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Secondary Science

Assessment Handbook

Version 07.1

edTPA_SecSci_V07.1

edTPA Secondary Science Assessment Handbook

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

contributions are recognized and appreciated.

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

with editorial and design assistance from Evaluation Systems.

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

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

edTPA Secondary Science Assessment Handbook

Contents

Introduction to edTPA Secondary Science ....................................................................................... 1

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

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

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

edTPA Secondary Science 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? ........................................................................... 31

Assessment Rubrics ............................................................................................................................................. 32

Professional Responsibilities ........................................................................................................... 37

Secondary Science Context for Learning Information .................................................................. 38

Secondary Science Evidence Chart................................................................................................. 41

Planning Task 1: Artifacts and Commentary Specifications .................................................................................. 41

Instruction Task 2: Artifacts and Commentary Specifications ............................................................................... 42

Assessment Task 3: Artifacts and Commentary Specifications ............................................................................ 43

Secondary Science Glossary ........................................................................................................... 46

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Introduction to edTPA Secondary Science

Purpose

The purpose of edTPA Secondary Science, a nationally available performance-based

assessment, is to measure novice teachers’ readiness to teach science at the secondary

level. 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

pedag

ogy

develop and apply 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

demonst

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

Overview of the Assessment

The edTPA Secondary Science assessment is composed of three tasks:

1. Planning for Instruction and Assessment

2. Instructing and Engaging Students in Learning

3. Assessing Student Learning

For this assessment, you will first plan 3–5 consecutive science lessons (or, if teaching

science within a large time block, 3–5 hours of connected instruction) referred to as a

learning segment. A learning segment prepared for this assessment should reflect a

balanced appr

oach to science, including opportunities for students to develop their abilities

to use scientific concepts and apply scientific practices through inquiry to explain or make

predic

tions about a real-world phenomenon.

Scientific practices through inquiry, as defined by the Next Generation Science Standards,

focus on eight key components:

Asking questions

Developing and using models

Planning and carrying out investigations

Analyzing and interpreting data

Using mathematics and computational thinking

Constructing explanations

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Engaging in argument from evidence

Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

After planning your learning segment, you will then teach the learning segment, making a

ideorecording 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,

ips from your videorecording, assessment materials, instructional materials, student work

sam

ples), as well as commentaries that you have written to explain and reflect on the

Planning, Instruction, and Assessment components of the tasks. The artifacts and

commentaries for each task will then be evaluated using rubrics especially developed for

each t

ask.

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.

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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 science. This evidence includes both

artifacts and commentaries:

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

nclude lesson plans, copies of instructional and assessment materials, video clips of

your teaching, and student work samples.

Commentaries are y

our opportunity to describe your artifacts, explain the rationale

behind their choice and use, and analyze and reflect on what you have learned

about your teaching practice 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

our thinking, planning, and writing. Refer to the Secondary Science Evidence Chart

for

nformation 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 Secondary Science 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. What 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

rections 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

he task.

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

Professional Responsibilities: guidelines for the development of your evidence

econdary

Science Context for Learning Information: prompts used to collect

information about your school/classroom context

Secondary

Science Evidence Chart: specifications f

or 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

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

referring to the Secondar

y Science Glossary.

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

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

that provide guidance as you develop your evidence.

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 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.

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edTPA Secondary Science 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,

ach, and analyze student learning.

Your learning segment should include

3–5 consecutive lessons (or, if

teaching science within a large time

block, about 3–5 hours of connected

instruction).

Determine a central focus for your

earning segment. The central focus

should support students’ use of

scientific concepts and application of

scientific practices through inquiry to

develop evidence-based explanations

of OR predictions for a real-world

phenomenon based on patterns in

evidence and/or data.

Write and submit a lesson plan for each

esson in the learning segment.

Select and submit key instructional

mate

rials needed to understand what

you and the students will be doing.

Choose one language function and

othe

r language demands important to

understanding secondary science in

your learning segment. Identify a

learning task where students are

supported to use this language.

