As nationwide calls for educational rigor and accountability continue across the U.S., many states have made the edTPA®, a teacher performance assessment, a requirement for teacher certification. The edTPA® is a subject-specific performance assessment that requires aspiring teachers to plan, implement, assess, and reflect upon a learning segment, while demonstrating pedagogical skills related to their disciplines. While it is designed to promote teaching excellence, the edTPA® can drive already-stressed teacher candidates to their breaking point, as it places them in an unfamiliar classroom and asks them to quickly display their knowledge and savvy.  
 
This book is here to help teacher candidates not only survive the challenge of the edTPA®, but also thrive. It maps out precisely what steps aspiring secondary education teachers should take to ensure successful completion of the edTPA®. Demystifying the language used in the assessment, it uniquely connects edTPA® requirements with what teacher candidates learn within their teacher preparation programs, showing them how the assessment relates to what they are already doing in their classrooms. The strategies in this book draw on both academic research and practical experience to guide student teachers as they plan for their edTPA® portfolios and for their teaching careers beyond.

"A keen deconstruction of the learning segment alongside guidance that connects theory, preparation, and practice. Preservice teachers and programs will find this text integral in preparing for the performance assessment." - associate professor of education, Aquinas College

"As a pre-service teacher educator and edTPA coordinator I was very appreciative of the authors purposeful progression of their outlined chapters. The content of this book places emphasis on educative needs of teacher preparation, with a strong introduction to the intrinsic motivation that all educators need but new and developed. The authors' scholarly use of connected materials allows pre-service teachers to make real-life connections to empower content comprehension for the novice teacher. The skills and content addressed in this book can be used to support the edTPA process, but more importantly they are good teaching practices that should be learned and used by all educators." - associate professor of childhood/early childhood education at SUNY-Cortland

"A keen deconstruction of the learning segment alongside guidance that connects theory, preparation, and practice. Preservice teachers and programs will find this text integral in preparing for the performance assessment." - associate professor of education, Aquinas College

"As a pre-service teacher educator and edTPA coordinator I was very appreciative of the authors purposeful progression of their outlined chapters. The content of this book places emphasis on educative needs of teacher preparation, with a strong introduction to the intrinsic motivation that all educators need but new and developed. The authors' scholarly use of connected materials allows pre-service teachers to make real-life connections to empower content comprehension for the novice teacher. The skills and content addressed in this book can be used to support the edTPA process, but more importantly they are good teaching practices that should be learned and used by all educators." - associate professor of childhood/early childhood education at SUNY-Cortland