Chapter 5: edTPA Essentials For Candidate Support And Success

As an early adopter of edTPA in Tennessee, Tennessee Tech University moved from a 20-candidate pilot group to over 400 candidate assessments in several short years. From 2011 through the present, Tennessee Tech’s educator preparation provider (EPP) has used both authentic experiences and acquired knowledge to build a strong network of support for candidates, faculty, and staff to ensure success in the P-12 classroom. Throughout their program, teacher candidates at Tech receive scaffolded support grounded in research and bestpractices from lessons learned throughout the implementation process. In addition to a data analysis including 3 years of candidate scores (n = 809), this chapter includes strategies related to specialized academic course fees, faculty professional development, national scorers, coursework implementation, an assessment course, a professional seminar, additional seminars for residents, edTPA coaches, the job-embedded pathway, and remediation.