Respond to commentary prompts prior

o 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

earning Segment

Part C: Instructional Materials

Part D: Assess

ments

Part E: Planning Commentary

Evaluation Rubrics

Planning Rubrics

Rubri

c 1: Planning for Scientific

Understandings

Rubr

ic 2: Planning to Support

Varied Student Learning Needs

Rubric 3: Using Knowledge of

tudents to Inform Teaching and

Learning

Rubric 4: Identifying and

Supporting Language Demands

Rubric 5: Planning Assessments to

Mon

itor and Support Student

Learning

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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 le

arning

segment you planned in Planning Task

1 to be videorecorded. You should

choose lessons that show you

interacting with students in a positive

learning environment to support them to

(1) analyze and interpret evidence

and/or data they have collected or

selected from a scientific inquiry and (2)

use their analysis to construct and

evaluate explanations of or predictions

about a real-world phenomenon.

Videorecord your teaching and select 2

video c

lips (no more than 10 minutes

each, but not less than 3 minutes

combined).

Analyze your teaching and your

stu

dents’ learning in the video clips by

responding to commentary prompts.

What to Submit

Part A: Video Clips

Part B: Instruction

Commentary

Evaluation Rubrics

Instruction Rubrics

Rubric 6: Learning Environment

Rubr

ic 7: Engaging Students in

Learning

Rubric 8: Deepening Student

earning

Rubric 9: Subject-Specific

edagogy: Analyzing Evidence

and/or Data

Rubric 10: Analyzing Teaching

Effectiveness

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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

crit

eria 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

lustrate 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,

referring 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 students 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 pl

an for next steps by responding to

commentary prompts.

What to Submit

Part A: Student Work

Samples

Part B: Evidence of Feedback

Part C: Assessment

Commentar

Part D: Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Rubrics

Assessment Rubrics

Rubric 11: Analysis of Student

Learning

Rubric 12: Providing Feedback to

ide Learning

Rubric 13: Student

Under

standing and Use of

Feedback

Rubric 14: Analyzing Students’

Lang

uage Use and Science

Learning

Rubric 15: Using Assessment to

Infor

m Instruction

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 a

re the important understandings

and core concepts 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

upport student 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

tudents learn?

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 science 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 Secondary Science Context for Learning Information

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

provides essential information about your 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. Review the curriculum with

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

teaching science within a large time block, select a learning segment of about 3–5 hours

of connected instruction.)

Identify a central focus. Identify the central focus along with the content standards and

objectives you will address in the learning segment. The central focus should support

students in using scientific concepts and applying scientific practices through inquiry to

plain a real-world phenomeno

n or predict reasonable outcomes based on patterns in

evidence and/or data.

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

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

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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 l

esson 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 t

he 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 s

ection

prior to teaching the learning segment.

Submi

t 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. These are 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.

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

performance assessments. (Submit only the blank assessment 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 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.

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

Science 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

rections)

les

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

a commentary 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 t

he central focus and purpose of the content you will teach in the

learning segment.

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

ithin your learning segment address

the use of science concepts,

the application of scientific practices through inquiry, and

the development and evaluation of evidence-based explanations of or

easonable predictions about a real-world phenomenon based on patterns of

evidence and/or data.

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

elationships between scientific concepts, scientific practices through inquiry,

and the phenomenon in the learning segment.

2. Knowledge of Students to Inform Teaching

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

ith respect to the central focus of the learning segment.

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

trategies/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).

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edTPA Secondary Science Assessment Handbook

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’ Science 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 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 preconceptions (based on prior academic learning and

experiences) within your central focus and how you will identify and address

them.

4. Supporting Science 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?

Language Function. Using information about your student’s language assets

and needs, identify one language function, from the list below, essential for

students to develop understanding of science concepts, the phenomenon, and

the application of scientific practices through inquiry within your central focus.

Analyze Explain Interpret Justify with

evidence

Predict

b. Ident

ify a key learning task from your plans that provides students with

opportunities to practice using the language function. Identify the lesson in which

the learning task occurs. (Give the lesson/day and number.)

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

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

oral) students need to understand and/or use:

Vocabulary and/or symbols

Plus at least one of the following:

Syntax

Discourse

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

needed in y

our response to the prompt.

