching scenarios, so that candidates can focus on demonstrating their competencies without navigating unnecessary complexity. This
- The TPA be broken into multiple segments, with Teaching Performance Expectations (TPEs) specified, that are contained within existing coursework and reflected in the program standards. Coursework that is assigned and evaluated by faculty should be used for the TPA submission.
- TPAs center culturally responsive/sustaining and equity-focused pedagogy within the required tasks.
- Assessor training prioritizing the evaluation of candidate knowledge over penalizing problematic errors and revising scoring practices to focus on what can be assessed without the use of condition codes. Additionally, assessors should receive training to deepen their knowledge of the specific competencies and contexts they are assessing, including areas like culturally responsive teaching and ethnic studies.
- Having the CTC develop a continuum of practice from preservice through in-service.
- Focus Area 2: How programs might embed the assessments into coursework and clinical work to avoid duplicative work for candidates. Recommendations include:
- Program requirements to provide candidates scaffolded and sequenced feedback on their work throughout the process prior to submission, and current guidelines for acceptable support be examined and revised to ensure entire process be formative and educative.
- Programs must provide substantive, differentiated and individualized ongoing feedback on both pedagogy and submission criteria to candidates throughout the TPA process to guide the candidate’s development of the TPA.
- Candidates be able to submit their initial TPA or TPA resubmission within two weeks when a technical or logistical issue leads to TPA failure or receipt of condition code.
- TPA assessors provide rubric-specific feedback that highlights the exact criteria met and not met. TPA assessors will also provide clear and actionable next steps within three weeks of submission deadline, not generic feedback.
Other focus areas include strengthening the accreditation system to ensure programs embed the assessment in coursework and clinical work, offer sufficient clinical and pedagogical support, and support candidates to pass the assessment; how programs can engage in local scoring of the assessment to inform program improvement; and questions for program completer surveys to understand candidate experience of programmatic support for assessment completion.
In addition, the workgroup recommended interim actions for the commission to take to enhance candidate support in the near term. These included:
- Update TPAs as necessary to eliminate the use of content-based condition codes.
- Redirect candidate submissions with technical condition codes back to the candidates so they can resolve identified technical issue(s) and resubmit at no additional cost.
- Issue updated Guidelines for Acceptable Support clarifying that direct, ongoing feedback from faculty, supervisors, and mentor teachers aimed at improving candidate responses important, acceptable and encouraged forms of support.
- Standardize the commission’s system for collecting and reporting TPA outcome data. Establish clear metrics to inform policy decisions and support improvements in preparation programs.
- Ensure a system of notification is in place for candidates that fall within the secondary passing standard that includes simultaneous notification to the preparation program and clear information for candidates and programs regarding the process for demonstrating readiness by alternate means.
- Issue a notification to all programs identifying their TPA first-time pass rates, based on both scorable and non-scorable submissions, and provide evidence-based recommendations for strengthening candidate supports and guidance to reduce/eliminate candidate condition codes.
- Direct staff to report on implementation progress of these interim actions during future RDI-TPA workgroup items before the commission.
The commission passed a motion to implement the interim actions.
Child Development Permit
In August 2023, a Child Development Permit (CDP) Workgroup was appointed to review and make final recommendations regarding the requirements for earning a CDP authorizing service to children age birth to 8 in state subsidized child care and development programs. The workgroup completed its work in July 2024. Guided by the 2000 Master Plan for Early Learning and Care, statewide implementation of universal transitional kindergarten and development of the new PK-3 Early Childhood Specialist Credential, the proposed updates to the CDP are intended to be part of a comprehensive and aligned approach to the preparation of the early childhood workforce.
The proposed levels of the CDP matrix included in the agenda item continue to reflect a career ladder and lattice for early childhood educators that will align with the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Standards and Competencies and pave the way for holders of the permit to continue their path to a full teaching credential.
At the October 2024 commission meeting, staff presented the CDP Workgroup’s recommendations and were directed to conduct a field survey to gather feedback on the proposed changes to the CDP matrix, as recommended by the workgroup. The field survey was conducted from October to November 2024 and involved 2,000 respondents from the early childhood development field. The survey covered all levels of the permit. Details can be found in agenda item 4B.
The commission adopted the revised standards as presented.
