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Early Childhood

Assessment Handbook

Version 06.1

edTPA_EC_V06.1

edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

edTPA stems from a twenty-five-year history of developing performance-based assessments of

teaching quality and effectiveness. The Teacher Performance Assessment Consortium (Stanford

and AACTE) acknowledges the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, the

Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium, and the Performance Assessment for

California Teachers for their pioneering work using discipline-specific portfolio assessments to

evaluate teaching quality. This version of the handbook has been developed with thoughtful input

from over six hundred teachers and teacher educators representing various national design

teams, national subject matter organizations (ACEI, ACTFL, AMLE, CEC, IRA, NAEYC, NAGC,

NCSS, NCTE, NCTM, NSTA, SHAPE America), and content validation reviewers. All

contributions are recognized and appreciated.

This document was authored by the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity (SCALE)

with editorial and design assistance from Evaluation Systems.

The edTPA trademarks are owned by The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. Use of the

edTPA trademarks is permitted only pursuant to the terms of a written license agreement.

edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

Contents

Introduction to edTPA Early Childhood ............................................................................................1

Purpose...................................................................................................................................................................1

Overview of the Assessment ...................................................................................................................................1

Structure of the Handbook ......................................................................................................................................4

edTPA Early Childhood Tasks Overview ................................................................................................................6

Planning Task 1: Planning for Instruction and Assessment ..........................................................9

What Do I Need to Think About? ............................................................................................................................9

What Do I Need to Do? ...........................................................................................................................................9

What Do I Need to Write? ..................................................................................................................................... 12

How Will the Evidence of My Planning Be Assessed? ..........................................................................................14

Planning Rubrics ...................................................................................................................................................15

Instruction Task 2: Instructing and Engaging Children in Learning ............................................20

What Do I Need to Think About? ..........................................................................................................................20

What Do I Need to Do? .........................................................................................................................................20

What Do I Need to Write? .....................................................................................................................................22

How Will the Evidence of My Instruction Be Assessed? .......................................................................................23

Instruction Rubrics ................................................................................................................................................24

Assessment Task 3: Assessing Children’s Learning ....................................................................29

What Do I Need to Think About? ..........................................................................................................................29

What Do I Need to Do? .........................................................................................................................................29

What Do I Need to Write? .....................................................................................................................................31

How Will the Evidence of My Assessment Be Assessed? ....................................................................................33

Assessment Rubrics .............................................................................................................................................34

Professional Responsibilities ...........................................................................................................39

Early Childhood Context for Learning Information ........................................................................40

Early Childhood Evidence Chart ......................................................................................................43

Planning Task 1: Artifacts and Commentary Specifications ..................................................................................43

Instruction Task 2: Artifacts and Commentary Specifications ............................................................................... 45

Assessment Task 3: Artifacts and Commentary Specifications ............................................................................46

Early Childhood Glossary .................................................................................................................50

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Introduction to edTPA Early Childhood

Purpose

The purpose of edTPA Early Childhood, a nationally available performance-based

assessment, is to measure novice teachers’ readiness to teach young children. The

assessment is designed with a focus on young children’s learning and principles from

research and theory. It is based on findings that successful teachers

develop knowledge of subject matter, content standards, and subject-specific

pedagogy

devel

op and apply knowledge of varied children’s needs

consider research and theory about how children learn

reflect on and analyze evidence of the effects of instruction on children’s learning

As a performance-based assessment, edTPA is designed to engage candidates in

demonstrat

ing their understanding of teaching and children’s learning in authentic ways.

Overview of the Assessment

The edTPA Early Childhood assessment is composed of three tasks:

1. Planning for Instruction and Assessment

2. Instructing and Engaging Children in Learning

3. Assessing Children’s Learning

For this assessment, you will first develop and teach 3–5 consecutive learning

experiences that build on each other and are to be presented over the course of one week.

These 3–5 l

earning experiences are referred to as a learning segment. Consistent with the

2010 National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Standards for

Initial

and Advanced Early Childhood Professional Preparation Programs

and the National

Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) Early Childhood Generalist

Standards,

the learning segment should include developmentally appropriate practices that

intentionally promote

The 2010 NAEYC Standards for Initial and Advanced Early Childhood Professional Preparation Programs can be found at

https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/PDFs/our-work/higher-ed/NAEYC-Professional-

Preparation-Standards.pdf

The NBPTS Early Childhood Generalist Standards (3

ed.) can be found at

http://nbpts.org/wp-content/uploads/EC-GEN.pdf

the active and multimodal nature of young children’s learning AND

language and literacy development in an interdisciplinary context.

Although our professional organization considers early childhood to be birth-eight years of

age, t

his assessment is most appropriate for use in classroom environments with children

who are toddlers or older.

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Developmentally appropriate practice requires that the teacher support the whole child

through supportive and challenging active learning experiences that indicate an

underst

anding of the current developmental, cultural, and linguistic strengths and needs of

young children. Instruction to promote language and literacy development should take place

across disciplinary contexts and attend to the interrelated processes of listening, speaking,

reading, writing, and visually representing in a learning environment that supports the whole

chil

d and provides a healthy, respectful, supportive, and challenging context for learning.

After developing the learning experiences, you will then engage children in the planned

experi

ences and make a videorecording of your interactions with children during the learning

experiences. You will also assess, informally and formally, children’s learning throughout

the learning segment. Upon completion of the three tasks, you will submit artifacts from the

task

s (e.g., plans, clips from your videorecording, assessment materials, learning materials,

evidenc

e of children’s learning), as well as commentaries that you have written to explain

and reflect on the Planning, Instruction, and Assessment components of the tasks. The

artifacts and commentaries for each task will then be evaluated using rubrics especially

developed

for each task.

Although the full scope of an interdisciplinary and interrelated curriculum may not be feasible

in a s

hort learning segment, you should construct your learning segment in a

comprehensive and integrated way in order to support the whole child and take into account

the active, multimodal nature of young children’s learning.

The edTPA Tasks and the Cycle of Effective Teaching

The three edTPA tasks represent a cycle of effective teaching (i.e., teaching that is focused

on children’s learning). Planning Task 1 documents your intended teaching, Instruction

Task 2 documents your enacted teaching, and Assessment Task 3 documents the impact

of your teaching on children’s learning.

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edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

The three tasks and the evidence you provide for each are framed by your understanding of

your children and their learning. As you develop, document, and carry out the 3–5 learning

experiences, you will be prompted to reflect in writing upon the cyclical relationship among

planning, instruction, and assessment with a focus on your children’s learning needs.

Evidence of Teaching Practice: Artifacts and Commentaries

An essential part of edTPA is the submission of evidence of how you planned and

implemented developmentally appropriate learning experiences. This evidence includes

both artifacts and commentaries:

Artifacts represent authentic work completed by you and the children. These include

plans

, copies of instructional and assessment materials, video clips of your teaching,

and children’s work samples (e.g., drawings, writing, photos of block buildings or

constructions).

Commentaries are your opportunity to describe your artifacts, explain the rationale

behind their choice, and analyze what you have learned about your teaching practice

and the children’s learning. Note that although your writing ability will not be scored

directly, commentaries must be clearly written and well focused.

When preparing your artifacts and commentaries, refer to the rubrics fre

quently to guide

your thinking, planning, and writing. Refer to the Early Childhood Evidence Chart

nformation about how your evidence should be formatted for electronic submission.

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Evaluation Criteria

The rubrics used to score your performance on edTPA are included in this handbook,

following the sections describing the directions for each task. The descriptors in the five-

level rubrics address a wide range of performance, beginning with the knowledge and skills

of a novice not ready to teach (Level 1) and extending to the advanced practices of a highly

accomplished beginner (Level 5).

Structure of the Handbook

The following pages provide specific instructions on how to complete each of the three tasks

of the edTPA Early Childhood assessment. After an overview of the tasks, the handbook

provides instructions for each task organized into four sections:

1. What Do I Need to Think About?

This section provides focus questions for you to think about when completing the

sk.

2. What Do I Need to Do?

This section provides specific and detailed directions for completing the task.

3. What Do I Need to Write?

This section tells you what you need to write, and also provides specific and detailed

directions for writing the commentary

for the task.

4. How Will the Evidence of My Teaching Practice Be Assessed?

This section includes the rubrics that will be used to assess the evidence you provide

for the task.

Additional requirements and resources are provided for you in this handbook:

Professional Responsibilities: guidelines for the development of your evidence

Early Childhood Context for Learning Information: prompts used to collect

information about your school/classroom context

Early Childhood Evidence Chart: s

pecifications for electronic submission of

evidence (artifacts and commentaries), including templates, supported file types,

number of files, response length, and other important evidence specifications

Glossary: definitions of key terms can be accessed by rolling your cursor over each

ossary term marked with a dotted underline throughout the handbook or by

referring to the Early Childhood Glossary.

You should review the Making Good Choices document prior to beginning the planning of

the learning segment. If you are in a preparation program, it will have additional resources

that provide guidance as you develop your evidence.

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Review all instructions carefully before planning the learning segment to ensure

that you are well prepared for all tasks. Before you record your videos, pay

particular attention to the specific content focus of each video clip

submission: these are described in the What Do I Need to Do? sections in

Instruction Task 2 and Assessment Task 3. Refer to the Professional

Responsibilities section of this handbook for important information about

permissions, confidentiality, and other requirements.

If you will submit artifacts and commentaries for official scoring, refer to

www.edTPA.com for complete and current information before beginning your work

and to download templates for submitting materials. The website contains

information about the registration process, submission deadlines, submission

requirements, withdrawal/refund policies, and score reporting. It also provides

contact information should you have questions about your registration and

participation in edTPA.

Whether submitting directly to www.edTPA.com or via an electronic portfolio

management system, follow the submission guidelines as documented in the

Evidence Chart and review edTPA Submission Requirements to ensure that your

materials conform to the required evidence specifications and requirements for

scoring.