Identify and des

cribe the planned instructional supports (during and/or prior to

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

identified language demands (function, vocabulary and/or symbols, syntax, or

discourse).

5. Monitoring Student Learning

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

the m

aterials for Planning Task 1.

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

evi

dence of students’ understanding of

science concepts,

the real-world phenomenon, AND

the application of scientific practices through inquiry

throughout the learning segment.

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

udents with specific needs to demonstrate their learning.

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

rategies/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.

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Planning Rubrics

Rubric 1: Planning for Scientific Understandings

How do the candidate’s plans build students’ abilities to use science concepts and scientific practices during

inquiry to explain or make predictions about a real-world phenomenon?

Level 1

Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Candidate’s plans for

instruction focus solely on

memorization and following

prescribed procedures for

an “inquiry” with no

opportunities for students to

engage in scientific practices

through inquiry.

There are significant content

inaccuracies

that will lead to

student misunderstandings.

Standards, objectives, and

lear

ning tasks and materials

are not aligned with each

other.

Candidate’s plans for

instruction include

opportunities for students to

engage in scientific practices

through inquiry.

Candidate’s plans for

instru

ction build on each

other to support students to

• learn science concepts,

• investigate a

phenomenon by

engaging in scientific

practices through

inquiry, AND

• construct explanations of

the phenomenon or

reasonable predictions

based on evidence

and/or data.

Candidate’s plans for

instru

ction build on each other

to support students to

• learn science concepts,

• investigate a phenomenon

by engaging in scientific

practices through inquiry,

AND

• construct evidence-based

explanations of the

phenomenon or support

predictions with patterns

in evidence and/or data.

Candidate’s plans for

instru

ction build on each other

to support students to

• learn science concepts,

• investigate a phenomenon

by engaging in scientific

practices through inquiry,

AND

• construct and evaluate

evidence-based

explanations of the

phenomenon or predictions

based on patterns in

evidence and/or data.

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.

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Planning Rubrics continued

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Rubric 2: Planning to Support Varied Student Learning Needs

How does the candidate use knowledge of his/her students to target support for students to use science

concepts and scientific practices during inquiry to explain or make predictions about a real-world phenomenon?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

There is no evidence of

planned supports.

Candidate does NOT attend to

ANY

INSTRUCTIONAL

requirements in IEPs and 504

plans.

Planned suppo

rts are loosely

tied to learning objectives 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

strategies to identify and

respond to preconceptions,

common errors, and

misunderstandings for the

majority of students.

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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

sks with limited attention to

students’

• prior academic learning

• personal, cultural, or

community assets.

Candidate justifies why

earning tasks (or their

adaptations) are

appropriate using

examples of students’

• prior academic

learning OR

• personal, cultural, or

community assets.

Candidate makes

uperficial connections

to research and/or

theory.

Candidate justifies why learning

sks (or their adaptations) are

appropriate using examples of

students’

• prior academic learning

AND

• personal, cultural, or

community assets.

Candidate makes connections

research and/or theory.

Level 4 plus:

Candidate’s justification is

supported by principles from

research and/or theory.

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Rubric 4: Identifying and Supporting Language Demands

How does the candidate identify and support language demands associated with a key science 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

mis

sing or are not aligned

with the language demand(s)

for the learning task.

Language supports

primarily

address one language

demand (function, vocabulary

and/or symbols, syntax,

discourse).

General language supports

addre

ss use of two or more

language demands (function,

vocabulary and/or symbols,

syntax, discourse).

Targeted language supports

address use of

• vocabulary and/or

symbols,

• language function, AND

• one or more additional

language demands

(syntax, discourse).

Level 4 plus:

Language supports are

des

igned to meet the needs

of students with different

levels of language learning.

Language demands include language function, vocabulary and/or symbols, syntax, and discourse (organizational structures, text structure, etc.).

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

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Planning Rubrics continued

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Rubric 5: Planning Assessments to Monitor and Support Student Learning

How are the informal and formal assessments selected or designed to monitor students’ progress toward using

science concepts and scientific practices during inquiry to explain or predict a real-world phenomenon?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

The assessments only

provide evidence of students'

ability to memorize and follow

prescribed procedures.

