In order for NY teachers to get certification to teach, they have to produce a performance portfolio, called an EdTPA (Education Teacher Performance Assessment) administered by Pearson, an for-profit corporation who his handing the administration of this exam across the country. They charge the student teachers $300 to process their EdTPA.
Since the closure of schools throughout
the states, these teacher candidates cannot complete their EdTPA in the normal
way, that is via teaching lessons in the classroom, videoing some of the
lessons to submit along with extended responses to questions in the assessment.
Now, Pearson has said that under these novel circumstances, that student
teachers may submit evidence of teaching practice via social media of their
schools’ platform that links students at home with their teacher, that show
video recordings of teachers engaging students in online live and asynchronous activities
from home that address the standards in the EdTPA rubrics.
This modification
by Pearson presupposes these schools and districts, let alone the students,
have access to high speed internet with relatively new laptops with web cams
and their district a subscription to services like Google Classroom to provide
the platform, which many do not. We have heard of the “digital divide”, the
fact that many are not able to participate in the social media, Web 2.0,
virtual world. That is still with us, as is evidenced by the need of NYC to
hand out hundreds of thousands of devices (tablets and laptops) to students who
do not have access. Add to that reports from some of my student teachers in NYC
and Poughkeepsie that they are told by the mentor teachers in those districts
that transitioning to online is not possible. Either the teachers were never
trained on how to do online education and/or the districts schools and students
lack the means available to do so.
So, student teachers are short-changed
if they teach poorer students, not to mention their students who will miss out
on continuing their studies. Some schools resort to sending home packets for
students to complete, which are so basic they don’t qualify as educationally
engaging enough for EdTPA submission.
What should happen is that student
teachers be given temporary certification for 1 year to complete their EdTPA in
the fall and spring when they are in their own classes. Perhaps Pearson is
concerned about cash flow and are not included in the bailout scheme. But, the
current solution will leave many behind who are on the wrong side of the
Digital Divide.
--
John Elfrank-Dana, Adjunct Lecturer/Field Supervisor
Department of Curriculum & Teaching
Hunter College of the City University of New York
www.Elfrank.net
such a great article.
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