Ready or Not, Here We Go! Preparing for the Education Specialist Teaching Performance Assessment

Authors

Rosalinda J. Larios, Department of Special Education, California State University, Fullerton
Calli Lewis Chiu, Department of Special Education, California State University, Fullerton
Rohanna Ylagan-Nicanor, Department of Elementary and Bilingual Education, California State University, Fullerton

Abstract

In the state of California, the Education Specialist Teaching Performance Assessment (EdSp TPAs) is the latest accountability measure to be required of aspiring education specialists. Existing literature has been overwhelmingly critical of the TPAs (Dover, 2022; Valdez et al., 2020). And now, in the dawn of the EdSp TPAs, there must be a candid conversation about preparing candidates sufficiently for the TPAs in order to avoid exacerbating the field that is struggling to recruit teachers. This article discusses three significant obstacles in preparing candidates for the assessment: challenges associated with identifying focus students, insufficient preparation among mentor teachers, and program timelines.

Recommended Citation

Larios, R. J., Chiu, C. L., & Ylagan-Nicanor, R. (2023). Ready or Not, Here We Go! Preparing for the Education Specialist Teaching Performance Assessment. The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship, 12(2). https://doi.org/10.58729/2167-3454.1167