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edTPA Early Childhood Tasks Overview

Planning Task 1: Planning for Instruction and Assessment

What to Do

Select one class or group of children for

your edTPA and provide relevant

context information.

Identify a learning segment (3–5

consecutive l

earning experiences) to

plan, teach, and analyze children’s

learning.

Determine a central focus for your

lear

ning segment that will allow you to

address children’s language and

literacy development in an

interdisciplinary context through active

and multimodal learning experiences.

Write and submit a plan for each

lear

ning experience within the learning

segment.

Select and submit key instructional

materi

als.

Identify the vocabulary

children need to

know and use to engage in the learning

experience. Identify the learning activity

where children are supported to use this

vocabulary.

Respond to commentary prompts prior

to t

eaching the learning segment.

Submit copies and/or directions for all

plann

ed assessments from the learning

segment (see Assessment Task 3 for

directions on the common assessment

and collection of work samples).

Identify 2 focus children (see Instruction

Task 2 and A

ssessment Task 3 for

directions on choosing the focus

children, video evidence, and work

samples).

Developmentally appropriate sounds, words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs that you want children to use or create to

engage in the learning experience.

What to Submit

Part A: Context for Learning

Information

Part B: Plans for Learning

Segmen

Part C: Instructional Materials

Part D: Assessments

Part E: Planning Commentary

Evaluation Rubrics

Planning Rubrics

Rubric 1: Planning for the Whole

Child

Rub

ric 2: Planning to Support

Var

ied Learning Needs

Rubric 3: Using Knowledge of

Childr

en to Inform Teaching and

Learning

Rubric 4: Identifying and

Supp

orting Vocabulary

Development

Rubric 5: Planning Assessments to

Monitor

and Support Children’s

Learning

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Instruction Task 2: Instructing and Engaging Children in Learning

What to Do

Obtain required permissions for

videorecording from parents/guardians

of your children and other adults

appearing in the video.

Identify learning experiences from

Pla

nning Task 1 to be videorecorded.

You should choose learning

experiences that show you interacting

with children to promote language and

literacy development in an

interdisciplinary context through active

and multimodal learning.

Videorecord your teaching. Select 2

unedited video clips (no more than

15 minutes total, but not less than 3

minutes). Clip 1 must show

class/group interaction (minimum of 4

children), and Clip 2 must show small-

group interaction or interaction with an

individual.

Videorecord evidence of learning for

each focus

child (to be submitted in

Assessment Task 3).

Analyze your teaching and your

children’s learning in the video clips by

responding to commentary prompts.

What to Submit

Part A: Video Clips

Part B: Instruction

Commentary

Evaluation Rubrics

Instruction Rubrics

Rubric 6: Learning Environment

Rubric 7: Engaging Children in

Learni

Rubric 8: Deepening Children’s

Learni

Rubric 9: Subject-Specific

Peda

gogy

Rubric 10: Analyzing Teaching

Effective

ness

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Assessment Task 3: Assessing Children’s Learning

What to Do

Select one common assessment from

the learning segment that you will

provide to the class or group to evaluate

their language and literacy

development.

Define and submit the evaluation

criter

ia you will use to analyze children’s

learning on the common assessment.

Select and clearly identify 2 children

who r

epresent a range of

developmental levels related to the

central focus. These children will be

your focus children for Assessment

Task 3. At least one child must have

identified learning needs.

Collect and analyze 3 sources of

evidence

related to the central focus

for each focus child.

Summarize the learning for the

class/group of children within the

learning segment.

Analyze the learning of the class/group

and the fo

cus children to identify

quantitative and qualitative patterns

of learning.

Submit feedback provided to the 2

focus chi

ldren in written, audio, or video

form.

Analyze evidence of children using the

vocabulary (identified in Planning Task

1) from (1) the video clips from

Instruction Task 2, (2) an additional

video clip of one or both of the focus

children during the learning segment,

AND/OR (3) the evidence of learning

from Assessment Task 3.

Use your analysis of the class/group

and focus ch

ildren and plan for next

steps by responding to commentary

prompts.

What to Submit

Part A: Video or Audio

Evidence of Learning

Part B: Observation Notes

and Wor

k Samples

Part C: Evidence of Feedback

Part D: Assessment

Commentary

art E: Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Rubrics

Assessment Rubrics

Rubric 11: Analysis of Children’s

Learning

Rubric 12: Providing Feedback to

Gui

de Learning

Rubric 13: Children’s

Understa

nding and Use of

Feedback

Rubric 14: Analyzing Children’s

Vocabulary Development

Rubric 15: Using Assessment to

Inform In

struction

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edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

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Planning Task 1: Planning for Instruction

and Assessment

What Do I Need to Think About?

In Planning Task 1, you will describe your plans for the learning segment and explain how

the learning experiences you have planned are appropriate for the children you are

teac

hing. As you develop your plans, you need to think about the following:

What do you want the children to learn? What are the important understandings and

cor

e concepts you want children to develop within the learning segment?

What do the children know, what can they do, and what are they learning to do?

How will you use your knowledge of your children’s personal, cultural, and

com

munity assets to inform your plans?

What instructional strategies, learning experiences, and assessments will you design

support children’s language and literacy development?

How will you support children’s use of vocabulary that deepens content

unders

tanding?

How is the teaching you propose supported by research and theory about how

chi

ldren learn?

What Do I Need to Do?

Select a class. If you are involved in more than one class, select one class for this

assessment. If your placement has you responsible for a group rather than the full class,

Planning Task 1 should describe plans for the learning experiences of that group

(minimum of 4 children). That group will constitute “the group” for edTPA.

NOTE: In Assessment Task 3, you will need to submit work samples and video evidence

from 2 children within the class/group —these will be your focus children. At least one

chi

ld must have specific learning needs, for example, a child with an IEP (Individualized

Education Program) or 504 plan, an English language learner, a struggling reader, or a

child

at a different point in the developmental continuum in relation to the other children in

the class/group

. If possible, identify the 2 focus children before completing Planning

Task 1.

Gather and submit context information. The Early Childhood Context for Learning

Information form is provided later in this handbook and must be submitted in a template.

This

form provides essential information about your children and your school/classroom.

The context information you submit should be no more than 4 pages, including the

prompts.

Plan a learni

ng segment of 3–5 learning experiences. Review the curriculum with

your cooperating teacher in order to plan this learning segment.

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Identify a central focus. In your Planning Commentary, you will need to provide the

central focus of your learning segment, along with the content standards and objectives

that you plan to address. The central focus should promote the

active and multimodal nature of young children’s learning AND

developmentally appropriate learning of language and literacy within an

interdisciplinary context.

Identify key vocabulary

necessary to engage children in the learning segment. In your

learning segment, plan opportunities for children to use the key vocabulary. In your

Planning Commentary, you will explain how you supported your children to use this

vocabulary.

Write a plan for each learning experience in the learning segment (for a total of 3-5

learning experiences). Your plans should be detailed enough that a substitute or other

teacher could understand them well enough to use them.

Each learning experience plan must include the following information, even if your

teacher preparation program requires you to use a specific lesson plan format:

State-adopted standards for your children’s age group and/or the age-appropriate

national or professional standards for the children in your learning segment.

(NOTE: Please include the number and text of each standard that is being

addressed. If only a portion of a standard is being addressed, then only list the part

or parts that are relevant.)

Learning objectives for each learning experience that are associated with the

standards

Instructional strategies and learning activities (including what you will be doing to

support diverse children’s needs)

Instructional resources and materials used to engage children in the learning

experiences

Informal and/or formal assessments used to monitor children’s learning for each

learning experience, including type(s) of assessment and what is being assessed

(e.g., observations or checklists). Be sure to plan to collect at least one work

sample from each child in the class/group (see Assessment Task 3 for more

information about work samples).

NOTE: Each plan must be no more than 4 pages in length. You will need to

condense or excerpt each plan longer than 4 pages. Any explanations or rationale for

decisions should be included in your Planning Commentary and deleted from your plans.

List all citations for all materials that you did not create at the end of the

commentary (e.g., published texts, websites, and material from other educators). Label

each citation with the plan day/number. Note: Citations do not count toward the

commentary page limit.

Respond to the commentary prompts listed in the Planning Commentary section

prior to carrying out the learning segment.

Developmentally appropriate sounds, words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs that you want children to use or create to

engage in the learning experience.

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Submit your original plans for the learning experiences. If you make changes while

carrying out the learning segment, you may offer reflection on those changes in the

Instruction Task 2 and Assessment Task 3 Commentaries.

Select, list, and submit key instructional materials (or a description or photos of

them) needed to understand what you and the children will be doing (no more than 5

additional pages per plan). The instructional materials listed might include such items

as blocks, drawing materials, texts, writing materials, manipulatives, and science

materials.

Submit all assessment materials that you plan to use to monitor children’s learning.

Include only blank assessments and criteria for your evaluation of children’s learning

(do not submit completed work samples, notes, or checklists for this task).

Planning Task 1: What Do I Need to Submit?

See the Planning Task 1: Artifacts and Commentary Specifications in the Early

Childhood Evidence Chart for instructions on electronic submission of evidence.

This evidence chart identifies templates, supported file types, number of files,

response length, and other important evidence specifications. Your evidence

cannot contain hyperlinked content. Any web content you wish to include as part

of your evidence must be submitted as a document file, which must conform to

the file format and response length requirements.

Part A: Context for Learning Information (template provided)

Part B: Plans for Learning Segment

Part C: Instructional Materials

Part D: Assessments

Part E: Planning Commentary

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What Do I Need to Write?

In Planning Task 1: Planning for Instruction and Assessment, you will write

a description of your Context for Learning (see “What Do I Need to Do?” above for

dir

ections)

plans for learning experiences (

see “What Do I Need to Do?” above for directions)

a commentary explaining your plans for the learning experiences (see “Planning

Com

mentary” below for directions)

Planning Commentary

In Planning Task 1, you will write a commentary, responding to the prompts below. Your

commentary should be no more than 9 single-spaced pages, including the prompts.

