Removing Barriers to WL Teacher Certification: A Closer Look at edTPA Ratings

Abstract

Abstract: Both within the field of world language (WL) teacher education and across teacher education in other disciplines, critiques of the edTPA have increased over the past several years. In WL language education, scholars have identified issues related to raters' use of edTPA rubrics and a serious lack of transparency about rater expertise. To better understand this issue, this study examined the problematic WL edTPA rubrics 8, 9, and 12 to compare the official performance ratings of eight candidates in one WL education program in the Southeastern United States with their performance as determined by three experts using detailed content analyses of the portfolios submitted. Each portfolio was coded, using an a-priori coding structure guided by the edTPA performance descriptors and rubrics. The findings revealed that edTPA rater expertise is a significant issue that must be unveiled because it represents another critical barrier for novices entering the profession during a severe WL teacher shortage. Based on the findings and in conjunction with the previous research, we do not recommend that states use the WL edTPA as a consequential assessment for certification.