ETSU education students earn 95% pass rate on national assessment

Published 12:55 pm Tuesday, May 12, 2020

JOHNSON CITY – Future teachers who are part of the Class of 2020 at East Tennessee State University moved to the head of the class with their scores on the edTPA assessment. edTPA is a national performance-based assessment for students seeking initial licensure. Some states, including Tennessee, require its teachers to have a passing score on edTPA for licensure.

Of the 165 undergraduates and graduates from across ETSU’s educator preparation programs who recently took the edTPA exam, 95% earned a passing score.

Some educator preparation programs had a 100% pass rate. This includes the K-5 elementary, Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) middle grades, MAT secondary education, library specialist, secondary education and special education programs.

“ETSU’s performance on this national assessment is a reflection of the strong and robust work our faculty and mentor teachers are doing to prepare our students to become educators,” said Dr. Cynthia Chambers, associate dean for educator preparation in the Clemmer College, who commended colleague Terryl Yates, edTPA coordinator in the Clemmer College, for her leadership in supporting ETSU’s teacher candidates.

According to Chambers, students taking the edTPA are required to submit a comprehensive portfolio that includes lesson plans as well as videos of them teaching.

Earlier this year, the State Board of Education released its annual Educator Preparation Report Card for Tennessee. The ETSU Clemmer College performed very well and earned an overall designation as “Exceeding Expectations.”

For more information on ETSU’s educator preparation programs, visit https://www.etsu.edu/coe/educator-preparation/.