Fill - Free fillable Edtpa Elementary Education Literacy Handbook (Saint Xavier University) PDF form

Elementary Literacy

Assessment Handbook

Version 07.1

edTPA_ElemLit_V07.1

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 Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

Contents

Introduction to edTPA Elementary Literacy ............................................................................1

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

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

Structure of the Handbook ......................................................................................................................................3

edTPA Elementary Literacy Tasks Overview ..........................................................................................................5

Planning Task 1: Planning for Instruction and Assessment ..................................................8

What Do I Need to Think About? ............................................................................................................................8

What Do I Need to Do? ...........................................................................................................................................8

What Do I Need to Write? .....................................................................................................................................10

How Will the Evidence of My Teaching Practice Be Assessed? ........................................................................... 12

Planning Rubrics ...................................................................................................................................................13

Instruction Task 2: Instructing and Engaging Students in Learning ...................................18

What Do I Need to Think About? ..........................................................................................................................18

What Do I Need to Do? .........................................................................................................................................18

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

How Will the Evidence of My Teaching Practice Be Assessed? ...........................................................................21

Instruction Rubrics ................................................................................................................................................22

Assessment Task 3: Assessing Student Learning ...............................................................27

What Do I Need to Think About? ..........................................................................................................................27

What Do I Need to Do? .........................................................................................................................................27

What Do I Need to Write? .....................................................................................................................................28

How Will the Evidence of My Teaching Practice Be Assessed? ........................................................................... 30

Assessment Rubrics .............................................................................................................................................31

Professional Responsibilities ................................................................................................36

Elementary Literacy Context for Learning Information ........................................................ 37

Elementary Literacy Evidence Chart .....................................................................................40

Planning Task 1: Artifacts and Commentary Specifications ..................................................................................40

Instruction Task 2: Artifacts and Commentary Specifications ...............................................................................41

Assessment Task 3: Artifacts and Commentary Specifications ............................................................................42

Elementary Literacy Glossary ................................................................................................45



edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

1 of 50

This document contains both information and definition pop-ups. To read information, use the Down Arrow from a

form field.

Introduction to edTPA Elementary

Literacy

Purpose

The purpose of edTPA Elementary Literacy, a nationally available performance-based

assessment, is to measure novice teachers’ readiness to teach elementary literacy. The

assessment is designed with a focus on student 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

develop and appl

y knowledge of varied students’ needs

consider research and theory about how students learn

reflect on and analyze evidence of the effects of instruction on student learning

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

demonstrati

ng their understanding of teaching and student learning in authentic ways.

Overview of the Assessment

The edTPA Elementary Literacy assessment is composed of three tasks:

1. Planning for Instruction and Assessment

2. Instruc

ting and Engaging Students in Learning

3. Assessing Student Learning

For this ass

essment, you will first plan 3–5 consecuti

ve literacy lessons referred to as a

learning segment. Consistent with recommendations provided by the International Reading

Associat

ion

(2010) for literacy professionals, a learning segment prepared for this

assessment should reflect a balanced literacy curriculum. This means your learning

segment should include learning tasks in which students have opportunities to develop an

essential lite

racy strategy for comprehending or composing text and the related skills that

directly

support that strategy.

The Standards for Reading Professionals can be found at http://www.literacyworldwide.org/get-

resources/standards/standards-for-reading-professionals.

You will then teach the learning segment, making a videorecording of your interactions with

students during instruction. You will also assess, informally and formally, students’ learning

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

artifacts from the tasks (e.g., lesson plans, clips from your videorecording, assessment

materials, instructional materials, student work samples), as well as commentaries that you

have writt

en to explain and reflect on the Planning, Instruction, and Assessment



edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

2 of 50

components of the tasks. The artifacts and commentaries for each task will then be

evaluated using rubrics especially developed for each task.

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 student 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 student learning.

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

of your students and their learning. As you develop, document, and teach your lessons, you

will reflect upon the cyclical relationship among planning, instruction, and assessment, with

a focus on your students’ learning needs.

Evidence of Teaching Practice: Artifacts and Commentaries

An essential part of edTPA is the evidence you will submit of how you planned, taught, and

assessed your lessons to deepen student learning in literacy. This evidence includes both

artifacts and commentaries:

Artifacts represent authentic work completed by you and your students. These

include l

esson plans, copies of instructional and assessment materials, video clips of

your teaching, and student work samples.

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

behind their

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

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook



3 of 50

and your students’ 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 frequently to guide

your thi

nking, planning, and writing. Refer to the Elementary Literacy Evidence Chart for

infor

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

Evaluation Criteria

The rubrics used to score your performance 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 Elementary Literacy 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

task.

2. W

hat Do I Need to Do?

This section provides specific, 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

Elementary Literacy Context for Learning Information: prom

pts used to collect

information about your school/classroom context

Elementary Literacy Evidence Chart: spec

ifications 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

gloss

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

referring to the Elementary Literacy Glossar

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

the lear

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

that provide guidance as you develop your evidence.

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

4 of 50

Review all instructions carefully before beginning to teach 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 foci are described in the What Do I Need to Do? sections in

Instruction Task 2 and Assessment Task 3. Refer to the Making Good Choices

document to help you prepare for all tasks. Refer to the Professional Responsibilities

section of this handbook for important information about permissions, confidentiality,

and other requirements.

If your program requires you to 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 your program’s 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.

►



►



►



►



►

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

5 of 50

edTPA Elementary Literacy Tasks Overview

Planning Task 1: Planning for Instruction and Assessment

What to Do

Select one class as a focus for this

assessment.

Provide relevant context information.

Identify a learning segment to plan, teach,

and analyze student lear

ning. Your

learning segment should include 3–5

consecutive literacy lessons.

Determine a central focus for your

learning segment. The central focus

should support students to develop an

essential literacy strategy for

comprehending or composing text and

related skills that directly support that

strategy.

Write and submit a lesson plan for each

lesson in the learni

ng segment.

Select and submit key instructional

materials needed to und

erstand what you

and the students will be doing.

Choose one language function and other

language demands impor

tant to

understanding elementary literacy in your

learning segment. Identify a learning task

where students are supported to use this

language.

Identify both the language function that

students will be expected

to use to

engage in the learning task and your

instructional supports for that language.

Respond to commentary prompts prior to

teaching the learning segment

Submit copies of all written assessments

and/or clear directions for any oral or

performance assessments from the

learning segment.

What to Submit

Part A: Context for Learning

Information

Part B: Lesson Plans for

Learning Segment

Par

t C: Instructional Materials

Part D: Assessments

Part E: Planning Commentary

Evaluation Rubrics

Planning Rubrics

Rubric 1: Planning for Literacy

Learning

Rubric 2: Pl

anning to Support

Varied Student Le

arning Needs

Rubric 3: Using Knowledge of

Students to Inform Teaching

nd Learning

Rubric 4: Identifying and

Supporting Languag

e Demands

Rubric 5: Planning Assessments

to Monitor and Support S

tudent

Learning

►



►

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

6 of 50

Instruction Task 2: Instructing and Engaging Students in Learning

What to Do

Obtain required permissions for

videorecording from parents/guardians of

your students and other adults appearing

in the video.

