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Teacher Performance Assessment (TPA)

As of July 2008, California statute (Chap. 517, Stats. 2006) requires all candidates for a preliminary Multiple and Single Subject Teaching Credential to pass an assessment of their teaching performance with K-12 public school students as part of the requirements for earning a teaching credential. This assessment of teaching performance is designed to measure the candidate's knowledge, skills and ability with relation to California's Teaching Performance Expectations (TPEs), including demonstrating his/her ability to appropriately instruct all K-12 students in the Student Academic Content Standards.

Each of the four approved teaching performance assessment models requires a candidate to complete defined tasks relating to subject-specific pedagogy, designing and implementing instruction and student assessment, and a culminating teaching experience or event. When taken as a whole, teaching performance assessment tasks/activities multiply measure the TPEs. Candidate performances are scored by trained assessors against one or more rubrics that describe levels of performance relative to each task/activity. Each model must also meet and maintain specified standards of assessment reliability, validity, and fairness to candidates.

All candidates who start a Commission-approved multiple and single subject teacher preparation program as of July 1, 2008 must meet the teaching performance assessment requirement.