COUNCIL FOR EDUCATOR PREPARATION
Minutes for September 23, 2020 Special Called Meeting
Via Teams at 3:15 p.m.
A special called meeting of the Council for Educator Preparation was held Wednesday, September 23, 2020 at 3:15 p.m. via Teams. Members present: Kim Anderson, Susannah Berry, Charity Cayton, Vivian Covington (Chair), Patch Clark, Bethann Cole, Holly Fales, Nanyoung Kim (connected late, vote recorded with chair), Laura Levi-Altstaedter, Rhea Miles, Dan Novey, Mikkaka Overstreet, Jeff Pizzutilla, Chris Rivera, Art Rouse (Dean of COE), Dawn Shelton, Nicole Smith, Rita Soulen, Julie Stanley, Cynthia Wagoner, Stacy Weiss and Kevin White (connected late, vote recorded with chair). Visitor in attendance was Sarah Sconyers. Absent were Ashley Cannan (voted via email to the Chair), Bernice Dodor, LCSN-PCS Representative Maurice Harris, and Christy Walcott.
Verification of a Quorum
At 3:16 pm there were 22 of 26 members present in the Teams meeting (85%). According to the Bylaws of CEP, a quorum is 50% +1; therefore, a quorum was verified.
Policy Committee Recommendation (serves a motion and a second)
The policy, which appears below, was put forth. There was no additional discussion; therefore, the chair called for a vote. There was one email vote sent to Dr. Covington from a member who had a meeting conflict and sought to have her vote recorded via email. Two members entered the meeting after it adjourned due to conflicts and the short nature of the meeting, but the chair connected with them in Teams and they recorded their votes. The policy passed with 23 yes votes, 0 no votes, and 0 abstentions.
edTPA Options Document for Fall 2020 – Undergraduates and Licensure Only
Current NC State Law and Policy for edTPA
NC considers the edTPA one of the licensure exams required for teaching licensure. According to Session Law 2017-189, a performance assessment is required for licensure effective September 1, 2019. ECU adopted the edTPA, as it was one of two performance assessment options. NC sets the passing scores on these assessments.
- New graduates and licensure only candidates who do not have passing performance assessment scores and/or licensure exams scores shall attempt the edTPA and/or exams in the first year of the Initial Professional License (IPL) and must pass it before the license expires in three years.
Current ECU Policy
ECU requires both passing edTPA scores and passing licensure exam scores before a licensure recommendation is made to the State Department of Public Instruction. This ensures candidates receive support as they prepare to meet edTPA and licensure exam requirements. ECU has maintained high pass rates on both edTPA and licensure exams when those assessments are completed within a candidate’s Internship.
Proposed ECU Policy due to COVID-19 Technology and Synchronous Instruction Barriers
Any candidate teaching in a virtual environment will be required to complete and submit a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) Viability Form to help the EPP determine whether the candidate will be able to gather all necessary edTPA evidence within their virtual environment. Candidates teaching in a completely face-to-face environment will not need to submit a VLE Viability Form.
There will not be an edTPA submission requirement for Internship II. Therefore the 10% is removed from the Internship II grade breakdown and the percentages will be redistributed accordingly. All candidates will receive a voucher code, which will cover the $300.00 edTPA registration fee. All candidates will be expected to register for the edTPA assessment during the Fall 2020 semester. This registration will be valid for 18 months. If the candidate does not submit edTPA within the 18-month window, their registration will be null and void, and the voucher will not be replaced under any circumstances.
Opt In
Any candidate may Opt In to complete and submit the entire edTPA for official scoring while in Internship II during Fall 2020. Benefits to doing so include:
- Candidates will receive assistance from ECU faculty who know and understand edTPA requirements.
- Candidates will receive assistance from OADD faculty and staff with technology and uploading logistics.
- Candidates with a non-proficient initial edTPA score will receive faculty support for retake submission in Fall 2020.
- Candidates submitting and passing edTPA this semester will not have to attempt the edTPA during their first year of licensure.
- Upon completion of and payment for the licensure application, candidates with passing edTPA and licensure exam scores will receive ECU’s recommendation for licensure automatically.
- Candidates that are non-proficient after submitting an edTPA retake will receive ECU’s recommendation when offers for employment in NC are verified or for out of state licensure requests. Candidates will still be expected to complete the edTPA during the first year of licensure in NC and may be required to do so in other states.
Opt Out
Any candidate may Opt Out of completing edTPA during Internship II in Fall 2020. If selecting this option, candidates should consider the following:
- Candidates will receive ECU’s recommendation for licensure only when offers for employment in NC are verified.
- Candidates will receive ECU’s recommendation for out of state licensure requests.
- edTPA remains a licensure requirement; it is not waived. Candidates are still required to pass edTPA once they accept their first license in NC.
- School systems may still be doing all remote instruction in Spring 2021 due to COVID-19.
- Once a license is issued, the new teacher in NC must attempt the full edTPA in year one and pass the edTPA by year three. If employment is lost during this time, the three-year clock will keep ticking, regardless of whether the candidate has a classroom in which to work or not.
- edTPA support may be provided by the candidate’s school district; some school districts are better equipped to provide this than others.
- If the candidate does not submit an edTPA within the 18-month window, the registration will be null and void, and the voucher will not be replaced under any circumstances.
- Candidates teaching out of state may still be required to complete the edTPA. Currently, 21 states require edTPA, 19 more states have at least one participating provider, and 2 more states are working toward implementation – a total of 41 states (includes Washington, D. C.) https://scale.stanford.edu/teaching/consortium
There being no further business, Jeff Pizzutilla motioned to adjourn the meeting and Chris Rivera seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 3:25 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Vivian Martin Covington, Chair