Identify lessons from the learning segment

you planned in Planning Task 1 to be

videorecorded. You should choose

lessons that show you interacting with

students to support them to independently

apply the essential literacy strategy and

related skills to comprehend OR compose

text in meaningful contexts.

Videorecord your teaching and select 2

video clips (

no more than 20 minutes

total, but not less than 3 minutes).

Analyze your teaching and your students’

learn

ing 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 Students in

Learnin

Rubric 8: Deepening Student

Learnin

Rubric 9: Subject-Specific

Pedago

Rubric 10: Analyzing Teaching

Effectivene

►



►



►

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

7 of 50

Assessment Task 3: Assessing Student Learning

What to Do

Select one assessment from the learning

segment that you will use to evaluate your

students’ developing knowledge and skills.

Attach the assessment used to evaluate

student performance to the end of the

Assessment Commentary.

Define and submit the evaluation criteria

you will

use to analyze student learning.

Collect and analyze student work from the

selected

assessment to identify

quantitative and qualitative patterns of

learning within and across learners in the

class.

Select 3 student work samples to

illu

strate your analysis of patterns of

learning within and across learners in the

class. At least 1 of the samples must be

from a student with specific learning

needs. These 3 students will be your

focus students.

Summarize the learning of the whole

class, refe

rring to work samples from the 3

focus students to illustrate patterns in

student understanding across the class.

Submit feedback for the work samples for

the 3 focus stu

dents in written, audio, or

video form.

Analyze evidence of students’ language

use from (1)

the video clips from

Instruction Task 2, (2) an additional video

clip of one or more students using

language within the learning segment,

AND/OR (3) the student work samples

from Assessment Task 3.

Analyze evidence of student learning and

plan for ne

xt steps by responding to

commentary prompts.

What to Submit

Part A: Student Work

Samples

Part B: Evidence of Feedback

Part C: Assessment

Commentary

rt D: Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Rubrics

Assessment Rubrics

Rubric 11: Analysis of Student

Learning

Rubric 12: Providing Feedback

to Gui

de Further Learning

Rubric 13: Student

Understand

ing and Use of

Feedback

Rubric 14: Analyzing Students’

Language Use an

d Literacy

Learning

Rubric 15: Using Assessment

to Inform In

struction





edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

8 of 50

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

your instruction is appropriate for the students and the content you are teaching. As you

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

What do your students know, what can they do, and what are they learning to do?

What do you want your students to learn? What are the important understandings

and core conc

epts you want students to develop within the learning segment?

How will you use your knowledge of your students’ assets to inform your plans?

What instructional strategies, learning tasks, and assessments will you design to

support st

udent learning and language use?

How will your learning segment support students to develop and use language that

deepens content

understanding?

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

students l

earn?

What Do I Need to Do?

Select a class. If you teach more than one class, select one focus class for this

assessment. If your placement for elementary literacy has you responsible for a group

rather than a whole class, plans should describe instruction for that group (minimum of

4 students). That group will constitute “the whole class” for edTPA.

Provide context information. The Elementary Literacy Context for Learning

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

This f

orm provides essential information about your students and your school/classroom.

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

prompts.

Identify a learning segment to plan, teach, and analyze. Revie

w the curriculum with

your cooperating teacher and select a learning segment of 3–5 consecutive lessons.

Identify a central focus for the learning segment. The central focus

(e.g., retelling,

persuasive writing) should include

an essential literacy strategy for com

prehending text (e.g., summarizing a story)

OR composing text (e.g., using evidence to support an argument) AND

Click the hyperlinked term to view the complete glossary definition, which includes a diagram of a central focus on persuasive

writing. The diagram depicts the relationship among the central focus, essential literacy strategy, related skills,

standards/objectives, and language function.

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

9 of 50

 the related skills needed to develop and apply the strategy (e.g., decoding,

recalling, sequencing, writing conventions, writing paragraphs) in meaningful

contexts.

 Determine the content standards and objectives for student learning that the

essential literacy strategy and related skills will address.

 If your teaching placement requires that you teach literacy embedded in another subject

area (e.g., social studies or science), your central focus must clearly address literacy,

and your standards, objectives, and learning tasks must address an essential literacy

strategy and skills for comprehending OR composing text. Simply having students read

and/or write while learning content in another subject area will not satisfy the

requirements for the Elementary Literacy edTPA tasks.

 Identify and plan to support language demands. Select a key language function from

your learning objectives. Choose a learning task that provides opportunities for students

to practice using that language function. Identify additional language demands

associated with that task. Plan targeted supports that address the identified language

demands, including the language function.

 Write a lesson plan for each lesson in the learning segment. Your lesson plans should

be detailed enough that a substitute or other teacher could understand them well enough

to use them.

 Your lesson plans must include the following information, even if your teacher

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

 State-adopted student academic content standards that are the target of student

learning. (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 associated with the content standards

 Informal and formal assessments used to monitor student learning, including type(s)

of assessment and what is being assessed

 Instructional strategies and learning tasks (including what you and the students will

be doing) that support diverse student needs

 Instructional resources and materials used to engage students in learning

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

condense or excerpt lesson plans longer than 4 pages. Any explanations or rationale for

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

 Respond to the commentary prompts listed in the Planning Commentary section

prior to teaching the learning segment.

 Submit your original lesson plans. If you make changes while teaching the learning

segment, you may offer reflection on those changes in the Instruction Task 2 and

Assessment Task 3 Commentaries.

 Select and submit key instructional materials needed to understand what you and

the students will be doing (no more than 5 additional pages per lesson plan). The

instructional materials might include such items as class handouts, assignments, slides,

and interactive whiteboard images.





edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

10 of 50

Submit copies of all written assessments and/or directions for any oral or

performance assessments. (Submit only the blank assessments given to students; do

not submit student work samples for this task.)

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

published t

exts, websites, and material from other educators). List all citations by lesson

number at the end of the Planning Commentary. Note: Citations do not count toward the

commentary page limit.

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

Elementary Literacy 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.

What Do I Need to Write?

In Planning Task 1, you will write

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

direct

ions)

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

a com

mentary explaining your plans (see “Planning Commentary” 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 the essential literacy strategy for comprehending

OR com

posing text you will teach in the learning segment.

b. Given the central focus, describe how the standards and learning objectives

withi

n your learning segment address

the essential literacy strategy

related skills that support use of the strategy

reading/writing connections

c. Explain how your plans build on each other to help students make

connections betw

een the essential literacy strategy to comprehend OR

compose text and related skills that support use of the strategy in meaningful

contexts.

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

11 of 50

2. Knowledge of Students to Inform Teaching

For each of the prompts below (2a–b), describe what you know about your students

with respect to the central focus of the learning segment.

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

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

struggling readers, underperforming students or those with gaps in academic

knowledge, and/or gifted students).

a. Prior academic learning and prerequisite skills related to the central focus—Cite

evidence of what students know, what they can do, and what they are still

learning to do.

b. Personal, cultural, and community assets related to the central focus—What do

you know about your students’ everyday experiences, cultural and

language backgrounds and practices, and interests?