1. Central Focus

a. Describe the central focus and purpose of the content you will teach in the

lear

ning segment.

b. Describe how the standards and learning objectives for your learning segment

suppor

t children’s

active and multimodal learning

language and literacy development in an interdisciplinary context

c. Explain how your plans build on each other to support children’s language and

teracy development through active and multimodal learning.

d. Describe how the physical environment in which you are teaching supports the

act

ive and multimodal nature of children’s learning. (If, in your view, the physical

environment in which you are teaching does not adequately support the active

and multimodal nature of children’s learning, please describe the changes you

would make.)

2. Knowledge of Children to Inform Teaching

For each of the prompts below (2a–c), describe what you know about the children

your class/group with respect to the central focus of the learning segment.

Consider the variety of learners in your class/group who may require different

strategies/support (e.g., children with IEPs or 504 plans, English language learners,

children at different points in the developmental continuum, struggling readers,

children who are underperforming or those with gaps in academic knowledge, and/or

gifted children).

a. Children’s development —What do you know about their

social and emotional development

cognitive and physical development

language development for communication

edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

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b. Personal, cultural, and community assets—What do you know about your

children’s everyday experiences, cultural and language backgrounds and

practices, and interests?

c. Prior learning and prerequisite skills related to language and literacy

development—What can they do and what are they learning to do related to

language and literacy development? Cite evidence from your knowledge of

this class/group of children.

3. Supporting Children’s Development and Learning

Respond to prompts 3a–c below. To support your justifications, refer to the plans and

materials you included as part of Planning Task 1. In addition, use principles from

research and/or developmental theory to support your justifications.

a. Justify how your planned learning experiences and materials align with your

understanding of the children’s development, prior learning, and personal,

cultural, and community assets (from prompts 2a–c above). Be explicit about

these connections and support your justification with research/developmental

theory.

b. Describe and justify how you plan to support the varied learning needs of all the

children in your class/group, including individuals with specific learning

needs.

Consider the variety of learners in your class/group who may require different

strategies/support (e.g., children with IEPs or 504 plans, English language

learners, children at different points in the developmental continuum, struggling

readers, and/or gifted children).

c. Describe common developmental approximations

or misunderstandings that

pertain to the learning experiences you are planning for the children and how you

plan to address them.

4. Supporting Children’s Vocabulary Development

Respond to prompts 4a–c below by referring to children’s range of vocabulary

development related to the learning segment—What do they know, what are they

struggling with, and/or what is new to them?

a. Identify the key vocabulary

(i.e., developmentally appropriate sounds, words,

phrases, sentences, and paragraphs) essential for children to use during the

learning segment.

b. Identify the learning experience that provides children with opportunities to

develop, practice, and/or use the key vocabulary identified in prompt 4a. (Identify

the plan day/number.)

c. Describe how you plan to support the children (during and/or prior to the learning

experience) to develop and use the key vocabulary identified in prompt 4a.

For example, common beginning or transitional language errors or other attempts to use skills or processes just beyond a

child’s current level/capability.

Developmentally appropriate sounds, words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs that you want children to use or create to

engage in the learning experience.

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edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

5. Monitoring Children’s Learning

In response to the prompts below, refer t

o the assessments you will submit as part of

the materials for Planning Task 1.

a. Describe how your planned formal and informal assessments provide direct

evi

dence to monitor children’s multimodal learning throughout the learning

segment.

b. Explain how your design or adaptation of planned assessments allows children

th specific needs to demonstrate their learning.

Consider the variety of learners in your class/group who may require different

strategies/support (e.g., all children along the continuum of development,

including children with IEPs or 504 plans, English language learners, struggling

readers, and/or gifted children).

How Will the Evidence of My Planning Be Assessed?

For Planning Task 1, your evidence will be assessed using rubrics 1–5, which appear on the

following pages. When preparing Planning Task 1, refer to the rubrics frequently to guide

your

thinking, planning, and writing.

edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

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Planning Rubrics

Rubric 1: Planning for the Whole Child

How do the candidate’s plans build on each other to support children’s language and literacy development

through active and multimodal learning?

Level 1

Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Candidate’s plans for

instruction are developmentally

inappropriate OR focus solely

on one modality for learning.

There are significant content

inaccuracies th

at will lead to

children’s misunderstandings.

Standards, objectives,

learning tas

ks, and materials

are not aligned with each

other.

Candidate’s plans for

instru

ction support language

and literacy development

using only one modality with

little connection to the active

nature of children’s learning.

Candidate’s plans for

instruction build on each

other to support language and

literacy development through

multiple modalities with

connections to the active

nature of children’s learning.

Candidate’s plans for

instruction build on each other

to support language and

literacy development through

multiple modalities with

connections that explain the

active nature of children’s

learning.

Level 4 plus:

Candidate provides clear

examples

of the

interdisciplinary context in

which the learning takes

place.

Text representing key differences between adjacent score levels is shown in bold. Evidence that does not meet Level 1 criteria is scored at Level 1.

edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

Planning Rubrics continued

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Rubric 2: Planning to Support Varied Learning Needs

How does the candidate use knowledge of the children to support children’s varied learning needs?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

There is no evidence of

planned supports.

Candidate does not attend to

ANY INS

TRUCTIONAL

requirements in IEPs and 504

plans.

The learning experiences

are

loosely tied to learning

objectives and are

presented in the same

way to all children, with

little consideration of

differences in the children’s

learning approaches or

needs.

The learning experiences

include supports that are tied

to learning objectives and

provide some opportunities

for children with different

learning approaches or needs

to learn and/or demonstrate

their learning.

The learning experiences

include supports that are tied to

learning objectives and

promote the developmental

needs of specific individuals

or groups with similar needs.

Level 4 plus:

Supports include specific

rategies to identify and

respond to developmental

approximations or

misunderstandings.

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Rubric 3: Using Knowledge of Children to Inform Teaching and Learning

How does the candidate use knowledge of the children to justify instructional plans?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Candidate’s justification of

learning tasks either is

missing OR represents a

deficit view of children and

their backgrounds.

Candidate justifies learning

tasks wi

th limited attention to

children’s

• prior academic learning

• personal, cultural, or

comm

unity assets.

Candidate justifies why

lea

rning tasks (or their

adaptations) are

developmentally appropriate

using examples of children’s

• prior academic learning

• personal, cultural, or

community assets.

Candidate makes superficial

conne

ctions to research

and/or developmental

theory.

Candidate justifies why

lea

rning tasks (or their

adaptations) are

developmentally appropriate

using examples of children’s

• prior academic learning

AND

• personal, cultural, or

community assets.

Candidate makes

conne

ctions to research

and/or developmental theory.

Level 4 plus:

Candidate’s justification is

support

ed by principles

from research and/or

developmental theory.

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Rubric 4: Identifying and Supporting Vocabulary Development

How does the candidate identify and support children’s vocabulary

development?

Developmentally appropriate sounds, words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs that children must use or create to engage in the learning experience.

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Candidate identifies

vocabulary that is

developmentally inappropriate

OR is not aligned with the

learning experience or

central focus.

Vocabulary supports are

missing or are

not aligned

with the learning task.

Candidate identifies

vocabulary va

guely aligned

with the learning experience

or central focus.

Plans include general

support for

vocabulary

development.

Candidate identifies

vocabul

ary related to the

learning experience and

central focus.

Plans include general support

for vo

cabulary development.

Candidate identifies

vocabul

ary related to the

learning experience and

central focus.

Plans include differentiated

suppor

t to target some

children’s use of vocabulary.

Level 4 plus:

Vocabulary supports are

diffe

rentiated to meet the

needs of all children with

different levels of language

development.

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Rubric 5: Planning Assessments to Monitor and Support Children’s Learning

How do the informal and formal assessments monitor children’s multimodal learning of language and literacy?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Planned assessments only

provide evidence of one

mode of learning.

Candidate does not attend to

ANY AS

SESSMENT

requirements in IEPs and 504

plans.

Planned assessments provide

limit

ed evidence from

multiple modalities to

monitor children’s learning

during the learning segment.

Planned assessments provide

evidence from multiple

modalities to monitor

children’s learning at some

points during the learning

segment.

Planned assessments provide

evidence from multiple

modalities to monitor children’s

learning throughout the

learning segment.

Level 4 plus:

Planned assessments are

rategically designed to

allow individuals or groups

with specific needs to

demonstrate their learning.

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Instruction Task 2: Instructing and

Engaging Children in Learning

What Do I Need to Think About?

In Instruction Task 2, you will demonstrate how you support and engage children in learning.

As you complete Instruction Task 2, you need to think about:

How you will create a respectful learning environment to engage children in your

planned learning experience.

How you will elicit and build on children’s responses that develop and deepen

chi

ldren’s understanding of what they are learning.

The ways you will connect new content to children’s prior academic learning and

pers

onal, cultural, community, and developmental assets during your instruction.

How you will use evidence from your instruction to examine and change your

teac

hing practices to more effectively meet a variety of children’s learning needs.

What Do I Need to Do?

Obtain required permissions for videorecording. Before you record your video,

ensure that you have the appropriate permission from the parents/guardians of your

children and from adults who appear in the video. Adjust the camera angle to exclude

individuals for whom you do not have permission to film.

Examine your plans for the learning segment and identify learning experiences to

videorecord. The video clips you select for submission should demonstrate how you

support children’s language and literacy development in an interdisciplinary context

thou

gh active and multimodal learning. Your instruction should challenge and actively

enga

ge children to deepen their understandings in developmentally appropriate ways.

Identify 2 children who will be the focus children of this learning segment. At least

one c

hild must have specific learning needs, for example, a child with an IEP

(Individualized Education Program) or 504 plan, an English language learner, a

struggling reader, or a child at a different point in the developmental continuum in

relation to the other children in the class/group.

Videorecord your instruction.

NOTE: Consider recording your entire learning segment.

