Reinhardt’s Price School of Education (PSOE) students continue to beat state and national average scores on a 3-year-old assessment process of education majors.
In their edTPA assessments, which is a requirement for certification of teacher candidates, Reinhardt University students boast a 100 percent pass rate. PSOE students’ success in the edTPA assessment has been consistent since the assessment’s inception in the 2015-16 academic year.
“We analyze our data each time we receive scores and continue to make instructional decisions to continue to improve,” said Dr. Nancy Marsh, interim dean of the Price School of Education. “I am incredibly proud of our students and professors. I am also appreciative of the partnerships Reinhardt has with Cherokee, Cobb, Forsyth, Bartow and Pickens school systems. Our student teachers are enriched and mentored daily with these fantastic collaborating teachers in their respective school districts.”
Marsh credits the students’ success to their own hard work, coupled with strong curriculum and great faculty.
“Our curriculum is strong, our professors are excellent and our students are wonderful,” Marsh said. “We are fortunate to have small class sizes. Therefore, we get to know our students very well. They know we care about them and want the best for them. The students feel comfortable asking questions because of this relationship. With larger universities, students may not have the confidence to ask questions.”
The edTPA was developed by Stanford University faculty and staff at the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity.
Georgia is one of about 40 states that require edTPA assessments. The test’s three components require the candidates to submit video of them teaching in the classroom, as well as evidence of their lesson plans and examples of assessments they have created for students which are subject to review by national scorers.
EdTPA includes 15 rubrics for the middle grades. Each rubric can have a score of one through five. Teachers are required to score 38 out of 75 to pass and receive their state certification. For elementary grades, there are 18 rubrics with a total score of 90. Students must attain a 45 to pass the exam.
Previous to the edTPA assessment, Georgia’s initial certification for teachers was the Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators test (GACE). The GACE exam was in addition to their student teaching. Now, in their last semester of college, known as Clinical Residency (formerly student teaching), students must take the edTPA, two GACE exams and two ethics exams. One of the GACE exams and one of the ethics exams are admission level and must be completed for admission into the education program.
