1. edTPA: Task 1 Support Module
Mike Vitale
Mark L’Esperance
College of Education
East Carolina University
edTPA: Task 1 Support Module
Introduction
edTPA INTERDISCIPLINARY MODULE SERIES
Teaching for Learning (Module 1)
The module will be piloted in HIED 4319 – fall 2013 as An instructional support tool
Data that aligns with pilot implementation
edTPA MIDG Spring 2013 Results
Content Area # Rubric 1 Rubric 3 Rubric 5
SCIE
MATH
HSS
ELA
Formative Assessment of pilot will occur end of Senior I
Summative Assessment of pilot will occur end of Senior II
The purpose of the TPA Interdisciplinary Module presented here is to help undergraduate teacher education students prepare for and successfully pass the edTPA. The rationale for the module is that gaining informal perspectives and skills based on interdisciplinary research that complements traditional teacher education programs will facilitate student edTPA performance. The module is one of six that is based on consensus research on instructional development that reflects a combination of instructional systems design (ISD), cognitive science research, and applied learning theory principles directly applicable to the edTPA task. The module series presents perspectives and strategies in support of the three to five-lesson edTPA instructional sequence students must plan and implement in authentic 6-9 classrooms
Process: Step One
Self-Model Strategy- Teaching. This strategy (see Figure 2) is used to help identify what should be taught to accomplish a targeted achievement outcome (or outcomes). This strategy is applied by teacher candidates as follows:
Teacher candidate identifies the targeted learning outcome
Teacher candidate, if possible, observe themselves while performing the targeted learning outcome.
While observing themselves or pre-planning without observation, the teacher candidate informally ask and answer the following reflective questions:
What steps did I or what steps will I need to follow to do the targeted learning outcome successfully? Each step should be listed.
Note- Sometimes only a single step is required and, if so, the targeted outcome can be “taught as a whole”.
What prior-knowledge did I need or will need to do the identified steps? Required prior knowledge should be listed.
Once the above steps and associated prior knowledge are identified, teacher candidate informally ask and answer the following questions:
Can the steps (and associated prior knowledge) be ordered to form a sequence of student “learning steps” for successful instruction? If so, the collection of steps should be arranged into a preliminary teaching sequence.
Process: Step Two
Self-Model Strategy- Assessment. This strategy (see Figure 3) is an informal process for constructing measures of student achievement mastery for a targeted learning outcome or outcomes. This strategy is applied by teachers as follows:
Teachers observe themselves successfully performing the targeted learning outcome or outcomes.
While doing so, teachers informally ask and answer the following reflective questions:
How would I describe my own (successful) performance?
Would my description distinguish between students with learning mastery from those that do not?
Based on the answers to these reflective questions, teachers specify the following for use in testing for student mastery:
Descriptions of successful performance outcomes (including any conditions) for use in assessment.
Assurance that use of the descriptions in testing would distinguish between students who have understanding from those who do not (this establishes test validity).
Process: Step Three
Teaching Schedule Strategy. This strategy (see Figure 4) estimates the time allocated for instruction across a series of lessons for the sequence of “learning steps” to be taught and tested. While these time-estimates are approximate, they are important to do to ensure that the targeted learning outcome can be taught within the total amount of time allocated for instruction. The Teaching Schedule Strategy is applied by teachers to the preliminary sequence of “learning steps” previously been identified in the Self-Model Strategy- Teaching as follows:
Developing a plan to teach each of the “learning steps” using the Core Teaching Strategy in a coherent but preliminary instructional sequence that initially ignores prior knowledge requirements.
Augmenting the plan to ensure that all necessary prior knowledge assumed known by students will be confirmed through testing prior to instruction or will be taught to students using the Core Teaching Strategy as prerequisites for all “learning steps” in the preliminary instructional sequence.
Estimating the amount of instructional time necessary for each “learning step” and prior knowledge assessment in order to develop a tentative schedule of instruction across a series of lessons.
Application of the preceding four strategies results in a well-structured framework for an instructional sequence for teaching the targeted learning outcome(s) to students. From this point, the following Sequence Refinement Strategy provides a final pre-implementation curricular refinement of the “learning step” sequence developed in the Teaching Schedule Strategy.
Process: Step Four
Sequence Refinement Strategy. In the Sequence Refinement Strategy (see Figure 5), teacher candidates ask the following reflective questions for all “learning steps” as a guide for the refinement of the instructional sequence. The specific questions asked by teachers are as follows:
Is each “learning step” simple enough to be “taught as a whole” to students using the Core Teaching Strategy?
If the “learning step” being evaluated can be “taught as a whole”, then ask: Could this step be combined with another step and both taught together? (If YES, then combine the two “learning steps”. If NO, then separate the “learning step” into two or more sub-parts). Then continue to apply the refinement strategy to the sequence of “learning steps”.
Across the series of strategies presented in this module, the Sequence Refinement Strategy is the final planning phase that outlines and addresses the sequence of student learning experiences. The following section overviews the overall process of planning and implementing a multi-day edTPA lesson sequence.
Module Overview
This module consists of strategies that emphasize three elements: (a) lesson planning, (b) lesson design, and (c) lesson implementation. The planning element addresses the question of how to identify what should be taught to obtain a specified learning outcome. The design element addresses the question of how to refine the preliminary sequence of what is to be taught. The implementation element addresses the question of how to incorporate key features of effective teaching of a multi-day lesson. All of these elements must be addressed effectively if desired achievement outcomes will result from a 3-5-lesson edTPA instructional sequence or longer units of instruction related to the required subject area central focus. Specifically, Module 1components supports and strengthens teacher candidates preparation of edTPA Planning Commentary prompts 1, 3, & 5 (Planning for Instruction, Using Knowledge of Students to Inform Instruction, and Planning Assessments to Monitor and Support Student Learning).
Planning Rubrics
Rubric 1:
How do the candidate’s plans build young adolescents’ understandings of facts, concepts, and interpretations or analyses to build and support arguments about historical events, a topic/theme, or social studies phenomenon?
Rubric 3: Using Knowledge of Students to Inform Teaching and Learning
How does the candidate use knowledge of his/her students to justify instructional plans?
Rubric 5: Planning Assessments to Monitor and Support Student Learning
How are the informal and formal assessments selected or designed to monitor young adolescents’ progress toward understanding and use of facts, concepts, and interpretations or analyses to build arguments?