Verify that the videorecording meets the following requirements:

Check the video and sound quality to ensure that you and the children you are

wor

king with can be seen and heard on the video clips you submit. If most of the

audio in a clip cannot be understood, submit another clip. If there are occasional

audio portions of a clip that cannot be understood that are relevant to your

commentary

responses, do one of the following: 1) provide a transcript with time



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

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stamps of the inaudible portion and refer to the transcript in your response; 2) embed

quotes with time-stamp references in the commentary response; or 3) insert captions

in the video (captions for this purpose will be considered permissible editing).

Video clips must be continuous and unedited, with no interruption in events.

If you have inadvertently included individuals for whom you do not have permission

to film in the video clip(s) you plan to submit, you may use software to blur the faces

of these individuals. This is not considered editing. Other portions of the submitted

video clip(s), including the classroom, your face, and the faces of individuals for

whom you have obtained permission to film, should remain unblurred.

Do not include the name of the state, school, or district in your video. Use first names

only for all individuals appearing in the video.

Select 2 video clips (continuous and unedited, with no interruption in events,

together totaling no more than 15 minutes, but not less than 3 minutes). Clips

should demonstrate how you interact with children and create a positive learning

environment to support

active, multimodal learning

language and literacy learning in an interdisciplinary context

Clip 1 should show class/group interaction (minimum of 4 children), and

Clip 2 should show small-group interaction or interaction with an individual.

REMINDER: Before videorecording, consider the additional video evidence you will be

asked to submit in Assessment Task 3.

Evidence of Learning for Each Focus Child: Video or audio evidence of learning for

each focus child. Either identify evidence from video clips submitted in Instruction Task 2

(i.e., provide time stamps), OR submit additional videos (no more than 7 minutes per

child).

Evidence of Feedback to Each Focus Child: Video, audio, or written evidence of

feedback provided to each focus child on the common assessment. Either identify

evidence from video clips submitted in Instruction Task 2 (i.e., provide time stamps) OR

submit additional video (no more than 3 minutes per child).

Evidence of Vocabulary Use: Video or work sample evidence of one or more children

using the key vocabulary identified in Planning Task 1. Either identify evidence from video

clips submitted in Instruction Task 2 (i.e., provide time stamps) OR submit additional

video (no more than 5 minutes), OR reference children’s work samples submitted in

Assessment Task 3.

Respond to the prompts listed in the Instruction Commentary section below after

viewing the video clips.

Determine if additional information is needed to understand what you and the

children are doing in the video clips. For example, if there are graphics, texts, or

images that are not clearly visible in the video, or comments that are not clearly heard,

you may insert digital copies or transcriptions at the end of the Instruction Commentary

(no more than 2 pages in addition to the responses to the commentary prompts).

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Instruction Task 2: What Do I Need to Submit?

See the Instruction Task 2: Artifacts and Commentary Specifications in the Early

Childhood Evidence Chart for instructions on electronic submission of evidence. This

evidence chart identifies templates, supported file types, number of files, response

length, and other important evidence specifications. Your evidence cannot contain

hyperlinked content. Any web content you wish to include as part of your evidence

must be submitted as a document file, which must conform to the file format and

response length requirements.

Part A: Video Clips

Part B: Instruction Commentary

What Do I Need to Write?

Instruction Commentary

In Instruction Task 2, you will write a commentary, responding to the prompts below. Your

commentary should be no more than 6 single-spaced pages, including the prompts. If

needed, insert no more than 2 additional pages of supporting documentation for the

videorecordings at the end of the commentary (e.g., digital copies of indiscernible materials

or transcriptions of inaudible comments). These additional pages do not count toward the

commentary page limit noted above.

1. List the learning experience(s) you have selected for the 2 video clips you are

subm

itting. Identify the learning experience(s) by plan day/number.

2. Promoting a Positive Learning Environment

Refer to scenes in the video clips where you provided a positive learning

envi

ronment.

a. How did you demonstrate mutual respect for, rapport with, and responsiveness to

chi

ldren with varied needs and backgrounds, and challenge children to engage in

learning?

3. Engaging Children in Learning

Refer to examples from the video clips in your responses to the prompts.

a. Explain how your instruction engaged children in

language and literacy development, AND

active, multimodal learning

b. Describe how your instruction linked children’s development, prior learning, and

pers

onal, cultural, and community assets with new learning.

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4. Deepening Children’s Learning during Instruction

Refer to examples from the video clips in your explanations.

a. Explain how you elicited and built on children’s responses to promote

chi

ldren’s language and literacy development through active learning.

b. Explain how you made interdisciplinary connections in ways that deepen

chi

ldren’s development of language and literacy.

5. Analyzing Teaching

Refer to examples from the video clips in your responses to the prompts.

a. What changes would you make to your instruction to better support children’s

lear

ning related to the central focus? Be sure to address the needs of all children,

inc

luding those who need greater support or challenge.

Consider the variety of learners i

n your class/group who may require different

strategies/supports (such as children with IEPs or 504 plans, English language

learners, children at different points in the developmental continuum, and/or

gifted children).

b. Explain why you think these changes would improve children’s learning. Support

your explanation with evidence of children’s learning AND principles from

developmental theory and/or research.

How Will the Evidence of My Instruction Be

Assessed?

For Instruction Task 2, your evidence will be assessed using rubrics 6–10, which appear on

the following pages. When preparing Instruction Task 2, refer to the rubrics frequently to

gui

de your thinking, instruction, and writing.

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Instruction Rubrics

Rubric 6: Learning Environment

How does the candidate demonstrate a positive learning environment that supports children’s engagement in

learning?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

The clips reveal evidence of

unhealthy or disrespectful

interactions between teacher

and child, or between

children.

Candidate allows disruptive

behavior t

o interfere with

children’s learning.

The candidate demonstrates

respec

t for children.

AND

Candidate provides a learning

envi

ronment that serves

primarily to control

children’s behavior, and

minimally supports the

learning goals.

The candidate demonstrates

rapport

with and respect for

children.

AND

Candidate provides a

positiv

e, low-risk learning

environment that

demonstrates mutual

respect among children.

The candidate demonstrates

rapport with and respect for

children.

AND

Candidate provides a

cha

llenging learning

environment that promotes

mutual respect among

children.

The candidate demonstrates

rapport with and respect for

children.

AND

Candidate provides a

support

ive and challenging

learning environment that

provides opportunities to

express varied perspectives

and promotes mutual respect

among children.

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Rubric 7: Engaging Children in Learning

How does the candidate engage children in the active and multimodal nature of children’s development of

language and literacy?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Children are observed in

learning experiences that

focus solely on one modality

for learning OR are

developmentally

inappropriate.

Children are participating in

learning experiences that

promote language and literacy

development through at least

one modality with vague

support of the active nature

of children’s learning.

Children are engaged in

learning experiences that

promote language and literacy

development through at least

one modality that supports

the active nature of children’s

learning.

Children are engaged in

learning experiences that

promote language and literacy

development through

multiple modalities that

support the active nature of

children’s learning.

Children are engaged in active,

multimodal learning

experiences that deepen and

extend their language and

literacy development and are

embedded in an

interdisciplinary context.

There is little or no evidence

that

the candidate links

children’s development with

new learning.

Candidate makes vague or

superficial links between

children’s development and

new learning.

Candidate links children’s

development AND prior

academic learning to new

learning.

Candidate links children’s

development, prior academic

learning, AND personal,

cultural, or community

assets to new learning.

Candidate prompts children

to link their prior academic

learning AND personal,

cultural, or community assets

to new learning.

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Rubric 8: Deepening Children’s Learning

How does the candidate elicit children’s responses to promote active development of language and literacy?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Candidate does most of the

talking, and children provide

few responses.

Candidate responses include

significa

nt content

inaccuracies that will lead to

children’s misunderstandings.

Candidate primarily asks

surface-level questions and

evaluates children’s

responses as correct or

incorrect.

Candidate elicits children’s

responses to promote their

understanding of language

and literacy.

Candidate elicits and builds

on children’s responses to

promote their understanding

and active development of

language and literacy.

Level 4 plus:

Candidate facilitates

interact

ions among children

so they can evaluate their

own abilities to actively

develop language and

literacy.

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Rubric 9: Subject-Specific Pedagogy

How does the candidate use interdisciplinary learning experiences to promote children’s development of

language and literacy?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Learning experiences seen in

the clips promote language

and literacy development with

little to no attention to

interdisciplinary

connections.

Materials used in the clips

incl

ude significant content

inaccuracies that will lead to

children’s misunderstandings.

In the clips, the candidate

makes va

gue or superficial

reference to interdisciplinary

connections to promote

language and literacy

development.

In the clips, the candidate

kes interdisciplinary

connections to promote

language and literacy

development.

In the clips, the candidate

makes i

nterdisciplinary

connections in ways that

deepen children’s

development of language

and literacy.

Level 4 plus:

Candidate helps children

make th

eir own

interdisciplinary connections in

ways that promote the

development of language

and literacy.

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Rubric 10: Analyzing Teaching Effectiveness

How does the candidate use evidence to evaluate and change teaching practice to meet children’s varied

learning needs?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Candidate suggests changes

unrelated to evidence of

children’s learning.

Candidate proposes changes

to teacher practice that are

superficially related to

children’s learning needs

(e.g., task management,

pacing, improving directions).

Candidate proposes changes

that address children’s

collective learning needs

related to the central focus.

Candidate makes superficial

connections to research

and/or developmental

theory.

Candidate proposes changes

that address children’s

individual and collective

learning needs related to the

central focus.

Candidate makes

conne

ctions to research

and/or developmental theory.

Level 4 plus:

Candidate justifies changes

using principle

s from

research and/or developmental

theory.

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Assessment Task 3: Assessing Children’s

Learning

What Do I Need to Think About?

In Assessment Task 3, you will analyze children’s learning and their use of key vocabulary.

Before you begin, you need to think about the following:

How will you analyze the evidence of children’s learning?

How did you provide meaningful feedback to your children?

How will you analyze the evidence of children’s vocabulary use?