3. Supporting Students’ Literacy Learning

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

instructional materials and lesson plans you have included as part of Planning Task

1. In addition, use principles from research and/or theory to support your

justifications.

a. Justify how your understanding of your students’ prior academic learning and

personal, cultural, and community assets (from prompts 2a–b above) guided your

choice or adaptation of learning tasks and materials. Be explicit about the

connections between the learning tasks and students’ prior academic learning,

their assets, and research/theory.

b. Describe and justify why your instructional strategies and planned supports are

appropriate for the whole class, individuals, and/or groups of students with

specific learning needs.

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

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

learners, struggling readers, underperforming students or those with gaps in

academic knowledge, and/or gifted students).

c. Describe common developmental approximations or common misconceptions

within your literacy central focus and how you will address them.

4. Supporting Literacy Development Through Language

As you respond to prompts 4a–d, consider the range of students’ language assets

and needs—what do students already know, what are they struggling with, and/or

what is new to them?

a. Language Function. Using information about your students’ language assets

and needs, identify one language function essential for students to develop and

practice the literacy strategy within your central focus. Listed below are some

sample language functions. You may choose one of these or another more

appropriate for your learning segment.



edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

12 of 50

Analyze Argue Categorize Compare/contrast Describe Explain

Interpret Predict Question Retell Summarize

b. Identify a key learning task from your plans that provides students with

opportunit

ies to practice using the language function in ways that support the

essential literacy strategy. Identify the lesson in which the learning task occurs.

(Give lesson day/number.)

c. Additional Language Demands. Given the language function and learning task

identif

ied above, describe the following associated language demands (written or

oral) students need to understand and/or use:

Vocabulary or key phrases

Plus at least one of the following:

Syntax

Discourse

d. Language Supports. Refer to your lesson plans and instructional materials as

needed in your r

esponse to the prompt.

Identify and describe the planned instructional supports (during and/or prior to

the lear

ning task) to help students understand, develop, and use the

identified language demands (function, vocabulary or key phrases, discourse,

or syntax).

5. Monitoring Student Learning

In response to the prompts below, refer to the assessments you will submit as part of

the mate

rials for Planning Task 1.

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

evidenc

e that students can use the essential literacy strategy to comprehend OR

compose text AND related skills throughout the learning segment.

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

student

s with specific needs to demonstrate their learning.

Consider the var

iety of learners in your class who may require different

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

learners, struggling readers, underperforming students or those with gaps in

academic knowledge, and/or gifted students).

How Will the Evidence of My Teaching Practice Be

Assessed?

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

following pages. When preparing your artifacts and commentaries, refer to the rubrics

frequently to guide your thinking, planning, and writing.

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

13 of 50

Planning Rubrics

Rubric 1: Planning for Literacy Learning

How do the candidate’s plans build students’ understanding of an essential literacy strategy for

comprehending OR composing text and the skills that support that strategy?

Level 1

Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Candidate’s plans for

instruction focus solely on

literacy skills without any

connections to an essential

literacy strategy for

comprehending OR

composing text.

There are significant content

inaccuracies that wi

ll lead to

student misunderstandings.

Standards, objectives, and

learni

ng tasks and materials

are not aligned with each

other.

Candidate’s plans for

instruction

support student

learning of skills with vague

connections to the essential

literacy strategy for

comprehending OR composing

text.

Candidate’s plans for

instruction buil

d on each

other to support learning of

• the essential literacy

strategy for

comprehending OR

composing text

• with clear connections to

related skills.

Candidate’s plans for

instruction build on each other

within a meaningful context

that supports learning of

• the essential literacy

strategy for

comprehending OR

composing text

• with clear AND consistent

connections to related

skills.

Level 4 plus:

Candidate’s pla

ns build an

authentic connection

between reading and writing.

Candidate explains how s/he

will use learning tasks and

materials to lead students to

independently apply the

essential literacy strategy

AND related skills.

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 Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

Planning Rubrics continued

14 of 50

Rubric 2: Planning to Support Varied Student Learning Needs

How does the candidate use knowledge of his/her students to target support for students’ literacy learning?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

There is no evidence of

planned supports.

Candidate does not attend to

ANY INSTRUCTIO

NAL

requirements in IEPs and

504 plans.

Planned supports are loosely

tied to learning obje

ctives or

the central focus of the

learning segment.

Planned supports are tied to

learning objectives and the

central focus with attention to

the characteristics of the

class as a whole.

Planned supports are tied to

learning objectives and the

central focus. Supports

address the needs of

specific individuals or

groups with similar needs.

Level 4 plus:

Supports include specific

strat

egies to identify and

respond to common

developmental

approximations or

misconceptions.

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

Planning Rubrics continued

15 of 50

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

How does the candidate use knowledge of his/her students to justify instructional plans?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Candidate’s justification of

learning tasks is either missing

OR represents a deficit view

of students and their

backgrounds.

Candidate justifies learning

tasks with lim

ited attention to

students’

• prior academic learning OR

•

personal, cultural, or

community assets.

Candidate justifies why

learning tasks (or their

adaptations) are

appropriate using

examples of students’

• prior academic

learning OR

• personal, cultural, or

community assets.

Candidate makes

superf

icial connections

to research and/or

theory.

Candidate justifies why learning

tasks (or th

eir adaptations) are

appropriate using examples of

students’

• prior academic learning

AND

• personal, cultural, or

community assets.

Candidate makes connect

ions

to research and/or theory.

Level 4 plus:

Candidate’s justification is

supported by principles from

research and/or theory.

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

Planning Rubrics continued

16 of 50

Rubric 4: Identifying and Supporting Language Demands

How does the candidate identify and support language demands associated with a key literacy learning task?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Language demands

identified

by the candidate are not

consistent with the selected

language function

OR task.

Language supports are

ssing or are not aligned with

the language demand(s) for

the learning task.

Language supports primarily

address one language

dem

and (vocabulary, function,

syntax, discourse).

General language supports

address use o

f two or more

language demands

(vocabulary, function, syntax,

discourse).

Targeted language supports

address use of

• vocabulary,

• language function, AND

• one or more additional

language demands

(syntax, discourse).

Level 4 plus:

Language supports are

designed to me

et the needs

of students with different

levels of language learning.

Language demands include: language function, vocabulary, syntax and grammar, and discourse (organizational structures, text structure, etc.).

Language function refers to the learning outcome (verb) selected in prompt 4a (e.g., analyze, interpret).

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

Planning Rubrics continued

17 of 50

Rubric 5: Planning Assessments to Monitor and Support Student Learning

How are the formal and informal assessments selected or designed to monitor students’ use of the essential

literacy strategy to comprehend OR compose text and related skills?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

The assessments only provide

evidence of students' use of

skills.

Candidate does not attend to

ANY ASSE

SSMENT

requirements in IEPs and 504

plans.

The assessments provide

limited e

vidence to monitor

students’ use of

• the essential literacy

strategy OR

• related skills

during the learning segment.

The assessments provide

evidence to

monitor students’

use of

• the essential literacy

strategy AND

• related skills

during the learning segment.

The assessments provide

multiple f

orms of evidence to

monitor students’ use of

• the essential literacy

strategy AND

• related skills

throughout the learning

segment.

