Teacher Licensure Exams and Teacher Effectiveness: Do edTPA scores predict beginning teacher effectiveness?

Abstract

Evaluating pre-service teachers is a common and integral part of every Teacher Preparation Program. Recently, some states have implemented evaluation and performance criteria to assess these programs' effectiveness and value-added. North Carolina has committed to using the educative teacher performance assessment (edTPA) as the sole pre-service licensure examination for teachers entering the profession who currently lack a certificate. Concomitantly, North Carolina uses a teacher evaluation process that includes a teacher effectiveness measure, Educator Valued-Added Assessment System (EVAAS), as a value-added measure for schools and teachers. This study used administrative data and examined the association between pre-service teacher edTPA scores and EVAAS data for first-year teachers. The study found no meaningful relationships between the three constructs of edTPA and the rubrics used to evaluate pre-service teachers when controlling for teacher demographics and school characteristics. The outcomes are discussed in terms of practical implications and suggestions for policy.