How will you use evidence of what children know and are able to do to plan next

steps

in instruction?

What Do I Need to Do?

Select one common assessment from your learning segment you will use to

evaluate children’s language and literacy development. The common assessment

must be completed by all of the children in the class. (If you are working with only a

oup within the class for the learning segment, that group will be “the class.”)

can be in the form of writing, drawing, painting, photos, project work, etc. If children

com

plete a product, and you submit a photo of the work sample, be sure that the

photograph illustrates how the work sample meets your evaluative criteria.

must reflect the work of individuals but does not need to be gathered at the same

exac

t time for every child; however it can be individual work from a group task.

must provide opportunities for children to demonstrate language and literacy

devel

opment.

Define and submit the evaluation criteria for the common assessment you will use

analyze children’s learning related to their language and literacy development.

Collect and analyze evidence of children’s learning from the common assessment.

your Assessment Commentary, you will provide a summary of children’s learning and

an analysis that identifies patterns of learning (both quantitative and qualitative) within

and ac

ross learners in the class/group.

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Collect and submit the following 3 sources of evidence for each of the 2 focus

children:

Video or audio evidence of learning. The video/audio clips (no more than 7

minutes each) should provide evidence of each focus child’s development of

language and literacy related to the learning segment. If evidence is submitted as a

videorecording from Instruction Task 2, provide the time-stamp reference in the

appropriate prompt within the Assessment Commentary.

Observation (e.g., anecdotal notes or observation tool; no more than 2 pages per

focus child). Observation tools used and notes should document the child’s

development of language and literacy.

Work sample from the common assessment. For each focus child, submit and

analyze the work sample from the common assessment (selected for the

class/group) in Assessment Task 3. You may submit text files with scanned work, a

video or audio file of a child’s oral work, OR a video or multimedia file created by a

focus child. For each focus child, a video or audio work sample must be no more

than 5 minutes in total running time.

Document the feedback you gave to each of the 2 focus children on the common

assessment. Provide feedback on the work sample itself, as an audio clip, or as a video

clip. You must submit evidence of the actual feedback provided to the focus children,

and not a description of the feedback.

If you submit evidence of learning, a work sample, or feedback as a video or audio clip

and comments made by you or your focus children cannot be clearly heard, do one of

the following: 1) attach a transcription of the inaudible comments (no more than 2

additional pages) to the end of the Assessment Commentary (NOTE: The transcript

does not replace the actual evidence; be sure to submit the evidence in addition to the

transcript.); 2) embed quotes with time-stamp references in the commentary response;

or 3) insert captions in the video (captions for this purpose will be considered permissible

editing).

If you submit evidence of learning, a work sample, or feedback as a video or audio clip

and additional children are present, clearly identify which children are the focus

children in the relevant prompts (1e and 2a) of the Assessment Commentary (in

no more than 2 sentences).

Provide evidence of children's understanding and use of the key vocabulary. You

may choose evidence from the video clips submitted in Instruction Task 2, an additional

video clip of one or more children using the key vocabulary within the learning segment

(no more than 5 minutes in length), AND/OR children’s work samples submitted in

Assessment Task 3.

Respond to the prompts listed in the Assessment Commentary section below after

analyzing children’s work from the selected assessment.

Include the common assessment or a description of the common assessment and

(if applicable) any directions/prompts provided to the children. Attach the common

assessment or the description (no more than 5 additional pages) to the end of the

Assessment Commentary.

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Assessment Task 3: What Do I Need to Submit?

See the Assessment Task 3: Artifacts and Commentary Specifications in the Early

Childhood Evidence Chart for instructions on electronic submission of evidence. This

evidence chart identifies templates, supported file types, number of files, response

length, and other important evidence specifications. Your evidence cannot contain

hyperlinked content. Any web content you wish to include as part of your evidence

must be submitted as a document file, which must conform to the file format and

response length requirements.

Part A: Video or Audio Evidence of Learning

Part B: Observation Notes and Work Samples

Part C: Evidence of Feedback (and if applicable, Vocabulary Use)

Part D: Assessment Commentary

Part E: Evaluation Criteria

What Do I Need to Write?

Assessment Commentary

In Assessment Task 3, you will write a commentary, responding to the prompts below. Your

commentary should be no more than 10 single-spaced pages, including the prompts.

Attach the common assessment (no more than 5 additional pages) and, if necessary, a

transcription of inaudible portions of a video or audio clip of evidence of learning, feedback,

or a work sample (no more than 2 additional pages) to the end of the Assessment

Commentary. These additional pages do not count toward the commentary page limit noted

above.

1. Analyzing Children’s Learning

a. Identify the specific language and literacy learning objectives for the common

assessment you chose for analysis.

b. Provide a graphic (table or chart) or narrative that summarizes the class/group’s

lear

ning for the common assessment.

c. U

se the class/group summary you provided in prompt 1b to analyze the patterns

of language and literacy learning for the class/group.

d. Analyze the patterns of learning for the 2 focus children. Reference the 3

sources

of evidence you collected for each of the 2 focus children.

Consider children’s strengths (what children understand and do well), and areas

learning that need attention (e.g., common errors, confusions, need for greater

challenge).

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edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

e. If video or audio evidence of learning or a video or audio work sample occurs in a

group context (e.g., discussion), provide the name of the clip and clearly describe

how the scorer can identify the focus children (e.g., position, physical description)

whose work is portrayed.

2. Feedback to Guide Further Learning

Refer to specific evidence of submitted feedback to support your explanations.

a. Identify the format in which you submitted your evidence of feedback for the 2

focus children. Choose one of the following:

Written directly on work samples or in separate documents that were

provided to the focus children

In audio files

In video clip(s) from Instruction Task 2 (provide a time-stamp reference) or in

separate video clips

If a video or audio clip of feedback occurs in a group context (e.g., discussion),

clearly describe how the scorer can identify the focus child (e.g., position,

physical description) who is being given feedback.

b. Explain how the feedback provided to the 2 focus children addresses their

individual and developmental strengths and needs relative to language and

literacy development.

c. Describe how you will support each focus child to understand and use this

feedback to further their learning related to learning objectives, either within the

learning segment or at a later time.

3. Evidence of Vocabulary Understanding and Use

When responding to the prompt below, use concrete examples from the video clips

and/or children’s work samples as evidence. Evidence from the video clips may

focus on one or more children.

a. Explain how children were able to use the key vocabulary

to support their

learning of the content.

This vocabulary was identified in Planning Task 1 and refers to developmentally appropriate sounds, words, phrases,

sentences, and paragraphs that children use or create to engage in the learning experience.



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For prompt 3a, refer to the evidence of children’s vocabulary use from

ONE, TWO, OR ALL THREE of the following sources:

1. Video clips from Instruction Task 2 and time-stamp references for

evidence of vocabulary use

2. Additional video file named “Vocabulary Use” of no more than 5 minutes

in length and cited vocabulary use (this can be footage of one or more

children). See Assessment Task 3 specifications in the Early Childhood

Evidence Chart for acceptable file types. Submit the video clip in

Assessment Task 3, Part C.

3. Children’s work samples analyzed in Assessment Task 3 and cited

vocabulary use

4. Using Assessment to Inform Instruction

a. Based on your analysis of children’s learning presented in prompts 1b–c,

desc

ribe next steps for instruction to impact children’s learning:

For the class/group

For the 2 focus children and other individuals/groups with specific needs

Consider the active and multimodal nature of children’s learning and the variety

learners in your class/group who may require different strategies/supports

(e.

g., children with IEPs or 504 plans, English language learners, children at

different points in the developmental continuum, struggling readers, and/or gifted

children needing greater support or challenge).

b. Explain how these next steps follow from your analysis of children’s learning.

Support your explanation with principles from research and/or developmental

theory.

How Will the Evidence of My Assessment Be

Assessed?

For Assessment Task 3, your evidence will be assessed using rubrics 11–15, which appear

on the following pages. When preparing Assessment Task 3, refer to the rubrics frequently

guide your thinking, planning, instruction, assessment, and writing.

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Assessment Rubrics

Rubric 11: Analysis of Children’s Learning

How does the candidate analyze evidence of children’s language and literacy learning?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

The analysis is superficial or

not supported by either

sources of evidence or the

summary of children’s

learning.

The evaluation criteria,

lea

rning objectives, and/or

analysis are not aligned with

each other.

The analysis focuses solely

on ch

ildren’s strengths OR

needs.

The analysis focuses on the

focus children’s strengths

AND needs.

AND

Analysis includes some

tention to differences in

children’s learning across

the class.

Analysis uses specific

examples from the sources of

evidence to demonstrate

patterns of learning for the

focus children.

AND

Patterns of learning are

descr

ibed for the class.

Analysis uses specific

exampl

es from the sources of

evidence to demonstrate the

connections between

quantitative and qualitative

patterns of learning related

to the focus children’s

strengths and needs.

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Rubric 12: Providing Feedback to Guide Learning

What type of feedback does the candidate provide to focus children?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Feedback is unrelated to the

learning objectives OR is

developmentally

inappropriate.

Feedback contains

significa

nt inaccuracies.

No feedback is provided to

one or more focus children.

Feedback is general and

address

es needs AND/OR

strengths related to the

learning objectives.

Feedback is specific and

primarily addresses either

needs OR strengths related to

the learning objectives.

Feedback is specific and

addresses both strengths

AND needs related to the

learning objectives.

Level 4 plus:

Feedback for one or more

focus

children

• provides a strategy to

address an individual

learning need OR

• makes connections to

prior learning or

experience to improve

learning.

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Rubric 13: Children’s Understanding and Use of Feedback

How does the candidate support focus children to understand and use the feedback to guide their further

learning?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Opportunities for

understanding or using

feedback are not described.

Candidate provides limited or

no fee

dback to inform

children’s learning.

Candidate provides a vague

descript

ion of how focus

children will understand or

use feedback.

Candidate describes how

focus children will understand

or use feedback related to the

learning objectives.

