Preparing Middle Grades Candidates for edTPA in Uncertain Times

Authors

Holly H. Pinter, Western Carolina UniversityFollow
David C. Virtue, Western Carolina UniversityFollow

Abstract

Teacher candidates in North Carolina must earn a passing score on the edTPA assessment to get certified. The middle grades education program at Western Carolina University integrates aspects of the edTPA assessment throughout pre-student teaching coursework and field experiences to prepare candidates for this high-stakes assessment. Some of the edTPA practice assignments serve as key assessments that help the middle grades program faculty evaluate the program and make decisions about curriculum. The pivot to remote and blended learning formats on campus and in partner middle level schools affected the implementation of the edTPA-related assignments. The authors share some of the challenges of implementing edTPA practice portfolios during the pandemic as well as insights gleaned from their assessment of the data.

Author Bio

Holly Henderson Pinter, Ph.D. is an associate professor of middle grades education at Western Carolina University. Pinter completed a PhD in 2013 at the University of Virginia. Dr. Pinter’s teaching and research center on the implementation of standards based mathematical teaching practices, pre-service teacher education policy and practice, and developmentally responsive teaching at the middle level. Pinter teaches methods and pedagogy courses in the elementary and middle grades department as well as serving as the Math 1 teacher and instructional liaison at the university’s laboratory school, The Catamount School, and serves as program coordinator for elementary and middle grades education.

David C. Virtue is the Taft B. Botner Distinguished Professor of Middle Grades Education at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC and editor of Research in Middle Level Education Online, the research journal of the Association for Middle Level Education.

DOI

10.20429/cimle.2022.260205

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Pinter, Holly H. and Virtue, David C. (2022) "Preparing Middle Grades Candidates for edTPA in Uncertain Times," Current Issues in Middle Level Education: Vol. 26: Iss. 2, Article 5.
DOI: 10.20429/cimle.2022.260205
Available at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cimle/vol26/iss2/5