Texas education advocates fear new certification test could affect teacher diversity

Texas has adopted new certification standards for teachers that some education advocates fear will make it more difficult to staff classrooms and find diverse candidates.

Before its vote Feb. 11 to move forward with the new requirement, the Board for Educator Certification heard from both sides of the issue with speakers and board members agreeing the current certification test, the Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities, needs improvement.

Unlike the PPR, the replacement certification, edTPA, is not a one-time test. Developed by Stanford University faculty and staff at the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity, edTPA involves student teachers preparing a portfolio of materials during their clinical experience.

The portfolio involves a written reflective measure from the candidates in which they analyze whether their students are learning and how they adjusted their instruction to be more effective. Candidates are also required to submit unedited videos of themselves at work in a classroom.

The price of edTPA is $311 for the initial submission, $195 higher than the PPR. If students fail certain elements of the edTPA assessment, they can resubmit that portion with fees varying from $100 to $300, depending on how many tasks they are resubmitting.

Proponents of edTPA, launched as a pilot version in 2019, say the assessment better prepares teachers for Day One in the classroom, builds confidence, and helps with lesson planning and student engagement.

The standards will be phased in during the next three years. Currently and during the 2022-23 school year, the edTPA assessment is optional, so students can still choose the PPR.

Beginning in 2023-24, candidates must use the edTPA assessment, and would pass after submitting a complete portfolio. Going forward, beginning in the 2024-25 school year, a cut score will be implemented and students will need to meet or exceed that score in order to pass the exam.

Anthony Hernandez, executive director of Urban Teachers, said the Dallas-Fort Worth program has helped 150 teachers prepare for and submit their edTPA portfolios since the pilot program began in 2019. Urban Teachers is a four-year teacher preparation program that certifies aspiring educators while helping them earn a master’s in education.

“Like with any change, we’ve experienced our own growing pains as we’ve committed to piloting this program with all candidates at Urban Teachers, but the challenges have been worth it,” Hernandez said. “We’ve seen candidates reflect on their lessons, improve their craft and center student learning in their portfolios. Because of edTPA’s performance-based approach, I’m confident this can improve the quality and consistency of new teachers by allowing them to hone their craft while they create their portfolio.”

Hernandez said edTPA is preparing candidates for the reality of teaching in a way that a multiple-choice exam could not.

“I know that are some worried about edTPA being a barrier for aspiring teachers entering the classroom, but I’m far more concerned about a teacher who is inadequately prepared leaving the profession than I am about using a more comprehensive approach to training like a performance-based portfolio that gives new teachers practical tools to apply their teaching not to just one exam but for every day at their career.”

Gina Anderson, associate dean at Texas Woman’s University, told board members the timing is bad for a change to the current requirement, especially at a time when teacher staffing is alarmingly low.

“Dire, desperate, alarming, unprecedented … these are common headlines from local and national news sources as they report on the Texas teacher shortage crisis,” Anderson said, as she cited a list of media releases from the last 30 days.

“You have probably read these same articles or are experiencing this firsthand in your own community or school district. The pandemic, burnout, lack of autonomy, low salaries and curriculum politics are stated as the reasons teachers are leaving,” she said. “Even more alarming, is that most teachers who have not yet resigned stated that they will leave teaching earlier than they had planned.”

Anderson said there is a preponderance of evidence showing changing certification exams and increasing costs for educator prep will exacerbate the staffing problem.

“Stakeholders have shared this evidence with you for three years. We were concerned about the teacher shortage and adding unnecessary roadblocks to the pipeline,” she said. “We are simply shocked and horrified that these actions would even be considered today, especially after all that our nation and state have been through and the long road that lies ahead.”

Clay Robison, public affairs specialist with Texas State Teachers Association, told the Star-Telegram he fears edTPA will negatively impact diversity of new Texas teachers, especially Black teachers, as the enrollment of minority students continues to grow.

“In Illinois, after edTPA was implemented, the number of new teacher hires fell by 36%, and the share of Black teachers among the new hires dropped by 3.2 percentage points. The racial disparity is reason for concern also because educational studies have documented a role-modeling effect of same-race teachers on minority students,” Robison said. “Also in Illinois, the number of graduates from teacher educational programs was reduced by 22% after edTPA. That could have a serious effect on the long-term supply of new teachers in that state.”

Robison said a national study of edTPA examinees in 2019 show scores of Black teacher candidates lagged behind other examinees.

“We believe the Texas Education Association has yet to present compelling data that the edTPA pilot has been ‘successful,’ as it claims. The only data the agency has presented are the scores of teacher candidates, which does nothing to show if the scores mean they are better teachers for it,” he said. “Dozens of educational experts, including public teacher groups, higher education associations and Texas school districts and administrators, are urging the State Board for Educator Certification to drop edTPA.”

A recent op-ed story by Anderson and TWU Dean Lisa Huffman also said the exam imperils teacher diversity, something that already is a problem in the state.

“While Texas schools are incredibly diverse, our teacher population is not. In the 2019-20 school year, approximately 73 percent of all Texas public school children identified as nonwhite; more than half identified as Hispanic. In that same school year, 57.9 percent of teachers were white, 27 percent were Hispanic and 10.7 percent were Black.”

The op-ed cited a study in Washington state that evaluated teacher candidates using edTPA, which reported Hispanic teacher candidates were three times more likely to fail edTPA than non-Hispanic, white candidates.

The Fort Worth Independent School District does not have any student teachers involved in the edTPA pilot program, according to spokesperson Claudia Garibay.

But the district, like others, has suffered from staffing shortages, starting the 2021-22 school year with more than four times as many vacant teacher positions as it had at the beginning of the previous year.

Diversity in the student population is growing. According to the Texas Education Agency’s 2020 snapshot of the Fort Worth school district, 63% of students in the district are Hispanic, 21% are Black and 11% are white. The report showed 52% of teachers in the district are white, 23% are Hispanic and 21% are Black.

Board member John Kelly said that with everyone in agreement that PPR is not the answer, the time is to move forward.

“We are listening to both sides here and both sides have very valid points, but I also agree, as many of you have said, that status quo is not good enough,” Kelly said.

After the vote, Kelly suggested developing an alternative solution that is less expensive and that is given an equal playing field. During the April meeting, board members will discuss the idea.

edTPA timeline for teacher candidates

2022–2023: Candidates have the option to take the edTPA or PPR. No official cut score would be implemented during this period. Candidates would “pass” the edTPA when they submit a complete edTPA portfolio.

2023–2024: No official cut score would be implemented during this period. Candidates would “pass” the edTPA when they submit a complete edTPA portfolio.

2024–2025: An official cut score would be implemented during this period. Candidates would need to meet or exceed the given cut score to pass the exam.