Candidate describes how s/he

will support focus children to

understand and use feedback

on their strengths OR

weaknesses related to the

learning objectives.

Candidate describes how s/he

will support focus children to

understand and use feedback

on their strengths AND

weaknesses related to the

learning objectives.

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Rubric 14: Analyzing Children’s Vocabulary Development

How does the candidate analyze children’s use of vocabulary

to develop content understanding?

Developmentally appropriate sounds, words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs that children use or create to engage in the learning experience.

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Candidate describes

vocabulary use that is

unrelated to identified

vocabulary.

Candidate does not support

development

of children’s

vocabulary.

Candidate’s description or

explanat

ion of vocabulary

use is not consistent with

the evidence submitted.

Candidate describes how

children are int

roduced to

vocabulary associated with

the learning experience.

Candidate explains and

provides evidence that

children use the vocabulary

associated with the learning

experience.

Candidate explains and

provides evidence of how

children’s use of the

vocabulary promotes

understandings related to

the learning experience.

Level 4 plus:

Candidate explains and

provides evidence

vocabulary use and learning

related to the learning

experience for children at

different levels on the

developmental continuum.

edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

Assessment Rubrics continued

38 of 53

Rubric 15: Using Assessment to Inform Instruction

How does the candidate use the analysis of what children know and are able to do to plan next steps in

instruction?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Next steps do not follow from

the analysis.

Next steps are not relevant to

the le

arning objectives

assessed.

Next steps are not described

in suf

ficient detail to

understand them.

Next steps primarily focus on

changes

to teaching practice

that are superficially related

to children’s learning needs,

for example, repeating

instruction, pacing, or

classroom management

issues.

Next steps propose general

support that improves

children’s learning related to

assessed learning

objectives.

Next steps are loosely

conne

cted with research

and/or developmental

theory.

Next steps provide targeted

suppo

rt to individuals or

groups that

• utilizes the active and

multimodal nature of

children’s learning

• improves their learning

related to language and

literacy development

Next steps are connected with

rese

arch and/or developmental

theory.

Next steps provide targeted

suppo

rt to individuals AND

groups

• utilizing the active and

multimodal nature of

children’s learning

• to improve their learning

related to language and

literacy development

Next steps are justified with

principles

from research

and/or developmental theory.



edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

39 of 53

Professional Responsibilities

Refer to the following table for an overview of your professional responsibilities in

developing evidence for edTPA. If you are submitting artifacts and commentaries for official

scoring, refer to www.edTPA.com, for complete and current information before beginning

your

work. Included here are important information and policies such as submission

requirements and deadlines, registration agreements, attestations, permissions, and

confidentiality. Whether or not you are submitting for official scoring, you should fulfill the

professional responsibilities described below.

Responsibility Description

Protect

confidentiality

To protect confidentiality, please remove your name and use pseudonyms or general

references (e.g., “the district”) for your state, school, district, and cooperating teacher. Mask

or remove all names on any typed or written material (e.g., commentaries, plans, children’s

work samples) that could identify individuals or institutions. During videorecording, use

children’s first names only.

To ensure confidentiality of your children and yourself, do not share your video on any

publi

cly accessible platforms or websites (YouTube, Facebook, etc.).

Acquire

permissions

Before you record your classroom instruction, ensure that you have the appropriate

permission from the parents/guardians of your children and from adults who appear in the

videorecording.

Your program will provide you with procedures and necessary forms to obtain these

perm

issions, according to agreements with the school or district in which you are student

teaching or completing your internship.

If your program does not provide the necessary forms, you may r

efer to the sample forms

found on www.edTPA.com

The release forms are not to be submitted with your materials, but you should follow your

campus policy for retaining them.

Cite sources

Provide citations for the source of all materials that you did not create (e.g., published texts,

websites, material from other educators). List all citations at the end of the Planning

Commentary, labeled by the number of the learning experience. Note: Citations do not

count toward the commentary page limit.

Align instruction

with state

standards

As part of the assessment, you will document the alignment of your plans with state-

adopted academic content standards that are the target of children’s learning. Refer to the

education agency website for your state to obtain copies of relevant standards for this

assessment.

Follow the

guidelines for

candidate support

at www.edTPA.com

Follow the guidelines for candidate support found at www.edTPA.com as you develop your

evidence for edTPA. Although you may seek and receive appropriate support from your

university supervisors, cooperating/master teachers, university instructors, or peers during

this process, the ultimate responsibility for completing this assessment lies with you.

Therefore, when you submit your completed work, you must be able to confirm your

adh

erence with certain statements, such as the following:

I have primary responsibility for teaching the children/class during the learning segment

profiled in this assessment.

I have not previously taught this learning segment to the children/class.

The video clips submitted are unedited (continuous) and show me teaching the

chi

ldren/class profiled in the evidence submitted.

The children’s work included in the documentation is that of my students, completed

duri

ng the learning segment documented in this assessment.

I am author of the commentaries and other written responses to prompts in this

asse

ssment.

Appropriate citations have been made for all materials in the assessment whose

sour

ces are from published text, the Internet, or other educators.

_____

edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

40 of 53

Early Childhood Context for Learning

Information

Use the Context for Learning Information to supply information about your school/classroom

context.

About the School Where You Are Teaching

1. In what type of school do you teach? (Type an “X” next to the appropriate

description; if “other” applies, provide a brief description.)

Preschool:

Elementary school:

Other (please describe):

2. Where is the school where you are teaching located? (Type an “X” next to the

appropriate description.)

City:

Suburb:

Town:

Rural:

3. List any special features of your school or classroom setting (e.g., charter, co-

teaching, themed magnet, classroom aide, bilingual, team taught with a special

education teacher) that will affect your teaching in this learning segment.

4. Describe any district, school, or cooperating teacher requirements or expectations

that

might affect your planning or delivery of instruction, such as required curricula,

pacing plan, use of specific instructional strategies, or standardized tests.

If you need guidance when making a selection, reference the NCES locale category definitions

(https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ruraled/definitions.asp) or consult with your placement school administrator.

About the Class Featured in this Learning Segment

1. How much time is devoted each day to language and literacy instruction in your

classroom?

2. Is there any ability grouping or tracking in language and literacy? If so, please

descr

ibe how it affects your class.

3. Identify any textbook or instructional program you primarily use for language and

lit

eracy instruction. If a textbook, please provide the title, publisher, and date of

publication.

4. List other resources (e.g., electronic whiteboard, hands-on materials, online

resour

ces) you use for language and literacy instruction in this class.



_______________________________________________________

_____

______ _____

edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

41 of 53

About the Children in the Class Featured in this Learning Segment

1. Grade level(s):

2. Age range:

3. Number of

children in the class:

males: females:

4. Complete the 3 charts below to summarize required or needed supports,

acc

ommodations, or modifications for your children that will affect your instruction in

this learning segment. As needed, consult with your cooperating teacher to complete

the charts. Some rows have been completed in italics as examples. Use as many

rows as you need.

Consider the variety of learners in your class who may require different

rategies/supports or accommodations/modifications to instruction or

assessment. For example, children

With Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) or 504 plans

With specific language needs

Needing greater challenge or support

Who struggle with reading

Who are underperforming or have gaps in academic knowledge

Who are at different points along the developmental continuum

NOTE: In Assessment Task 3, you will need to submit work samples and

deo evidence from 2 children—these will be your focus children. At least

one child must have specific learning needs, for example, a child with an IEP

(Individualized Education Program) or 504 plan, an English language learner,

a struggling reader, or a child at a different point in the developmental

continuum in relation to the other children in the class. If possible, identify the

2 focus children before completing Planning Task 1.

edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

42 of 53

Children with IEPs/504 Plans

IEPs/504 Plans:

Classifications/Needs

Number of

Children

Supports, Accommodations,

Modifications, Pertinent IEP Goals

Example: Visual processing 2 Close monitoring, large print text,

window card to isolate text

Children with Specific Language Needs

Language Needs Number of

Children

Supports, Accommodations,

Modifications

Example: English language

learners with only a few

words of English

2 Pre-teach key words and phrases

through examples and graphic

organizers (e.g., word cluster,

manipulatives, visuals)

Have children use pre-taught key words

and graphic organizers to complete

sentence starters

Example: Children who speak

a variety of English other than

that used in textbooks

5 Make connections between the language

children bring and the language used in

the textbook

Children with Other Learning Needs

Other Learning Needs Number of

Children

Supports, Accommodations,

Modifications

Example: Struggling readers 5 Provide oral explanations for directions



edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

(Continued on next page)

43 of 53

Early Childhood Evidence Chart

Your evidence must be submitted to the electronic portfolio management system used by your teacher preparation program. Your

submission must conform to the artifact and commentary specifications for each task. This section provides instructions for all

evidence types as well as a description of supported file types for evidence submission, number of files, response lengths, and

other information regarding format specifications. Note that your evidence cannot contain hyperlinked content. Any web content

you wish to include as part of your evidence must be submitted as a document file, which must conform to the file format and

response length requirements. If you have materials that must be translated into English as per the

edTPA Submission

Requi

rements, those translations should be added to the original materials as part of the same file or, if applicable, to the end of

the c

ommentary template. There is no page limit for required translations into English.

Planning Task 1: Artifacts and Commentary Specifications

What to

Submit

Supported File

Types

Number of Files

Response

Length

Additional Information

Min Max

Part A: Context for

Learning Information

(template provided)

.doc; .docx; .odt; .pdf

1 1 No more than

4 pages, including

prompts

Use Arial 11-point type.

Single space with 1" margins on all sides.

Part B: Plans for

Learning Segment

.doc; .docx; .odt; .pdf

1 1 No more than 4

pages pe

r learning

experience

Submit 3–5 plans for the learning segment in 1 file.

Within the file, label each plan (Learning Experience 1, Learning

Exp

erience 2, etc.).

All rationale or explanations for plans should be written in the

Planning Commentary and removed from plans for the learning

segment.