Candidate does not attend to

ANY

ASSESSMENT

requirements in IEPs and

504 plans.

The assessments provide

lim

ited evidence to monitor

students’ understanding of

• science concepts,

• the phenomenon, AND

• the application of

scientific practices

during scientific inquiry

during the learning segment.

The assessments provide

vidence to monitor students’

understanding of

• science concepts,

• the phenomenon, AND

• the application of scientific

practices during scientific

inquiry

during the learning segment.

The assessments provide

ultiple forms of evidence to

monitor students’ progress

toward developing

understanding of

• science concepts,

• the phenomenon, AND

• the application of scientific

practices during scientific

inquiry

throughout the learning

egment.

Level 4 plus:

The assessments are

trategically designed to

allow individuals or groups

with specific needs to

demonstrate their learning.

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

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

earning segment?

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

and deepen c

ontent understanding?

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

eaching practices 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

analyze and interpre

t evidence and/or data they have collected or selected from a

scientific inquiry and

use their analysis to construct and evaluate evidence-based explanations of or

easonable predictions about a real-world phenomenon.

Identify lessons to videorecord.

Provide 2 video clips (each no more than 10 minutes in length, but not less than 3

inutes combined) that demonstrate how you interact with students in a positive

learning environment to

develop their understanding of how to use evidence and/or data

and science concepts to construct and evaluate explanations of or predictions about a

real-world phenomenon.

The first clip should illustrate how you actively engaged students in organizing and

anal

yzing evidence and/or data from a scientific inquiry. Students should be

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examining the evidence and/or data to look for patterns, identify outliers, and/or

explore contradictory findings.

The second clip should illustrate how you f

acilitated your students' use of scientific

evidence and/or data AND concepts to construct and evaluate

evidence-based explanations of a phenomenon or

predictions of reasonable outcomes based on patterns in evidence and/or

data.

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

of language use with your video clips from Instruction Task 2, as 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

(minimum of 4 students) within the class.

Videorecord 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 events.

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

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

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

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

whom you have obtained permission to film should remain unblurred.

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

only for all individuals appearing in the video.

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).

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

Secondary Science 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?

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? Identi

fy the lesson(s) by

lesson plan number.

2. Promoting a Positive Learning Environment

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

envi

ronment

a. H

ow did you demonstrate mutual respect for, rapport with, and responsiveness to

udents with varied needs and backgrounds, and challenge students to engage

in learning?

b. If relevant, describe what you did to ensure safety during the inquiry seen in the

deo clips.

3. Engaging Students in Learning

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

What was the process by which students selected or collected evidence and/or

data to support evidence-based explanations of or predictions about the real-

world phenomenon being investigated?

b. E

xplain how you engaged students during a scientific inquiry in

 using evidence and/or data and science concepts to construct an

evi

dence-based explanation of or prediction about a real-world

phenom

enon and

 supporting or refuting alternative explanations or predictions.

c. Describe how your instruction linked students’ prior academic learning an

pers

onal, cultural, or community assets with new learning.

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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 dev

elop understandings of science concepts, scientific practices through

inquiry, AND the phenomenon being investigated.

b. Explain how your instruction supported students to use science concepts,

onsider the quality of evidence and/or data (e.g., missing data, inconsistent

results), and/or apply scientific practices while they are organizing and analyzing

evidence and/or data during a scientific inquiry.

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

tudents 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

trategies/support (such as students with IEPs or 504 plans, English language

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

academic knowledge, and/or gifted students).

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.

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edTPA Secondary Science Assessment Handbook

Instruction Rubrics

Rubric 6: Learning Environment

How does the candidate demonstrate a safe and respectful 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

beha

vior to interfere with

student learning.

There are safety hazards

en in the clip that pose an

immediate danger to

students that are not

addressed by the candidate.

The candid

ate demonstrates

respect for students.

AND

Candidate provides a learning

env

ironment that serves

primarily to control student

behavior, and minimally

supports the learning goals.

The candid

ate demonstrates

rapport with and respect for

students.