Level 4 plus:

The assessments are

strat

egically designed to

allow individuals or groups

with specific needs to

demonstrate their learning.







edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

18 of 50

Instruction Task 2: Instructing and

Engaging Students in Learning

What Do I Need to Think About?

In Instruction Task 2, you will demonstrate how you support and engage students in literacy

learning. Before you begin your instruction, you need to think about the following:

What kind of learning environment do you want to develop in order to establish

respect and rapport, and to support students’ engagement in learning?

What kinds of learning tasks actively engage students in the central focus of the

learning

segment?

How will you elicit and build on student responses in ways that develop and deepen

content under

standing?

In what ways will you connect new content to your students’ prior academic learning

and personal, cultural, or community assets during your instruction?

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

teaching pr

actices to more effectively meet a variety of student learning needs?

What Do I Need to Do?

Obtain required permission for videorecording. Before you record your video, ensure

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

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 challenging learning tasks

in which you and students are actively engaged. The video clips you select for

submission should provide a sample of how you interact with students to develop an

essential literacy strategy and related skills.

Identify lessons to videorecord.

Provide 2 video clips (together totaling no more than 20 minutes, but not less than

3 minutes) that demonstrate how you interact with students in a positive literacy

environment to develop an essential literacy strategy and related skills. The two clips

can come from the same or two different lessons in the learning segment.

One clip should show how you actively engage students while modeling the

essential literacy strategy.

A second clip should show how you support students to practice and apply the

essenti

al literacy strategy to comprehend OR compose text in meaningful contexts.

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook







19 of 50

(Optional) Provide evidence of students’ language use. You may provide evidence

of language use with your video clips from Instruction Task 2, an additional video clip of

one or more students using language within the learning segment (no more than 5

minutes in length), AND/OR through the student work samples analyzed in

Assessment Task 3.

Determine whether you will feature the whole class or a targeted group of students

(min

imum of 4 students) within the class.

Videor

ecord your classroom teaching. Tips for videorecording your class are

available from your teacher preparation program.

Select video clips to submit and verify that the clips meet the following requirements:

Check the video and sound quality to ensure that you and your students can be seen

and heard on the video clips you submit. If most of the audio in a clip cannot be

understood by a scorer, 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 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).

A video clip must be continuous and unedited, with no interruption in the events.

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

to film in the video clips 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 clips, 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.

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

students 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 commentary prompts).

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

Elementary Literacy 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.

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

20 of 50

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. Which lesson or lessons are shown in the video clips? Identify the lesson(s) by

lesson pl

an number.

2. Promoting a Positive Learning Environment

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

environm

ent.

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

students

with varied needs and backgrounds, and challenge students to engage

in learning?

3. Engaging Students in Learning

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

a. Explain how your instruction engaged students in developing an essential literacy

strat

egy and related skills.

b. Describe how your instruction linked students’ prior academic learning and

personal,

cultural, and community assets with new learning.

4. Deepening Student Learning during Instruction

Refer to examples from the video clips in your explanations.

a. Explain how you elicited and built on student responses to promote thinking

and apply the

essential literacy strategy using related skills to comprehend OR

compose text.

b. Explain how you modeled the essential literacy strategy AND supported students

as they p

racticed or applied the strategy to comprehend OR compose text in a

meaningful context.

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—for the whole class and/or for

students who need greater support or challenge—to better support student

learning of the central focus (e.g., missed opportunities)?

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

stra

tegies/support (e.g., students with IEPs or 504 plans, English language

learners, struggling readers, underperforming students or those with gaps in

academic knowledge, and/or gifted students).

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

21 of 50

b. Why do you think these changes would improve student learning? Support your

explanation with evidence of student learning AND principles from theory and/or

research.

How Will the Evidence of My Teaching Practice Be

Assessed?

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

the following pages. When preparing your artifacts and commentaries, refer to the rubrics

frequently to guide your thinking, instruction, and writing.

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

22 of 50

Instruction Rubrics

Rubric 6: Learning Environment

How does the candidate demonstrate a positive literacy learning environment that supports students’

engagement in learning?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

The clips reveal evidence of

disrespectful interactions

between teacher and students

or between students.

Candidate allows disruptive

behavior to int

erfere with

student learning.

The candidate demonstrates

respect f

or students.

AND

Candidate provides a

learning environme

nt that

serves primarily to control

student behavior, and

minimally supports the

learning goals.

The candidate demonstrates

rapport wit

h and respect for

students.

AND

Candidate provides a positive,

low-risk learning

environment that reveals

mutual respect among

students.

The candidate demonstrates

rapport wi

th and respect for

students.

AND

Candidate provides a

challenging learning

environment that promotes

mutual respect among

students.

The candidate demonstrates

rapport wi

th and respect for

students.

AND

Candidate provides a

challe

nging learning

environment that provides

opportunities to express

varied perspectives and

promotes mutual respect

among students.

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

Instruction Rubrics continued

23 of 50

Rubric 7: Engaging Students in Learning

How does the candidate actively engage students in integrating strategies and skills to comprehend OR

compose text?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Students are participating in

tasks that are vaguely or

superficially related to the

central focus.

Students are participating in

learning tasks focusing

primarily on skills with little

attention to the essential

literacy strategy for

comprehending OR composing

text.

Students are engaged in

learning tasks that address

their understanding of

• the essential literacy

strategy for comprehending

OR composing text AND

• related skills.

Students are engaged in

lear

ning tasks that integrate

their understanding of

• the essential literacy

strategy for

comprehending OR

composing text AND

• related skills.

Students are engaged in

learning tasks that deepen

and extend their

understanding of

• the essential literacy

strategy for

comprehending OR

composing text AND

• related skills.

There is little or no evidence

that the candidate links

students’ prior academic

learning or personal,

cultural, or community

assets with new learning.

Candidate makes vague or

superficial links between

prior academic learning and

new literacy learning.

Candidate links prior

academic learning to new

literacy learning.

Candidate links prior academic

learning AND personal,

cultural, or community

assets to new literacy

learning.

Candidate prompts students

to link prior academic learning

AND personal, cultural, or

community assets to new

literacy learning.

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

Instruction Rubrics continued

24 of 50

Rubric 8: Deepening Student Learning

How does the candidate elicit student responses to promote thinking and apply the essential literacy

strategy AND related skills to comprehend OR compose text?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Candidate does most of the

talking and the students

provide few responses.

Candidate responses include

significant co

ntent

inaccuracies that will lead to

student misunderstandings.

Candidate primarily asks

surface-level questions and

evaluates student responses

as correct or incorrect.

Candidate elicits student

responses to support use of

• the essential literacy

strategy OR

• related skills

to comprehend OR compose

text.

Candidate elicits and builds

on students’ responses to

explicitly portray, extend, or

clarify

• the essential literacy

strategy AND

• related skills

to compr

ehend OR compose

text.

Level 4 plus:

Candidate facilitates

interactions am

ong students

so they can evaluate their

own abilities to apply the

essential literacy strategy in

meaningful reading or

writing contexts.

