Education Committee
JOINT FAVORABLE REPORT
Bill No.: SB-1035
AN ACT CONCERNING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW PRESERVICE
Title: PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT FOR TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAMS.
Vote Date: 3/29/2021
Vote Action: Joint Favorable Substitute
PH Date: 3/17/2021
File No.:
Disclaimer: The following JOINT FAVORABLE Report is prepared for the benefit of the
members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and
explanation and does not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber
thereof for any purpose.
SPONSORS OF BILL:
Education Committee
REASONS FOR BILL:
This bill establishes a seven-member task force to study issues relating to edTPA
implementation. These issues will include how edTPA is being implemented, its costs, whether
other states are using edTPA, and the feasibility of designing a new statewide pre-service
performance assessment that is evidence-based to replace edTPA.
RESPONSE FROM ADMINISTRATION/AGENCY:
Charlene Russell-Tucker, Acting Commissioner, State Department of Education:
edTPA, a pre-service performance-based portfolio assessment aligned to state and national
content-specific teaching standards, requires candidates to demonstrate their pedagogical
knowledge and skills in the areas of planning, instruction, and student assessment during
student teaching. edTPA helps create equitable access to learner ready teachers for all
Connecticut students, regardless of which EPP program candidates attend. It is
unreasonable to assume that a Connecticut designed preservice performance assessment,
can be designed, implemented and adopted by Connecticut EPPs by July 1, 2023. SDE has
invested a significant amount of time and resources to ensure the successful implementation
of edTPA. (Several of their concerns were addressed by the substitute language)
NATURE AND SOURCES OF SUPPORT:
Teachers: Timothy V. Craine; Kathrine Grant; Jane Gustafson et al.
The EdTPA assessment itself has a lot of merit, but it is appropriate for a first-year teacher,
not for a teacher candidate. Requiring EdTPA as an additional requirement distracts from the
main goal which is for them to learn to teach. Teacher candidates often are forced to change
the style of teaching designed for their students in order to teach to the test. This bill will
enable teacher preparation programs in Connecticut to collaborate in developing a more
appropriate assessment for our future teachers.
John Guzauckas; Niralee Patel-Lye;
Ray Rossomando, Director of Policy, Research, and Government Relations, CEA
Using edTPA limits the growth and learning potential for teacher candidates in their student
teaching experience. Additionally, the cost, time commitment, and score requirements create
more barriers to becoming a teacher. Finally, the edTPA negatively affected the experience
of the students through its effect on the quality of teaching.
Dr. Violet Jimnez Sims:
Quality cannot be standardized, and when it is, it is often standardized to white, middle class
norms. Quality rising teachers are knowledgeable in their subject areas, trained in
pedagogical theories, and have opportunities to bridge theory and practice through pre-
service experiences. These goals are all accomplished outside of edTPA.
Marianne Maloney, Chief Steward, New Haven Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 933:
The portfolio we get from edTPA adds no new information to our assessment of a candidates
readiness to teach. It does not address the very real needs and deficits demonstrated by
most beginning teachers, an ability to maintain discipline in the classroom and a facility with
cultural literacy. The edTPA puts an onerous burden on pre-service teachers at a time when
their focus should be on real-time classroom practice and mentoring.
Jacob Werblow: Some of my colleagues, who serve as champions of edTPA, often fail to
mention their conflicts of interest. Many of them are paid consultants for SCALE, Pearson, or
other education consulting firms who have a direct interest in EdTPA. Only four out of the 36
studies conducted on edTPA as of March 2020 found positive results associated with the
edTPA. It should be noted that the authors in three of those four studies disclosed financial
ties associated with organizations responsible for promoting edTPA.
NATURE AND SOURCES OF OPPOSITION:
Stephen Hegedus, President, AACTE-Connecticut Chapter:
The edTPA is a valid pre-assessment test that helps to credibly measure a student teachers
ability to teach in the classroom. It is a performance-based assessment which is built on the
core aspects of teaching such as planning for instruction, engaging students in learning,
assessing learning, and supporting academic language development. If this legislation were
to become law, it would force our Educator Preparation Programs to incur significant costs
and divert considerable resources towards creating and implementing another reliable pre-
service assessment tool.
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Anne Dichele, Dean, Quinnipiac University School of Education:
This bill would not only undermine the significant cost outlays made over the last four years to
implement the inclusion of the EdTPA as a significant data source for CAEP accreditation,
assessment for completion of our program, and the redesign of our program to align with the
outcomes of the EdTPA assessment, it also adds substantial costs to each Educator
Preparation Program. Why are we spending money on a new test when the EdTPA has been
significantly vetted and provides a broad assessment across state certifications and is a
proven performance assessment of teaching ability?
Shannon Marimn, Executive Director, ReadyCT:
edTPA is a multifaceted, student-centered assessment that examines pre-service teaching
competence using a portfolio approach. It is a valid and reliable tool aligned to state and
national teaching standards. allowing each individual educator preparation program to
develop and administer its own version of a pre-service performance assessment will result in
the expenditure of additional resources, which is completely unnecessary and wasteful.
Reported by: Dallas Emerle Date: 3/31/2021
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