AND

Candidate provides a

posit

ive, low-risk learning

environment that reveals

mutual respect among

students.

The candidate demonstrates

rapport with and respect for

students.

AND

Candidate provides a

hallenging learning

environment that promotes

mutual respect among

students.

The candidate demonstrates

rapport with and respect for

students.

AND

Candidate provides a

allenging learning

environment that provides

opportunities to express

varied perspectives and

promotes mutual respect

among students.

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edTPA Secondary Science Assessment Handbook

Instruction Rubrics continued

Rubric 7: Engaging Students in Learning

How does the candidate actively engage students in analyzing and interpreting scientific data to construct

evidence-based explanations of or predictions about a real-world phenomenon?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Candidate does not engage

students in constructing an

explanation of or predictions

about the phenomenon.

Candidate engages students

in constructing explanations of

or predictions about the

phenomenon.

AND

Students do not support an

explana

tion or prediction

with reference to acceptable

science concepts OR

evidence and/or data.

Candidate

supports students

in constructing evidence-

based explanations of or

predictions about the

phenomenon.

AND

Students refer to e

vidence

and/or data AND/OR

acceptable science concepts

but do not explain how they

support an explanation or

prediction.

Candidate

supports students in

constructing evidence-based

explanations of or predictions

about the phenomenon.

AND

Students explain how

vidence and/or data AND

acceptable science concepts

support an explanation or

prediction.

Candidate

supports students in

constructing evidence-based

explanations of or predictions

about the phenomenon.

AND

Students use evidence and/or

ta and acceptable science

concepts to support or refute

alternative explanations or

predictions.

There i

s 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

supe

rficial links between

prior academic learning and

new learning.

Candidate links prior

academic learning to new

learning.

Candidate links both prior

academic learning and

personal, cultural, or

community assets to new

learning.

Candidate prompts students

to link prior academic learning

and personal, cultural, or

community assets to new

learning.

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edTPA Secondary Science Assessment Handbook

Instruction Rubrics continued

Rubric 8: Deepening Student Learning

How does the candidate elicit responses to promote thinking and understanding of science concepts and

abilities to apply scientific practices during scientific inquiry?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Candidate does most of the

talking and students provide

few responses.

Candidate responses include

signi

ficant content

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 related to

understanding

• science concepts,

• scientific practices through

inquiry, AND/OR

• the phenomenon being

investigated.

Candidate elicits and builds

on st

udents’ own ideas

about

• science concepts,

• scientific practices through

inquiry, AND/OR

• the phenomenon being

investigated.

Level 4 plus:

Candidate facilitates

int

eractions among students

so they can evaluate their

own

• data collection,

• procedures,

• interpretations, OR

• evidence-based

explanations or

predictions.

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edTPA Secondary Science Assessment Handbook

Instruction Rubrics continued

Rubric 9: Subject-Specific Pedagogy: Analyzing Evidence and/or Data

How does the candidate facilitate students’ analysis of the evidence and/or data based on scientific inquiry?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Candidate does not ask

students to present or

record their evidence and/or

data.

There is no analysis of data.

Candidate asks students to

present or record evidence

and/or data.

AND

Candidate takes the primary

role

in analyzing the data.

Candidate asks students to

present or record evidence

and/or data in tables, maps,

diagrams, or other graphical

or statistical displays.

AND

Candidate guides students

o find patterns AND/OR

inconsistencies in the data.

Candidate

asks students to

present or record evidence

and/or data in tables, maps,

diagrams, or other graphical or

statistical displays.

AND

Candidate facilitates a data

ana

lysis discussion where

students demonstrate the

ability to find patterns

AND/OR inconsistencies in

the data.

Level 4 plus:

Candi

date leads students to

consider limitations of the

evidence and/or data,

methods used to collect

evidence and/or data, or

analysis.

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edTPA Secondary Science Assessment Handbook

Instruction Rubrics continued

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 address 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 from

research and/or theory.

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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 w

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

steps in instruction?

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

dem

onstrates 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

conceptual understanding

use of scientific practices during inquiry

the development and evaluation of evidence-based explanations of or reasonable

edictions about a real-world phenomenon based on patterns of evidence and/or

dat

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

elated to the science understandings described above.