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

Instruction Rubrics continued

25 of 50

Rubric 9: Subject-Specific Pedagogy

How does the candidate support students to learn, practice, and apply the essential literacy strategy for

comprehending OR composing text in a meaningful context?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Candidate does not teach

students how to use the

essential literacy strategy to

support comprehension OR

composition of text.

There is a clear mismatch

between or amon

g strategies,

skills, and students’ readiness

to learn.

Materials used in the clips

include sig

nificant content

inaccuracies that will lead to

student misunderstandings.

Candidate engages students

with the essential l

iteracy

strategy without

opportunities for students to

practice or apply it to

comprehend OR compose

text.

Candidate models/shows

how to apply sk

ills to

comprehend OR compose

text without attending to the

essential literacy strategy.

Candidate models the

essential l

iteracy strategy to

comprehend OR compose text

WITH limited opportunities

for practice.

Candidate explicitly teaches

students how to apply the

essential literacy strategy to

comprehend OR compose text

AND provides opportunities

for guided practice.

Level 4 plus:

Candidate explicitly teaches

students when to

apply the

essential literacy strategy to

comprehend OR compose text

in meaningful contexts.

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

Instruction Rubrics continued

26 of 50

Rubric 10: Analyzing Teaching Effectiveness

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

learning needs?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Candidate suggests changes

unrelated to evidence of

student learning.

Candidate proposes

changes to teacher practice

that are superficially related

to student learning needs

(e.g., task management,

pacing, improving directions).

Candidate proposes changes

that address students’

collective learning needs

related to the central focus.

Candidate makes superficial

connections to research

and/or theory.

Candidate proposes changes

that addr

ess individual and

collective learning needs

related to the central focus.

Candidate makes

connections to research

and/or theory.

Level 4 plus:

Candidate justifies changes

using principles f

rom

research and/or theory.









edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

27 of 50

Assessment Task 3: Assessing Student

Learning

What Do I Need to Think About?

In Assessment Task 3, you will analyze both student learning and student use of language.

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

How will you gather evidence and make sense of what students have learned?

How will you provide meaningful feedback to your students?

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

steps i

n instruction?

How will you identify evidence of and explain students’ use of language that

demonstr

ates the development of content understanding?

What Do I Need to Do?

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

students’ developing knowledge and skills. It should be an assessment that is completed

by the whole class featured in the learning segment. (If you are teaching only a group

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

assessment should reflect the work of individuals, not groups, but may be individual

work from a group task. The assessment should provide opportunities for students to

demonstrate

the essential literacy strategy

related skills

Define and submit the evaluation criteria you will use to analyze student learning

related to the literacy understandings described above.

Collect and analyze student work from the selected assessment to identify

quanti

tative and qualitative patterns of learning within and across learners in the class.

You may s

ubmit text files with scanned student work OR, for oral assessments of

primary grade students (e.g., reading aloud, dictating text, or orally demonstrating the

essential literacy strategy), a video or audio file. (Note that the oral assessment must be

given to the whole class, though not necessarily at the same time.) For each focus

student, a video or audio work sample must be no more than 5 minutes in total running

time.

Select 3 student work samples that represent the patterns of learning (i.e., what

indivi

duals or groups generally understood and what a number of students were still

struggling to understand) you identified in your assessment analysis. These students will

be your focus students for this task. At least one of the focus students must have

specific learning needs, for example, a student with an IEP (Individualized Education

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

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook



28 of 50

underperforming student or a student with gaps in academic knowledge, and/or a gifted

student needing greater support or challenge. Note: California candidates must include

one focus student who is an English language learner.

Document the feedback you gave to each of the 3 focus students on the work sample

itself, as an audio clip, or as a video clip. You must submit evidence of the actual

feedback provided to each focus student, and not a description of the feedback.

If you submit a student work sample or feedback as a video or audio clip and comments

made by you or

your focus student(s) 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 a student work sample or feedback as a video or audio clip and additional

students ar

e present, clearly identify which students are your focus students in the

relevant prompts (1d and 2a) of the Assessment Commentary (in no more than 2

sentences).

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

analyzing student work from the selected assessment.

Include and submit the chosen assessment, including the directions/prompts

provided to s

tudents. Attach the assessment (no more than 5 additional pages) to

the end of the Assessment Commentary.

Provide evidence of students’ understanding and use of the targeted academic

language function

and other language demands. You may choose evidence from the

video cli

ps submitted in Instruction Task 2, an additional video clip of one or more

students using language within the learning segment (no more than 5 minutes in

length), AND/OR student work samples submitted in Assessment Task 3.

California candidates—If you do not have any English language learners, select a student who is challenged by academic

English.

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

Elementary Literacy 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.

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.



edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

29 of 50

Attach the assessment used to evaluate student performance (no more than 5 additional

pages) and, if necessary, a transcription of inaudible portions of a video or audio clip of

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 Student Learning

a. Identify the specific learning objectives measured by the assessment you chose

for analysis.

b. Provide a graphic (table or chart) or narrative that summarizes student learning

for your whole class. Be sure to summarize student learning for all evaluation

criteria submitted in Assessment Task 3, Part D.

c. Use evidence found in the 3 student work samples and the whole class

summary to analyze the patterns of learning for the whole class and

differences for groups or individual learners relative to

the essential literacy strategy

related skills

Consider what students understand and do well, and where they continue to

struggle (e.g., common errors, confusions, need for greater challenge).

d. If 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 student(s) (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 3

focus students. Choose one of the following:

Written directly on work samples or in separate documents that were

provided to the focus students

In audio files

In video clips 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 student (e.g., position,

physical description) who is being given feedback.

b. Explain how feedback provided to the 3 focus students addresses their individual

strengths and needs relative to the learning objectives measured.

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

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

learning segment or at a later time.



edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

30 of 50

3. Evidence of Language Understanding and Use

When responding to the prompt below, use concrete examples from the video clip(s)

and/or st

udent work samples as evidence. Evidence from the clip(s) may focus on

one or more students.

You may provide evidence of students’ language use from ONE, TWO, OR ALL

THRE

E of the following sources:

1. Use video clips from Instruction Task 2 and provide time-stamp references for

evidence of

language use.

2. Submit an additional video file named “Language Use” of no more than 5

minutes

in length and cite language use (this can be footage of one or more

students’ language use). Submit the clip in Assessment Task 3, Part B.

3. Use the student work samples analyzed in Assessment Task 3 and cite

languag

e use.

a. Explain and provide concrete examples for the extent to which your students

were able t

o use or struggled to use the

selected language function,

vocabulary or key phrases, AND

discourse or syntax

to develop content understandings.

4. Using Assessment to Inform Instruction

a. Based on your analysis of student learning presented in prompts 1b–c, describe

next steps for instruction to impact student learning:

For the whole class

For the 3 focus students and other individuals/groups with specific needs

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

stra

tegies/support (e.g., students with IEPs or 504 plans, English language

learners, struggling readers, underperforming students or those with gaps in

academic knowledge, and/or gifted students needing greater support or

challenge).

b. Explain how these next steps follow from your analysis of student learning.

Support y

our explanation with principles from research and/or theory.

How Will the Evidence of My Teaching Practice Be

Assessed?

