Evaluating Prospective Teachers: Testing the Predictive Validity of the edTPA

• Published in: Journal of teacher education Vol. 68; no. 4; pp. 377 - 393
• Main Authors: Goldhaber, Dan, Cowan, James, Theobald, Roddy
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.09.2017; Corwin Press, Inc; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Employment Potential; Evaluation; Evaluation Methods; Longitudinal Studies; Mathematics Achievement; Mathematics Education; Maximum Likelihood Statistics; Performance Based Assessment; Predictive Validity; Preservice Teacher Education; Preservice Teachers; School Statistics; Student Records; Student teachers; Teacher Certification; Teacher Effectiveness; Teacher Employment; Teacher evaluations; Teaching; Testing Programs; Value Added Models; Washington; certification/licensure; value added; teacher education preparation
• ISSN: 0022-4871; 1552-7816
• DOI: 10.1177/0022487117702582

We use longitudinal data from Washington State to provide estimates of the extent to which performance on the edTPA, a performance-based, subject-specific assessment of teacher candidates, is predictive of the likelihood of employment in the teacher workforce and value-added measures of teacher effectiveness. While edTPA scores are highly predictive of employment in the state’s public teaching workforce, evidence on the relationship between edTPA scores and teaching effectiveness is more mixed. Specifically, continuous edTPA scores are a significant predictor of student mathematics achievement in some specifications, but when we consider that the edTPA is a binary screen of teaching effectiveness (i.e., pass/fail), we find that passing the edTPA is significantly predictive of teacher effectiveness in reading but not in mathematics. We also find that Hispanic candidates in Washington were more than 3 times more likely to fail the edTPA after it became consequential in the state than non-Hispanic White candidates.