Collect and analyze student work from the selected assessment to identify

quant

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

ou may submit text files with scanned student work, a video or audio file of a student’s

oral work, OR a student-created video or multimedia file. For each focus student, a video

or audio work sample must be no more than 5 minutes total running time.

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

ndividuals 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

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

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 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).

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

udents are 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

prov

ided to students. 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 f

unction and other language demands. You may choose evidence from

deo clips 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

Secondary Science 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.

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

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

feedback or a student 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

conceptual understanding,

use of scientific practices during inquiry, AND

development of an evidence-based explanation or reasonable prediction

about a real-world phenomenon.

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

a separate video clip

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.

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edTPA Secondary Science Assessment Handbook

3. Evidence of Language Understanding and Use

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

and/or student work samples as evidence. Evidence from the clips may focus on one

or more students.

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

ALL THREE 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

language use.

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

were able to use or struggled to use the

selected language function,

vocabulary and/or symbols, AND

syntax or discourse

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

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 needing greater support or

challenge).

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

Support your explanation with principles from research and/or theory.

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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

fre

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

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Assessment Rubrics

Rubric 11: Analysis of Student Learning

How does the candidate analyze evidence of student learning related to conceptual understanding, the use of

scientific practices during inquiry, and evidence-based explanations or reasonable predictions about a real-

world phenomenon?

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,

lea

rning objectives, and/or

analysis are not aligned with

each other.

The anal

ysis focuses on what

students did right OR wrong.

The analysis focuses on what

stu

dents did right AND wrong.

AND

Analysis includes some

diff

erences in whole class

learning.

Anal

ysis uses specific

examples from work samples

to demonstrate patterns of

learning consistent with the

summary.

AND

Patterns of le

arning are

described for whole class.

Anal

ysis uses specific

evidence from work samples to

demonstrate the

connections between

quantitative and qualitative

patterns of learning for

individuals or groups.

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Rubric 12: Providing Feedback to Guide 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 content

inaccuracies.

No feedback is provided to

one or m

ore focus 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 st

udents

• provides a strategy to

address an individual

learning need OR

• makes connections to

prior learning or

experience to improve

learning.

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Rubric 13: 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 provide

s limited or

no feedback to inform

student learning.

Candida

te 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.

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Rubric 14: Analyzing Students’ Language Use and Science 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/or symbols,

and additional demands).

Candidate’s description or

planation of language use

is not consistent with the

evidence submitted.

Candidate describes how

udents use only one

language demand

(vocabulary and/or symbols,

function, syntax, discourse).

Candidate explains and

provides evidence of

students’ use of

• the language function

AND

• one or more additional

nguage demands

(vocabulary and/or

symbols, syntax,

discourse).

Candidate explains and

provides evidence of students’

use of

• the language function,

• vocabulary and/or

ymbols, AND

• additional language

emand(s) (syn

tax,

iscourse)

in ways that develop content

underst

andings.

Level 4 plus:

Candidate explains and

provides evide

nce of

language use and content

learning for students with

varied needs.

Previous footnote is now obsolete and has been deleted.

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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

the learning objectives

assessed.

Next steps are not described

in suf

ficient detail to

understand them.

Next steps primarily f

ocus on

changes to teaching 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

connect

ed with research

and/or theory.

Next steps provide targeted

support to individuals or

groups to improve their

learning relative to

• conceptual

unders

tanding,

• use of scientific

pra

ctices during inquiry,

AND/OR

• construction of

evidence-base

xplanations of

reasonable predictions

about a real-w

orld

phenom

enon.

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

• conceptual understanding,

• use of scientific practices

uring inquiry, AND/OR

• construction of evidence-

based explanations of or

reasonable predictio

about a real-world

enomenon.

Next steps are justified with

principles f

rom research

and/or theory.

edTPA Secondary Science Assessment Handbook

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Professional Responsibilities

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

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

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

your

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

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

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

professional responsibilities described below.

