Communicative Learning Outcomes and World Language edTPA: Characteristics of High-scoring Portfolios

Abstract

Abstract:Teacher accountability continues to be at the forefront of educational policy in the United States, with the current focus on the Outcomes of K-12 teaching and teacher education (Cochran-Smith 2000). edTPA, a high-stakes assessment used in many states to make licensure or certification decisions, purports to measure those content-specific outcomes. This study investigated pre-service Spanish teachers' performance on the World Language edTPA as it relates to planning for instruction in a communicative context. Specifically, the five highest scoring edTPA portfolios from two large world language teacher education programs were examined, with a focus on their alignment with communicative language teaching approaches and Gronlund's (2004) criteria for articulating student learning outcomes. Results showed serious discrepancies among the candidates' learning outcomes, communicative language teaching approaches, and the spirit of the World Language edTPA. This research has implications for teacher preparation and professional development of beginning language teachers.Keywords: backward design/diseño de atrás hacia adelante, edTPA, learning objectives/objetivos de aprendizaje, teacher evaluation/evaluación docente, teacher preparation/preparación del profesorado

A survey of world language cooperating teachers: Implications for teacher development

“…The CTs reported frustration with candidates who relied on the textbook and often taught discrete grammar and vocabulary without authentic resources. Contrary to Behney (2016) and Swanson and Hildebrandt (2017), the majority of CTs supported communicative language teaching practices while the TCs seemed to have difficulty integrating such practices once in the PreK-12 classroom. This study did not explore the source of TCs' textbook reliance, but it is likely that as a result of limited discipline-specific pedagogical strategies, TCs felt more comfortable with a scripted curriculum.…”

“…Furthermore, CTs realized that a TC's placement could make attaining expectations rather challenging. Swanson and Hildebrandt (2017) also discovered in their analysis of TCs' edTPA portfolios from 2013 to 2016 that first language usage is still commonplace in WL classrooms. Mindful of Kennedy's (1999) admonition that TCs may follow the teaching styles of the CT, the researchers selected the top-scoring portfolios (5%, n = 53) for review.…”

“…Few studies exist, however, regarding the relevant contributions the CT makes to the induction of future PreK–12 language educators, as Delaney () pointed out in her literature review on mentoring preservice and beginning WL teachers. While work on the relationships among CTs, teacher candidates (TCs), and methods instructors (MIs) has begun to fill this gap (Behney, ; García, Moser, & Davis‐Wiley, ; Kissau, Hart, & Algozzine, ; Swanson & Hildebrandt, ), Payant and Murphy's () observations about the relative sparsity of language‐specific investigations may still be pertinent. WLTD lacks a tradition of inquiry, and the WL research focus has prioritized other aspects of the induction process, such as the teaching practicum or issues of accreditation, certification, and assessment.…”

The control, content, and consequences of edTPA: World language teacher educators’ perceptions

“…Additional concerns about content‐specific expectations focused on the evaluation process. Although external reviewers were described as having “content‐specific expertise” (Youngs & Whittaker, , p. 97), the experiences required to be employed by Pearson () remain vague, it is unknown if external reviewers have up‐to‐date language teaching pedagogies to draw upon as they score (Swanson & Hildebrandt, ), and the “lack of transparency related to scorer qualifications challenge[s] the WL teacher education community and teacher candidates who were taught in their methods classes to teach language in communicative ways that may not be rewarded in the evaluation of their portfolios” (Hildebrandt & Swanson, in press). Content‐specific expertise may mean different things to different stakeholders, and without knowledge of the members of the profession who evaluate edTPA portfolios, it is difficult to determine “what counts as valid and reliable” (Cochran‐Smith et al, , p. 41) content.…”

Prior Experience and Student Satisfaction with E-Tandem Language Learning of Spanish and English

“…Moreover, Spain has traditionally been a country with a heavy focus on grammar and correction of mistakes [32], along with little opportunity for communicative practice in the classroom until the recent implementation of bilingual education programs [33]. Classes in the United States, however, focus on communicative competence [34].…”