Facebook pixel Education Teacher Preparation Assessment | Pepperdine University | Graduate School of Education and Psychology Skip to main content
Pepperdine | Graduate School of Education and Psychology

Education Teacher Preparation Assessment

As a performance-based assessment, the edTPA is designed with a focus on student learning and principles from research and theory, to engage candidates in demonstrating their understanding of teaching and student learning in authentic ways. The edTPA is based on findings that successful teachers:

  • Develop knowledge of subject matter, content standards, and subject-specific pedagogy.
  • Develop and apply knowledge of varied students' need
  • Consider research and theory about how students learn.
  • Reflect on and analyze evidence of the effects of instruction on student learning.

For the edTPA, TCs will first plan 3-5 consecutive lessons, consistent with state and national content standards as appropriate. TCs will then teach the learning segment, making video recording of their interactions with students during instruction. TCs will also assess, informally and formally, students' learning throughout the learning segment. Upon completion of the three tasks, TCs will submit artifacts from the tasks (e.g., lesson plans, clips from the video recording, assessment materials, instructional materials, student work samples), as well as commentaries that were written to explain and reflect on the Planning, Instruction, and Assessment components of the tasks.

The artifacts and commentaries for each task will then be evaluated by external assessors using rubrics especially developed for each task. The activities for each task will be completed by sections and will be submitted to Pearson Education for final scoring. All scores become part of the TC's credentialing file.

edTPA for Multiple Subject Teacher Candidates

The purpose of edTPA Elementary Education is to measure novice teachers' readiness to teach both literacy and mathematics in the elementary grades. It includes the edTPA in elementary literacy (Tasks 1-3) and in mathematics (Task 4).

The EdTPA Elementary Education assessment is composed of four tasks:

  1. Planning for Literacy Instruction and Assessment
  2. Instructing and Engaging Students in Literacy Learning
  3. Assessing Students' Literacy Learning
  4. Assessing Students' Mathematics Learning

edTPA for Single Subject Teacher Candidates

The single-subject edTPA assessment is composed of three tasks:

  1. Planning for Instruction and Assessment
  2. Instructing and Engaging Students in Learning
  3. Assessing Student Learning

***Language adopted from the edTPA Education Assessment Handbooks (https://edtpa.aacte.org/)