Responsibility Description

Protect

confidentiality

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

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

remove all names on any typed or written material (e.g., commentaries, 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

publi

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

Acquire

permissions

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

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

videorecording.

Your program will provide you with the procedures

and forms needed to obtain these

permissions, 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

ampus 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 at

www.edTPA.com

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

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

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

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

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

with certain statements, such as the following:

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

ofiled in this assessment.

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

The video clips submit

ted 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 l

earning segment documented in this assessment.

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

asse

ssment.

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

are f

rom published text, the Internet, or other educators.

edTPA Secondary Science Assessment Handbook

Secondary Science 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.)

Middle school:

High school:

Other (please describe):

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

appropr

iate description.)

City:

Suburb:

Town:

Rural:

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

teaching, themed magnet, remedial course, honors course) that will affect your

teaching in this learning segment.

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

that

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

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

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

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

About the Class Featured in this Learning Segment

1. What is the name of this course?

2. What is the length of the course? (Type an

“X” next to the appropriate description; if

“other” applies, provide a brief description.)

One semest

er:

One year:

Other (please describe):

3. What is the class schedule (e.g., 50 minutes every day, 90 minutes every other

day)

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

fects your class.

5. Identify any textbook or instructional program you primarily use for science

ins

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

_____

38 of 50

6. List other resources (e.g., electronic whiteboard, graphing calculators, on-line

resources) you use for science instruction in this class.

About the Students in the Class Featured in this Learning Segment

1. Grade-level composition (e.g., all seventh grade; 2 sophomores and 30 juniors):

2. Number of

students in the class:

males: females:

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

accom

modations, 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

str

ategies/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

least 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 Secondary Science Assessment Handbook

_________________________________________________________________

 _____

 _____ _____



39 of 50

edTPA Secondary Science Assessment Handbook

40 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 si

ze graph paper

Students w

ith 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 Provide oral explanations for directions

edTPA Secondary Science Assessment Handbook

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41 of 50

Secondary Science Evidence Chart

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

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

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

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

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

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

edTPA Submission

Requi

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

he 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, i

ncluding

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 pe

r 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:

Instru

ctional

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

Instr

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

Order materials as they are used in the learning segment.

Part D:

Asse

ssments

.doc; .docx; .odt; .pdf

1 1

No limit

Submit assessments in 1 file.

Within the file, label assessments by corresponding lesson

(Le

sson 1 Assessments, Lesson 2 Assessments, etc.).

Order assessments as they are used in the learning segment.

Part E: Planning

Commen

tary

(template provided)

.doc; .docx; .odt; .pdf

1 1 No more than 9

pages of

commentary,

including prompts

Use Arial 11-point type.

Single space with 1" margins on all sides.

Respond to prompts before teaching the learning segment.

edTPA Secondary Science Assessment Handbook



42 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 Running time no

more than 10

minutes each (but

not less than 3

minutes combined)

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 e

ach clip file, include the number of the lesson

shown in the video clip.

Part B: Instruction

Commentar

(template

provided)

.doc; .docx; .odt; .pdf

1 1 No more than 6

pages o

commentary,

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.

IMP

ORTANT:

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

porti

ons of the video

If submitting documentation, include the video clip number, lesson

number

, and explanatory 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.

edTPA Secondary Science Assessment Handbook



(Continued on next page)

43 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: flv, asf,

wmv, qt, mov, mpg,

avi, mp3, wav, mp4,

wma

For video work

sam

ples: flv, asf, qt,

mov, mpg, mpeg, avi,

wmv, mp4, m4v

3 3

No page limit for

itten work samples

No more than 5

minut

es per focus

student for video or

audio student work

samples

Use correction fl

uid, 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 st

udent 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).

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 Secondary Science Assessment Handbook

Assessment Task 3: Artifacts and Commentary Specifications (continued)

What to

Submit

Supported File

Types

Number of Files

Response

Length

Additional Information

Min Max



(Continued on next page)

44 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

nguage 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 feedback is not included as part of the student work samples or

recorded on the v

ideo 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 t

he 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 Secondary Science 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



45 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

additiona

l pages

for the chosen

assessment,

if necessary, no

more than

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

Secondary Science 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 (functions, vocabulary

and/or symbols, syntax, discourse) 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 science include analyzing scientific data; interpreting written

investigative procedures, diagrams, figures, tables, graphs, and dense authoritative

text; explaining models of scientific phenomena; predicting from models and data

from scientific inquiries; justifying conclusions with scientific evidence; and so on.