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

on the following pages. When preparing your artifacts and commentaries, refer to the rubrics

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

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

31 of 50

Assessment Rubrics

Rubric 11: Analysis of Student Learning

How does the candidate analyze evidence of student learning related to the essential literacy strategy and

related skills?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

The analysis is superficial or

not supported by either

student work samples or the

summary of student

learning.

The evaluation criteria are not

aligned

with the learning

objectives and/or analysis.

The analysis is not aligned with

the lear

ning objectives.

The analysis focuses on what

students did right OR wrong.

The analysis focuses on what

students did right AND wrong.

AND

Analysis includes some

differenc

es in whole class

learning.

Analysis uses specific

examples f

rom work

samples to demonstrate

patterns of learning

consistent with the

summary.

AND

Patterns of learning are

described for w

hole class.

Analysis uses specific

eviden

ce from work samples to

demonstrate the

connections between

quantitative and qualitative

patterns of learning for

individuals or groups.

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

Assessment Rubrics continued

32 of 50

Rubric 12: Providing Feedback to Guide Further Learning

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

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Feedback is unrelated to the

learning objectives OR is

developmentally

inappropriate.

Feedback contains

significant c

ontent

inaccuracies.

No feedback is provided to one

or more fo

cus students.

Feedback is general and

addresses

needs AND/OR

strengths related to the

learning objectives.

Feedback is specific and

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 students

• provides a strategy to

address an individual

learning need OR

• makes connections to

prior learning or

experience to improve

learning.

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

Assessment Rubrics continued

33 of 50

Rubric 13: Student Understanding and Use of Feedback

How does the candidate support focus students 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 feedback t

o inform

student learning.

Candidate provides vague

description of

how focus

students will understand or

use feedback.

Candidate describes how

focus students will understand

or use feedback related to the

learning objectives.

Candidate describes how s/he

will support focus students to

understand and use feedback

on their strengths OR

weaknesses related to the

learning objectives.

Candidate describes how s/he

will support focus students to

understand and use feedback

on their strengths AND

weaknesses related to the

learning objectives.

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

Assessment Rubrics continued

34 of 50

Rubric 14: Analyzing Students’ Language Use and Literacy Learning

How does the candidate analyze students’ use of language to develop content understanding?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Candidate identifies student

language use that is

superficially related or

unrelated to the language

demands (function,

vocabulary, and additional

demands).

Candidate’s description or

explanation of languag

e use

is not consistent with the

evidence submitted.

Candidate describes how

students use only one

language dem

and

(vocabulary, function,

syntax, discourse).

Candidate explains and

provides evidence of

students’ use of

• the language function

AND

• one or more additional

language demands

(vocabulary, syntax,

discourse).

Candidate explains and

provides evidence of students’

use of

• the language function,

• vocabulary, AND

• additional language

demand(s) (syntax,

discourse)

in ways that develop content

understandings.

Lev

el 4 plus:

Candidate explains and

provides evidence of

language use a

nd content

learning for students with

varied needs.

Previous footnote is now obsolete and has been deleted.

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

Assessment Rubrics continued

35 of 50

Rubric 15: Using Assessment to Inform Instruction

How does the candidate use the analysis of what students 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 learning obje

ctives

assessed.

Next steps are not described

in suffic

ient detail to

understand them.

Next steps primarily focus on

changes to t

eaching

practice that are

superficially related to

student learning needs, for

example, repeating

instruction, pacing, or

classroom management

issues.

Next steps propose general

support that improves

student learning related to

assessed learning

objectives.

Next steps are loosely

connected w

ith research

and/or theory.

Next steps provide targeted

support to i

ndividuals or

groups to improve their

learning relative to

• the essential literacy

strategy OR

• related skills.

Next steps are connected with

rese

arch and/or theory.

Next steps provide targeted

support to

individuals AND

groups to improve their

learning relative to

• the essential literacy

strategy AND

• related skills.

Next steps are justified with

principles f

rom research

and/or theory.



edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

36 of 50

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 wor

k. 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, lesson plans, student

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

students’ first names only.

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

publicl

y 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 students and from adults who appear in the

videorecording.

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

permis

sions, 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 refer 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, and material from other educators). List all citations by lesson number at the end of

the Planning Commentary. 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 lesson plans with state-

adopted academic content standards that are the target of student 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

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 adherence

with certain statements, such as the following:

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

profi

led in this assessment.

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

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

students

/class profiled in the evidence submitted.

The student work included in the documentation is that of my students, completed during

the learni

ng segment documented in this assessment.

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

assessme

nt.

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

are from

published text, the Internet, or other educators.

_____

37 of 50

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

Elementary Literacy 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.)

Elementary school:

Middle 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, t

hemed magnet, intervention or other leveled small group instruction,

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 mig

ht 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 c

onsult with your placement school administrator.

About the Class Featured in this Learning Segment

1. How much time is devoted each day to literacy instruction in your classroom?

2. Is there any ability grouping or tracking in literacy? If so, please describe how it

affects your class.

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

instruc

tion. If a textbook, please provide the title, publisher, and date of publication.

4. List other resources (e.g., electronic whiteboard, classroom library or other text sets,

online prof

essional resources) you use for literacy instruction in this class.



edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

38 of 50

_______________________________

_____

_____ _____



About the Students in the Class Featured in this Learning Segment

1. Grade level(s):

2. Number of

students

in the class:

males: females:

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

accommodations, or modifications for your students 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

strategies/supports or accommodations/modifications to instruction or

assessment. For example, students

With Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) or 504 plans

With specific language needs

Needing greater challenge or support

Who struggle with reading

Who are underperforming students or have gaps in academic

knowledge

For Assessment Task 3, you will choose work samples from 3 focus students.

At leas

t one of these students must have a specified learning need. Note:

California candidates must include one focus student who is an English

language learner.

California candidates—If you do not have any English language learners, select a student who is challenged by academic

English.

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

39 of 50

Students with IEPs/504 Plans

IEPs/504 Plans:

Classifications/Needs

Number of

Students

Supports, Accommodations,

Modifications, Pertinent IEP Goals

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

window card to isolate text

Students with Specific Language Needs

Language Needs Number of

Students

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 students use pre-taught key words

and graphic organizers to

complete sentence starters

Example: Students who

speak a variety of English

other than that used in

textbooks

5 Make connections between the language

students bring and the language used in

the textbook

Students with Other Learning Needs

Other Learning Needs Number of

Students

Supports, Accommodations,

Modifications

Example: Struggling readers 5 Leveled text, targeted guided reading,

ongoing reading assessment (e.g.,

running records, miscue, conferencing)



edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

40 of 50

Elementary Literacy 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 in languages other than English or Spanish, these must be translated into

English as per the edTPA Submission Requirements. Thos

e translations should be added to the original materials as part of the

same file or, if applicable, to the end of the commentary 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: Lesson

Plans for

Learning

Segment

.doc; .docx; .odt; .pdf

1 1 No more than 4

pages per

lesson

Submit 3–5 lesson plans in 1 file.

Within the file, label each lesson plan (Lesson 1, Lesson 2, etc.).