Part C:

Instr

uctional

Materials

.doc; .docx; .odt; .pdf

1 1 No more than

5 pages o

f KEY

instructional materials

per plan

Submit all materials in 1 file.

Within the file, label materials by corresponding learning

exper

ience (Learning Experience 1 Instructional Materials,

Learning Experience 2 Instructional Materials, etc.).

Order materials as they are used in the learning segment.



edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

Planning Task 1: Artifacts and Commentary Specifications (continued)

What to

Submit

Supported File

Types

Number of Files

Response

Length

Additional Information

Min Max

44 of 53

Part D:

Assessments

.doc; .docx; .odt; .pdf

1 1

No limit

Submit assessments in 1 file.

Within the file, label assessments by corresponding learning

experience (Learning Experience 1 Assessments, Learning

Experience 2 Assessments, etc.).

Order assessments as they are used in the learning segment.

Part E: Planning

Commentary

(template provided)

.doc; .docx; .odt; .pdf

1 1 No more than

9 pages of

commentary,

including prompts

Use Arial 11-point type.

Single space with 1" margins on all sides.

Respond to prompts before teaching the learning segment.

45 of 53



edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

Instruction Task 2: Artifacts and Commentary Specifications

What to

Submit

Supported File

Types

Number of Files

Response

Length

Additional Information

Min Max

Part A: Video

Clips

flv, asf, qt, mov, mpg,

mpeg, avi, wmv, mp4,

m4v

2 2 No more than

15 minutes total

running time (but not

less than 3 minutes)

Before you record your video, obtain permission from the

parents/guar

dians of the children and from adults who appear in

the video.

Refer to Instruction Task 2, What Do I Need to Do? for video clip

content

and requirements.

When naming each clip file, include the number of the learning

experience shown in the video clip.

Part B: Instruction

Commentary

(templ

ate

provid

ed)

.doc; .docx; .odt; .pdf

1 1 No more than

6 pages of

commen

tary,

including prompts

If needed, no more

than 2 addit

ional

pages of supporting

documentation

Use Arial 11-point type.

Single space with 1" margins on all sides.

IMPORTANT: Insert additional documentation at the end of the

commentar

y file if

you or the children are using graphics, texts, or images that are

not clearly visible in the video

there are occasional inaudible portions of the video

If submitting additional documentation (e.g., transcript), include the

video cli

p number, learning experience number, and explanatory

text (e.g., “Clip 1, learning experience 2, text from a whiteboard

that is not visible in the video,” “Clip 2, learning experience 4,

transcription of a child’s response that is inaudible”).

Video file size requirements: The target file size is 200–300 MB or less. The Pearson ePortfolio System file size limit is 500 MB. Please note that each integrated platform

provider portfolio system may have additional constraints or requirements regarding video formats and file sizes. You may need to use video tools to compress or transcode your

video into smaller file sizes to facilitate uploading of the video. Refer to Recommended Video Formats and Settings on www.edtpa.com

for the current requirements.



edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

(Continued on next page)

46 of 53

Assessment Task 3: Artifacts and Commentary Specifications

What to

Submit

Supported File

Types

Number of Files

Response

Length

Additional Information

Min Max

Part A: Video or

Audio Evidence of

Learning

For video evidence:

flv, asf, qt, mov, mpg,

mpeg, avi, wmv, mp4,

m4v

For audio evidence:

flv, asf, wmv, qt, mov,

mpg, avi, mp3, wav,

mp4, wma

0 2 For each focus child,

1 video

or audio clip

of no more than 7

minutes in length

If needed, no more

than 2 additional

pages of supporting

documentation

IMPORTANT:

Before you record your video, obtain permission from the

parents/guardians of the children and from adults who appear in

the video.

If you choose to use video evidence from Instruction Task 2,

provi

de the time-stamp reference in the appropriate prompt within

the Assessment Commentary.

If more than one focus child appears in video or audio evidence of

learn

ing, upload the same evidence separately for each focus

child who is seen/heard and label appropriately. Describe how to

recognize each of the focus children in the clip and provide the

label associated with the clip in prompt 1e of the Assessment

Commentary.

If you submit evidence of learning, a student work sample, or

feedback as a vi

deo or audio clip and comments made by you or

your focus child(ren) cannot be clearly heard, do one of the

following: 1) attach a transcription of the inaudible comments (no

more than 2 additional pages) to the end of the Assessment

Commentary; 2) embed quotes with time-stamp references in the

commentary response; or 3) insert captions in the video (captions

for this purpose will be considered permissible editing).

Video file size requirements: The target file size is 200–300 MB or less. The Pearson ePortfolio System file size limit is 500 MB. Please note that each integrated platform

provider portfolio system may have additional constraints or requirements regarding video formats and file sizes. You may need to use video tools to compress or transcode your

video into smaller file sizes to facilitate uploading of the video. Refer to Recommended Video Formats and Settings on www.edtpa.com

for the current requirements.



edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

Assessment Task 3: Artifacts and Commentary Specifications (continued)

47 of 53

What to Supported File

Number of Files

Response

Additional Information

Submit Types Length

Min Max

(Continued on next page)

Part B:

Observation Notes

and Work

Samples

For observation

notes: .doc; .docx;

.odt; .pdf

For written work

samples:

.doc; .docx;

.odt; .pdf

For audio work

samples: flv, asf,

wmv, qt, mov, mpg,

avi, mp3, wav, mp4,

wma

For video work

samples

: flv, asf, qt,

mov, mpg, mpeg, avi,

wmv, mp4, m4v

4 4 Observation

Notes: No more

than 2 pages per

focus child

Written Work

Sample

No page limit

Video/Audio Work

Sample

No more than 5

minutes per focus

child

Submit 2 files for each focus child: one for the observation notes and

one for the work sample.

OBSERVATION NOTES:

When naming each observation notes file, include the focus child

number (e.g.,

“Notes_Child_1.doc”).

On the observations notes, make sure you indicate the focus child by

number (e.

g., “Focus Child 1 Notes”) and refer to them accordingly in

the Assessment Commentary.

WORK SAMPLES:

Use correction fluid, tape, or a felt-tip marker to mask or remove

children’s names, your name, and the name of the school before

copying/scanning any written work samples. If the children’s writing

is illegible, write a transcription directly on the work sample.

On each work sample, make sure you indicate the focus child by

number (e.g

., “Focus Child 1 Work Sample”) and refer to them

accordingly in the Assessment Commentary. If more than one focus

child appears in a video or audio work sample, upload the same work

sample separately for each focus child who is seen/heard and label

appropriately. Describe how to recognize each of the focus children in

the clip and provide the label associated with the clip in prompt 1e of the

Assessment Commentary.

When naming each work sample file, include the focus child number.

If you submit evidence of learning, a student work sample, or feedback

as a video or

audio clip and comments made by you or your focus

child(ren) cannot be clearly heard, do one of the following: 1) attach a

transcription of the inaudible comments (no more than 2 additional

pages) to the end of the Assessment Commentary; 2) embed quotes

with time-stamp references in the commentary response; or 3) insert

captions in the video (captions for this purpose will be considered

permissible editing).

Video file size requirements: The target file size is 200–300 MB or less. The Pearson ePortfolio System file size limit is 500 MB. Please note that each integrated platform

provider portfolio system may have additional constraints or requirements regarding video formats and file sizes. You may need to use video tools to compress or transcode your

video into smaller file sizes to facilitate uploading of the video. Refer to Recommended Video Formats and Settings on www.edtpa.com

for the current requirements.



edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

Assessment Task 3: Artifacts and Commentary Specifications (continued)

What to

Submit

Supported File

Types

Number of Files

Response

Length

Additional Information

Min Max

(Continued on next page)

48 of 53

Part C: Evidence

of Feedback

And, if included,

video e

vidence of

vocabulary use

For written feedback

not writ

ten on the

work samples: .doc;

.docx; .odt; .pdf

For audio feedback:

flv, asf, wmv, qt, mov,

mpg, avi, mp3, wav,

mp4, wma

For video clips

(fe

edback and/or

vocabulary use): flv,

asf, qt, mov, mpg,

mpeg, avi, wmv, mp4,

m4v

0 3

Written Feedback:

No page li

mit

Video/Audio

Feedback:

No more than 3

minutes per focus

child

Vocabulary Use:

No more than 5

minutes

Indicate the location of your evidence of feedback in the

Assessmen

t Commentary.

If feedback is not included as part of the work samples or recorded

on the video clip(s) from Instruction Task 2, submit only 1 file for

each focus child—a document, video file, OR audio file—and label

the file with the corresponding child number (Focus Child 1

Feedback or Focus Child 2 Feedback).

If more than one focus child appears in a video or audio clip of

feedback, upload the same clip separately for each focus child

who is seen/heard and label appropriately.

When naming each feedback file, include the focus child number.

If you submit evidence of learning, a student work sample, or

feedback as a video or audio clip and comments made by you or

your focus child(ren) cannot be clearly heard, do one of the

following: 1) attach a transcription of the inaudible comments (no

more than 2 additional pages) to the end of the Assessment

Commentary; 2) embed quotes with time-stamp references in the

commentary response; or 3) insert captions in the video (captions

for this purpose will be considered permissible editing).

If you submit feedback to focus children as a video or audio clip

and addi

tional children are present, clearly identify which children

are your focus children at the end of the Assessment Commentary

(in no more than two sentences).

For Vocabulary Use – If you choose to identify evidence from

video cl

ips submitted in Instruction Task 2, be sure to provide time

stamps in the appropriate prompt within the Assessment

Commentary.



edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

Assessment Task 3: Artifacts and Commentary Specifications (continued)

What to

Submit

Supported File

Types

Number of Files

Response

Length

Additional Information

Min Max

49 of 53

Part D:

Assessment

Commentary

(template

provided)

.doc; .docx; .odt; .pdf 1 1 No more than 10

pages of commentary,

including prompts

Plus

no more than 5

additiona

l pages

for the common

assessment,

if necessary, no

more t

han 2

additional total

pages of

transcription of

video/audio

evidence of

learning or

evidence for a

work sample and

feedback, and/or

video evidence of

vocabulary use

Use Arial 11-point type.

