Coteaching News
What Does Coteaching Look Like During edTPA? Single Subject
WHAT IS EDTPA?
edTPA is a national performance-based assessment that uses multiple sources of data – lesson plans, teaching artifacts, video clips of teaching, student work samples, and commentaries – in order to determine that a pre-service teacher possesses the skills necessary to be successful as a beginning teacher. The teacher candidate will prepare and teach a learning segment (~3-5 hours of instruction) that most likely is part of a larger unit of instruction and aligns with subject-specific standards.
Single subject teacher candidates will plan their learning segment throughout fall term and winter break in preparation for teaching their learning segment in February/March. edTPA will be submitted on April 1, 2027.
For more information on edTPA, download the "edTPA FAQ.”
MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT EDTPA
Often cooperating teachers and teacher candidates think that when planning the edTPA learning segment, teaching the learning segment, and assessing student learning, coteaching can no longer occur. This, however, is not the case.
Although the teacher candidate will be taking more of leadership role in developing the lesson plans for the learning segment and instructing the students, collaboration can still occur. Please refer to the “edTPA Guidelines for Acceptable Candidate Support” as well as the document that provides recommendations on how cooperating teachers can provide support. When in doubt about what support can and cannot be provided, please ask!
WHAT DOES COTEACHING LOOK LIKE DURING EDTPA
Coplanning
- Coteachers discuss curriculum, review the edTPA rubrics, and determine when the edTPA learning segment will be taught
- The teacher candidate drafts the learning segment lesson plans, materials, and assessments and conferences with the cooperating teacher for feedback
Coinstructing
- Although it is important that the teacher candidate is responsible for primary instruction during the filming of edTPA, the cooperating teacher can be seen on video and does not need to leave the classroom and not be involved in instruction
- Coinstructional strategies such as one teach/one assist, parallel teaching, station teaching, and differentiated instruction could all be used when filming for edTPA. The camera would focus on the subgroup of students with whom the teacher candidate is working. Note: The teacher candidate should check the edTPA handbook to determine what minimum number of K-12 students must appear in the video clips.
- The cooperating teacher may choose not to implement coinstructional strategies when filming for edTPA and may instead choose to operate the camera in order to better document the teacher candidate’s interactions with small groups of students
Coassessing
- Coteachers review and discuss the results of assessments from the learning segment and determine next steps for instruction
ADDITIONAL EDTPA MATERIALS
- If you are interested in learning more about this assessment, please visit the edTPA Frequently Asked Questions page.