All rationale or explanation for plans should be written in the

Planning Commentary and removed from lesson plans.

Part C:

Instructi

onal

Materials

.doc; .docx; .odt; .pdf

1 1 No more than 5

pages of

KEY

instructional materials

per lesson plan

Submit all materials in 1 file.

Within the file, label materials by corresponding lesson (Lesson 1

Instructi

onal Materials, Lesson 2 Instructional Materials, etc.).

Order materials as they are used in the learning segment.

Part D:

Assessments

.doc; .docx; .odt; .pdf

1 1

No limit

Submit assessments in 1 file.

Within the file, label assessments by corresponding lesson

(Lesson 1 A

ssessments, Lesson 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

mmentary,

including prompts

Use Arial 11-point type.

Single space with 1" margins on all sides.

Respond to prompts before teaching the learning segment.



edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

41 of 50

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

20 minutes total

running time (but not

less than 3 minutes)

Before you record your video, obtain permission from the

parents/guardians of your students and from adults who appear on

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 lesson

shown in th

e video clip.

Part B: Instruction

Commentary

(templ

ate

provided)

.doc; .docx; .odt; .pdf 1 1

No more than 6

pages of

commenta

ry,

including prompts

If needed, no more

than 2 additional

pages of supporting

documentation

Use Arial 11-point type.

Single space with 1" margins on all sides.

IMPORTANT:

Insert documentation at the end of the commentary file if

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

are not clearly visible in the video

you chose to submit a transcript for occasionally inaudible

portions of the vi

deo

If submitting documentation, include the video clip number, lesson

number, and e

xplanatory text (e.g., “Clip 1, lesson 2, text from a

whiteboard that is not visible in the video,” “Clip 2, lesson 4,

transcription of a student 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.



(Continued on next page)

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

42 of 50

Assessment Task 3: Artifacts and Commentary Specifications

What to

Submit

Supported File

Types

Number of Files

Response

Length

Additional Information

Min Max

Part A: Student

Work Samples

For written work

samples: .doc; .docx;

.odt; .pdf

For audio work

samples: fl

v, asf,

wmv, qt, mov, mpg,

avi, mp3, wav, mp4,

wma

For video work

samples:

flv, asf, qt,

mov, mpg, mpeg, avi,

wmv, mp4, m4v

3 3

No page limit for

written work sa

mples

No more than

5 minutes per f

ocus

student for video or

audio student work

samples

For written work samples, use correction fluid, tape, or a felt-tip

marker to mask or remove students’ names, your name, and

the name of the school before copying/scanning any work

samples. If your students’ writing is illegible, write a transcription

directly on the work sample.

On each work sample, indicate the student number (Student 1

Work Sample,

Student 2 Work Sample, or Student 3 Work

Sample). If more than one focus student appears in a video or

audio work sample, upload the same work sample separately for

each focus student who is seen/heard and label appropriately.

Describe how to recognize each of the focus students in the clip

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

Assessment Commentary.

When naming each work sample file, include the student number.

If you submit a student work sample or feedback as a video or

audio cli

p and comments made by you or your focus student(s)

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.



(Continued on next page)

edTPA Elementary Literacy 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

43 of 50

Part B: Evidence

of Feedback

And, if included,

video evidence of

academic

language use

For written feedback

not written 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

(feedback and/or

language use): flv,

asf, qt, mov, mpg,

mpeg, avi, wmv, mp4,

m4v

0 4

No page limit for

written feedback

No more than 3

minutes per focus

student for video or

audio feedback

No more than 5

minutes for video

evidence of student

language use

Document the location of your evidence of feedback in the

Assessment Commentary.

If feedb

ack is not included as part of the student work samples or

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

file for each focus student—a document, video file, OR audio file—

and label the file with the corresponding student number (Student 1

Feedback, Student 2 Feedback, or Student 3 Feedback).

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

feedback, upload the same clip separately for each focus student

who is seen/heard and label appropriately.

When naming each feedback file, include the student number.

If you submit a student work sample or feedback as a video or

audio clip and comments made by you or your focus student(s)

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).

For Academic Language – If you choose to submit a video clip of

student language use, it should be no more than 5 minutes. You

may identify a portion of a clip provided for Instruction Task 2 or

submit an entirely new clip.

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 Elementary Literacy 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

44 of 50

Part C:

Assessment

Commentary

(template

provided)

.doc; .docx; .odt; .pdf 1 1

No more than 10

pages of commentary,

including prompts

Plus

no more than 5

additional pages

for the chosen

assessment,

if necessary, no

more than 2

additional total

pages of

transcription of

video/audio

evidence for a

work sample and

feedback, and/or

video evidence of

language use

Use Arial 11-point type.

Single space with 1" margins on all sides.

IMPORTANT: Insert a copy of the chosen assessment, including

directions/prompts provided to students.

Part D: Evaluation

Criteria

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



edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

45 of 50

Elementary Literacy 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 students develop and express content understandings.

Academic language represents the language of the discipline that students 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 student learning

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

discourse, and syntax.

language demands:

Specific ways that academic language (vocabulary, functions,

discourse, syntax) is used by students to participate in learning tasks through

reading, writing, listening, and/or speaking to demonstrate their disciplinary

understanding.

language functions: The content and language focus of the learning task,

represented by the active verbs within the learning outcomes. Common language

functions in the language arts include identifying main ideas and details; analyzing

and interpreting characters and plots; arguing a position or point of view;

predicting; evaluating or interpreting an author’s purpose, message, and use of

setting, mood, or tone; comparing ideas within and between texts; and so on.

vocabulary: Includes words and phrases that are used within disciplines, including:

(1) wor

ds 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.

discourse: Discourse includes the structures of written and oral language, as well as

how members of the discipline talk, write, and participate in knowledge construction.

Discipline-specific discourse has distinctive features or ways of structuring oral or

written language (text structures) that provide useful ways for the content to be

communicated.

In the language arts and literacy, there are structures for

composing, interpreting, and comprehending expository, narrative, poetic,

journalistic, and graphic print materials as well as video and live presentations. If the

language function is to interpret character development, then appropriate language

forms could include written essays (with particular ways of citing textual evidence) or

pattern sentences, such as, “The author used (action, dialogue, and/or description)

O'Hara, S., Pritchard, R., & Zwiers, J. (2012). Identifying academic language demands in support of the common core

standards. ASCD Express, 7(17). Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol7/717-ohara.aspx

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%20V

aldes%20Language%20and%20Opportunities%20in%20Science%20FINAL.pdf

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%20V

aldes%20Language%20and%20Opportunities%20in%20Science%20FINAL.pdf

____________ _______________



46 of 50

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

to introduce (main character). One example of (action, dialogue, and/or description)

was , which suggested that the character was .”

syntax: The set of conventions for organizing symbols, words, and phrases together

into structures (e.g., sentences, graphs, tables).

language supports: The scaffolds, representations, and pedagogical strategies

teachers provide to help learners understand, use, and practice the concepts and

language they need to learn within disciplines (Santos, Darling-Hammond, Cheuk,

2012).

The language supports planned within the lessons in edTPA should directly

support learners to understand and use identified language demands (vocabulary,

language function, and discourse or syntax) to deepen content understandings.

