Lupinacci, Colleagues Host Hearing on edTPA

This week, Assemblyman Chad Lupinacci (R,C,WF,I-Huntington Station) joined his colleagues to hold a hearing on edTPA, New York’s universal entrance exam for teachers. The hearing was held in response concerns raised regarding the rapid implementation of the edTPA test, which led to about 20 percent of first-time test takers failing the exam. When first established, any teacher graduating from college after May 1, 2014 would have had to pass the edTPA, which requires student teachers to submit video and written commentary of their teaching.
 
“Providing our students with a top-notch education starts with having the most well-prepared teachers in the classroom,” said Lupinacci. “However, we can’t have prospective teachers focusing solely on their edTPA scores and potentially providing students with inadequate instruction. I believe the State Education Department needs to sit down with teaching professionals on all education levels – primary, secondary and college – to ensure any teacher certification exam achieves the maximum result, getting the best teachers into our classrooms.”
 
On Tuesday, state education officials adopted a safety net so that those who fail can still receive their teaching certificates. The Board of Regents voted to let student teachers who fail the edTPA before the end of next June use a passing score on a separate written test as proof they are ready to teach.
 
Under the revised plan, anyone graduating after June 30, 2015 will be required to pass the exam, in addition to the three written tests New York demands for certification, which test general skills and knowledge.
 
The Department will form a taskforce with representatives from the CUNY, SUNY, cIcu, the Teacher Education Advisory Group, the United University Professions, the Professional Staff Congress and P-12.