Understanding the World Languages edTPA: Research-based Policy and Practice by Susan A. Hildebrandt, and Peter B. Swanson (review)

The use of the edTPA (formerly known as the Teacher Performance Assessment) in all disciplines to evaluate teacher candidate effectiveness is growing. As more states implement the edTPA as a teacher certification requirement, teacher education programs (TEP) must address the need for pre-service candidates to understand and perform well on the three required edTPA tasks. Understanding the World Language edTPA: Research-Based Policy and Practice is a comprehensive guide for foreign language teacher educators and administrators responsible for implementing the edTPA. The authors present a thorough discussion of all edTPA tasks along with ample examples of how teacher educators can best help their students meet the requirements. The preface by Leslie Schrier and chapters 1-2 give an introduction to the edTPA and discusses overall program and course suggestions. Chapters 3-6 breakdown each section of the edTPA. Chapter 7 presents suggested activities for use in foreign language methods courses, and the final chapter presents a critique of the world language edTPA aimed at improving the assessment and better aligning it with the expectations of the world language profession.

In the first chapter, the authors do an excellent job of explaining the evolution of the world language edTPA, being sure to cite current research. This chapter (entitled "What is edTPA?") begins by providing six goals for readers of the book including understanding each task and the accompanying rubrics, and creating an implementation plan for the edTPA at one's own institution. The difficulties of measuring teacher effectiveness are discussed along with a history of edTPA development, including the role the federal government has played in teacher assessment. This historical context is vital to the understanding of how the world language profession has arrived at the use of edTPA. The developmental history of the edTPA is also essential to teacher educators' understanding of how it aligns with standards the world language profession already has in place—ACTFL/CAEP standards.

Chapter 2 acknowledges the stress and anxiety that comes with edTPA implementation and discusses means and methods to limit it. As more teacher educators are faced with preparing future world language teachers to successfully fulfill edTPA requirements, it is comforting to know that even well-established teacher/researchers, including the authors, have experienced this anxiety. The chapter offers an explanation of the complicated roles of the various entities involved in teacher education including US and State Departments of Education, Colleges of Education, Language TEPs and the language teacher candidates themselves. Excellent resources from the makers of the edTPA, local, state and national organizations are given as a place for teacher educators to begin the implementation process. The authors also strongly recommend that stakeholders at all levels of world language teacher preparation, including world language faculty, methods instructors, university supervisors and mentor teachers, be involved in the implementation process from its outset. This practical advice based on their own experiences as well as research provide an excellence foundation for beginning the implementation of the edTPA.

Chapter 3 opens with a discussion of the edTPA itself, specifically the context for the learning section of edTPA, and how teacher educators can help teacher candidates prepare to complete it, so that edTPA scorers will have a comprehensive view of the school and class in which the candidate is teaching. The authors thoroughly discuss all aspects of the context for learning, providing practical advice about selecting schools, classes and students on which to focus. The chapter ends with a case study of a teacher candidate who scored exceptionally well on the edTPA; and while her actual edTPA portfolio is not given, the authors present in great detail all aspects of her portfolio including how many pages she submitted for each task or words written for each section of a task as compared with the maximum number allowed by edTPA.

Chapters 4-6 present the three edTPA tasks, and all follow the same format...