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

artifacts: Authentic work completed by you and your students, including lesson plans,

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

work samples. Artifacts are submitted as part of your evidence.

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

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

the teaching and learning activities.”

Assessments provide evidence of students’ prior

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

are thinking. Informal assessments may include, for example, student questions and

responses during instruction and teacher observations of students as they work or perform.

Formal assessments may include, for example, quizzes, homework assignments, journals,

projects, and performance tasks.

assets (knowledge of students):

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

learning environment. Students 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 students bring to the

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

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

community: Refers to common backgrounds and experiences that students bring

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

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

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

want students 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

subject-specific components in the learning segment. In elementary literacy, the central

Zwiers, J. (2008). Building academic language: Essential practices for content classrooms. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Santos, M., Darling-Hammond, L., & Cheuk, T. (2012). Teacher development to support English language learners in the

context of common core state standards. Stanford University Understanding Language. Available at

http://ell.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/academic-papers/10-Santos%20LDH%20Teacher%20Development%20FINAL.pdf

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

80(2), 139–148.

47 of 50

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

focus is an overarching, big idea for student learning in literacy. The subject-specific

components for the elementary literacy central focus also include (a) an essential literacy

strategy tied to the central focus and (b) related skills.

For example, the central focus for a primary grade learning segment might be retelling. The

learning segment would focus on the essential literacy strategy (e.g., summarizing a story)

and related skills (e.g., decoding, recalling, sequencing). The central focus for an upper

elementary learning segment might be persuasive writing. The learning segment would

focus on the essential literacy strategy (using evidence to support an argument) and related

skills (e.g., writing paragraphs, using correct verb tense, or other conventions). The chart

below provides ONE example of the relationships among the central focus, essential

strategy, related skills, standards/objectives, and academic language function.

See the appendix of the Understanding Rubric Level Progressions (URLP) resource for

additional guidance on selecting the central focus, essential literacy strategy, and related

skills that

you plan to teach within the lessons in your learning segment.

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

48 of 50

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 students’ learning.

developmental approximations: Include transitional spelling or other attempts to use skills

or strategies just beyond a student’s current level/capability.

engaging students in learning: Using instructional and motivational strategies that

promote students’ active involvement in learning tasks that increase their knowledge, skills,

and abilities related to specific learning objectives. Engagement in learning contrasts with

student participation in learning tasks that are not well designed and/or implemented and do

not increase student learning.

essential literacy strategy: An approach selected deliberately by a reader or writer to

comprehend or compose text. When students are able to select and use strategies

automatically, they have achieved independence in using the strategy to accomplish reading

and writing goals.

For elementary literacy, the essential literacy strategy is the specific strategy for

comprehending or composing text that you will teach across your learning segment lessons.

It should be clearly tied to your segment’s central focus and stem from that big, overarching

idea for student learning in literacy.

Example strategies for reading include summarizing a story, comparing and contrasting

firsthand and secondhand accounts of the same event, using evidence to predict,

interpreting a character’s feelings, or drawing conclusions from informational text. Example

strategies for writing include organizing ideas before writing, note taking from informational

text to support drafting a topic, using graphic organizers to organize writing, using a rubric to

revise a draft, or using quotes as evidence to support an argument. See the

Making Good

Choices resource for additional guidance.

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

of student learning. They indicate the qualities by which levels of performance can be

differentiated and that anchor judgments about the learner’s degree of success on an

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

point system for different levels of performance, or rules for awarding full versus partial

credit. Evaluation criteria may examine 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

students’ learning. Evidence should demonstrate your ability to design lesson plans with

instructional supports that deepen student learning, use knowledge of your students to

inform instruction, foster a positive learning environment that promotes student learning,

monitor and assess student 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.

49 of 50

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

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

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

experience for students.

learning objectives: Student learning outcomes to be achieved by the end of the lesson or

learning segment.

learning segment: A set of 3–5 lessons that build one upon another toward a central focus,

with a clearly defined beginning and end.

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

students to develop, practice, and apply skills and knowledge related to a specific learning

goal. Learning tasks may be scaffolded to connect prior knowledge to new knowledge and

often include formative assessment. A sample literacy learning task for fifth grade focused

on writing an essay with an argument structure could be a discussion about a topic for which

students have strong opinions (e.g., school uniforms) and draw from their everyday

experiences constructing arguments to introduce the features of the genre. Over a unit of

instruction, the teacher models the various features, students read and analyze argument

text on a variety of topics, and develop their own argument essay.

literacy skills: Specific knowledge needed for reading and writing, including

phonemic/phonological awareness; print concepts; decoding; word analysis; sight-word

recognition; and spelling, punctuation, or other language conventions.

misconceptions: Include confusions about a strategy or skill (e.g., misunderstandings

about text purpose and structure, application of a skill, multiple meaning words).

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

for different groups of students or individuals. Quantitative patterns indicate in a numerical

way the information understood from the assessment (e.g., 10 out of 15 students or 20% of

the students). Qualitative patterns include descriptions of understandings,

misunderstandings, and/or developmental approximations that could explain the quantitative

patterns (e.g., “given that most students were able to . . . it seems that they understand”).

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

resources deliberately designed to facilitate student learning of the central focus.

prior academic learning and prerequisite skills: Includes students’ content knowledge

and skills as well as academic experiences 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.

reading/writing connections: Support students’ literacy development through an explicit

understanding that many of the skills that are taught in reading instruction are also beneficial

to young writers. Students gain insight on how the processes of reading and writing are

interdependent, thereby reinforcing their understanding of the varied purposes of texts, how

texts are organized, how to make meaning from text, and how writers develop their craft.

Examples of learning tasks that support reading/writing connections include reading or

researching informational text to inform an essay; journal writing to make predictions;

making personal or text-to-text connections; writing book reviews or alternative endings to

stories; or writing in a style that emulates a model.

edTPA Elementary Literacy Assessment Handbook

50 of 50

related skills: Literacy skills that students will develop and practice while learning an

essential literacy strategy for comprehending or composing text within the learning segment.

These skills should help students understand and apply the essential literacy strategy that

you are teaching. Not to be confused with prerequisite skills, which are fully developed

before the learning segment begins. See the Making Good Choices

resource for additional

gui

dance.

respect: A posi

tive 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: Students in your class who may require different strategies or support.

These students include, but are not limited to, students with IEPs or 504 plans, English

language learners, struggling readers, underperforming students or those with gaps in

academic knowledge, and/or gifted students.

Download
Save PDF to desktop

Email
Email completed PDF

Send for Signing
Email for others to sign

Print
Print document

NAME

Edtpa Elementary Education Literacy Handbook (Saint Xavier University)

View Audit Log
Print With Audit Log
Duplicate Document

Fill Online, Printable, Fillable, Blank Edtpa Elementary Education Literacy Handbook (Saint Xavier University) Form

Related forms

Fillable Edtpa Elementary Education Literacy Handbook (Saint Xavier University)

Fill Online, Printable, Fillable, Blank Edtpa Elementary Education Literacy Handbook (Saint Xavier University) Form

Related forms

First 20 documents completely FREE!