Single space with 1" margins on all sides.

IMPORTANT: Insert a copy of the common assessment or

directions for the common assessment and (if applicable) include

directions/prompts provided to children.

Part E: Evaluation

Crite

ria

.doc; .docx; .odt; .pdf 1 1 No limit



edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

50 of 53

Early Childhood Glossary

Source citations for glossary entries are provided as footnotes in this section.

academic language: Oral and written language used for academic purposes. Academic

language is the means by which children develop and express content understandings.

Academic language represents the language of the discipline that children need to learn and

use to participate and engage in the content area in meaningful ways. There are language

demands that teachers need to consider as they plan to support children’s learning of

content. These language demands include vocabulary, language functions, discourse,

and syntax. For the Early Childhood edTPA handbook, however, academic language is

focused only on vocabulary:

vocabulary: Includes developmentally appropriate sounds, words, phrases,

sentenc

es, and paragraphs that candidates want children to use or create to engage

in the learning experience. For example, including: (1) words and phrases with

subject-specific meanings that differ from meanings used in everyday life (e.g.,

table); (2) general academic vocabulary used across disciplines (e.g., compare,

analyze, evaluate); and (3) subject-specific words defined for use in the discipline.

active nature of young children's learning: In the context of teaching, this refers to

practices for young children that promote learning through meaningful, relevant, and

authentic experiences with materials and with people—by doing (engaging with open-ended,

multi-use, rich materials, play, physical action, hands-on experiments), and by having

relationships (engaging in conversations, generating, and asking questions), following their

own interests and curiosity, being able to make mistakes and learn from their mistakes,

learning to control impulses and regulate their emotions, and through the model of adults

(how they talk, act, treat each other, etc.).

aligned: Consistently addressing the same/similar learning outcomes for children.

artifacts: Authentic work completed by you and your children. Artifacts include plans, copies

instructional and assessment materials, video clips of your teaching, and children’s work

samples, and are submitted as part of your evidence. Children’s work samples could include

writing, drawing, painting, and photos of children at work or of their constructions (e.g., block

building, building bricks).

assessment (formal and informal): “[R]efer[s] to all those activities undertaken by

teacher

s and by their students . . . that provide information to be used as feedback to modify

teaching and learning activities.”

Assessments provide evidence of children’s prior

knowledge, thinking, or learning in order to evaluate what children understand and how they

are thinking. Informal assessments may include, for example, children’s questions and

responses during their learning experiences and teacher’s anecdotal observations of

Quinn, H., Lee, O., & Valdés, G. (2012). Language demands and opportunities in relation to next generation science

standards for ELLs. Retrieved from http://ell.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/academic-papers/03-

Quinn%

20Lee%20Valdes%20Language%20and%20Opportunities%20in%20Science%20FINAL.pdf

Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment. Phi Delta Kappan,

80(2), 139–148.



edTPA Early Childhood Assessment Handbook

51 of 53

children as they work or perform. Formal assessments may include, for example, samples of

children’s writing, drawing, painting, photos, project work, and performance tasks.

assets (knowledge of children):

personal: Refers to specific background information that children bring to the

learning environment. Children may bring interests, knowledge, everyday

experiences, family backgrounds, and so on, which a teacher can draw upon to

support learning.

cultural: Refers to the cultural backgrounds and practices that children bring to the

learning environment, such as traditions, languages and dialects, worldviews,

literature, and art, that a teacher can draw upon to support learning.

community: Refers to common backgrounds and experiences that children bring

from the community where they live, such as resources, local landmarks, and

community events and practices, that a teacher can draw upon to support learning.

central focus: A description of the important understandings and core concepts that you

want children to develop within the learning segment. The central focus should go beyond a

list of facts and skills, align with content standards and learning objectives, and address the

developmental and subject-specific components in the learning segment. The subject-

specific components for an Early Childhood central focus are: developmentally appropriate

practices to promote language and literacy development in an interdisciplinary context that

take into consideration the active and multimodal nature of young children’s learning. Within

an Early Childhood context, the unit of instruction may center on a theme (e.g., birds or

insects) or a particular aspect of language and literacy development (e.g., making how-to

books, poetry, genre study). However, the central focus of the learning segment might be

rhyming sounds or poetry made up of 3–5 learning experiences that are developmentally

appropriate, take into consideration the active and multimodal nature of young children’s

learning, and take place in an interdisciplinary context. For example, a central focus on

poetry might include developmentally appropriate, interdisciplinary, active, and multimodal

learning experiences on a rhyming poem, haiku poem, and picture poem; or a learning

segment on how-to books might include similar learning experiences on reading a how-to

book, focusing on parts of the book—title, author, illustrator, table of contents. Or a central

focus on learning to express “feelings” through words might include reading a book about

feelings, making a chart about different feelings, and drawing a picture about feelings.

commentary: Submitted as part of each task and, along with artifacts, make up your

evidence. The commentaries should be written to explain the rationale behind your teaching

decisions and to analyze and reflect on what you have learned about your teaching practice

and your children’s learning.

engaging children in learning: Using instructional and motivational strategies that promote

children’s active involvement in learning tasks that increase their understanding, knowledge,

skills, and abilities related to specific learning objectives.

evaluation criteria: Performance indicators or dimensions that are used to assess evidence

of children’s learning. They indicate the qualities by which levels of performance can be

differentiated and that anchor judgments about the learner’s degree of progress as indicated

by the assessment. Evaluation criteria can be represented in various ways, such as a rubric,

a checklist of different levels of performance/development, or rules for noting full versus

partial accomplishment. Evaluation criteria may examine at what stage along a continuum of

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development a child is, correctness/accuracy, cognitive complexity, sophistication or

elaboration of responses, or quality of explanations.

evidence: Consists of artifacts that document how you planned and implemented

instruction AND commentaries that explain your plans and what is seen in the

videorecording(s) or examine what you learned about your teaching practice and your

children’s learning. Evidence should demonstrate your ability to design learning experiences

with instructional supports that deepen children’s learning, use knowledge of your children to

inform instruction, foster a positive learning environment that promotes children’s learning,

monitor and assess children’s progress toward learning objectives, and analyze your

teaching effectiveness. Your evidence must be submitted electronically using the electronic

portfolio management system used by your teacher preparation program.

interdisciplinary: Refers to learning experiences that include connections across multiple

disciplines. Interdisciplinary instruction embeds learning experiences in a study or theme

that cuts across multiple disciplines and enhances the meaning and authenticity of the

experiences while supporting specific learning objectives and goals.

learning environment: The designed physical and emotional context, established and

maintained throughout the learning segment to support a positive and productive learning

experience for children.

learning experience: Includes activities, discussions, or other modes of participation that

engage children to develop, practice, and apply skills and knowledge related to a specific

learning goal. Learning experiences may be scaffolded to connect prior knowledge to new

knowledge and often include formative assessment. A sample learning experience for

preschoolers could include reading a book about a place visited on a trip somewhere in the

neighborhood (supermarket, subway station, park, etc.), and follow up with an assignment

for children to draw/write about something they noticed or did on the trip.

learning objectives: Learning outcomes to be achieved by the end of the learning

experience or learning segment.

learning segment: A set of 3–5 learning experiences that build one upon another toward a

central focus, with a clearly defined beginning and end.

multimodal nature of young children's learning: Refers to teaching practices for young

children that promote learning through the engagement of all their senses, utilizing varied

approaches to learning and to demonstrating that learning (i.e., integrated, meaningful

experiences that build on children's interests, nurture their curiosity, and respond to their

own unique styles of learning while scaffolding and challenging them to grow in less-

developed areas). Use of technology should be developmentally appropriate, active and

engaging, support creativity, empower children’s construction of knowledge (e.g., digital

storytelling) and be one of many options to support learning.

patterns of learning: Includes both quantitative and qualitative patterns (or consistencies)

for different groups of children or individuals from the assessment(s). Quantitative patterns

indicate, in a numerical way, the information understood from the assessments/evidence of

learning (e.g., 5 out of 10 children or 20% of the children). Qualitative patterns include

descriptions of understandings, misunderstandings, partial understandings, and/or

developmental approximations that could explain the quantitative patterns identified

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(e.g., “given that most children were able to . . . it seems that they understood . . . but did not

understand”).

planned supports: Instructional strategies, learning tasks and materials, and other

resources deliberately designed to facilitate children’s learning of the central focus.

prior academic learning and prerequisite skills: Includes children’s content knowledge

and skills as well as experiences and understandings developed prior to the learning

segment.

rapport: A close and harmonious relationship in which the people or groups understand

each other’s feelings or ideas and communicate well with each other.

respect: A positive feeling of esteem or deference for a person and specific actions and

conduct representative of that esteem. Respect can be a specific feeling of regard for the

actual qualities of the one respected. It can also be conduct in accord with a specific ethic of

respect. Rude conduct is usually considered to indicate a lack of respect, disrespect,

whereas actions that honor somebody or something indicate respect. Note that respectful

actions and conduct are culturally defined and may be context dependent.

rubrics: Subject-specific evaluation criteria used to score your performance on edTPA.

These rubrics are included in the handbook, following the directions for each task. The

descriptors in the five-level rubrics address a wide range of performance, beginning with the

knowledge and skills of a novice not ready to teach (Level 1) and extending to the advanced

practices of a highly accomplished beginner (Level 5).

variety of learners: Children in your class/group who may require different strategies or

support. These children include but are not limited to children with IEPs or 504 plans,

English language learners, children at different points in the developmental continuum,

struggling readers, and/or gifted children.

whole child: Refers to developmentally appropriate practices for young children that attend

to the social (relational), emotional (feeling), physical (moving/doing), as well as cognitive

(thinking) aspects of development along a continuum of growth that is appropriate for their

age but responsive to their unique characteristics and that nurture their dispositions to learn.

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