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

) words and phrases with subject-specific meanings that differ from meanings used

in everyday life (e.g., table); (2) general academic vocabulary used across disciplines

(e.g., compare, analyze, evaluate); and (3) subject-specific words defined for use in

the discipline.

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 science, language structures include symbolic representations

such as chemical equations (which can be translated into words), graphic and

tabular representations (which are shorthand language for complex sets of data),

lists (e.g., materials lists), and narrative (e.g., analysis and conclusion sections in a

lab report). If the function is to draw conclusions, then appropriate structures could

include charts of investigative results or sentence starters to structure an analysis

such as “The results of the investigation show…,” “This data suggests that….”

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-ex

press/vol7/717-ohara.aspx

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

standards for English language learners: What teachers need to know. Retrieved from

http://ell.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/academic-papers/03-

Qui

nn%20Lee%20Valdes%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 English language learners: What teachers need to know. Retrieved from

http://ell.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/academic-papers/03-

Qui

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

edTPA Secondary Science Assessment Handbook



46 of 50

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-Hamm

ond, Cheuk,

2012).

The language supports planned within the lessons in edTPA should directly

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

vocabulary and/or symbols, syntax or discourse) to deepen content understandings.

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. Some examples of informal assessments are student questions and responses

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

examples of formal assessments are quizzes, homework assignments, lab reports, 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 or procedures, align with content standards and learning objectives,

and address the subject-specific components in the learning segment. For example, the

subject-specific components for secondary science are conceptual understanding, use of

scientific practices during inquiry, and evidence-based explanations of or reasonable

predictions about a real-world phenomenon. A central focus for the learning segment might

be inheritance of traits. The learning segment would focus on conceptual understandings of

genotypes, phenotypes, dominant genes, and so on, an investigation of how relationships

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.

edTPA Secondary Science Assessment Handbook

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between genotypes are expressed in phenotypes, and an explanation of how these

relationships would affect distributions of phenotypes in a population.

commentary: Submi

tted 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.

data: Information that is collec

ted during an experiment or investigation to better understand

a real-world phenomenon or to evaluate a prediction. This includes quantitative data—such

as temperature values, numbers of offspring, calculated relationships between variables

from empirical investigations or mathematical models—or qualitative data—such as color

changes, descriptions of crystal formation, descriptions of relationships between variables

based on models or maps.

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.

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 (candidate): 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.

evidence-based explanation: An evidence-based explanation of a phenomenon includes a

claim (statement) about the underlying cause using scientific concepts or principle(s),

consistent with scientific evidence and/or data.

evidence (scientific): Information about the phenomenon from systematic observations or

models (conceptual, mathematical, physical, and empirical). Evidence can be generated by

the students or provided from a trustworthy source that provides some assurance that the

evidence collected meets scientific standards. If mathematical models are used, the analysis

should focus on patterns of relationships between variables and not solutions for problem

sets. Examples of a variety of evidence include: geological maps; pressures and

temperatures collected via computer simulation in gas law experimentation; photographs

used in food web organization; length measurements of bacteria, nuclei, and mitrochondria

using electron micrographs.

edTPA Secondary Science Assessment Handbook

48 of 50

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 s

egment.

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.

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 partial understandings 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.

preconceptions: Student ideas about the physical and biological worlds and how they work

or about the nature of science, based on their observations, experiences, and what they

have heard.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

practices of a highly accomplished beginner (Level 5).

scientific practices through inquiry: Scientific practices, as defined by the Next

Generation Science Standards, focus on eight key components:

Asking

questions

Developing and using models

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Planning and carrying out investigations

Analyzing and interpreting data

Using mathematics and computational thinking

Const

ructing explanations

Engaging in argument from evidence

Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

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.

edTPA Secondary Science Assessment Handbook

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