The Commission on Teacher Credentialing continues to make significant steps toward California’s efforts to change how reading is taught and to ensure that teacher candidates can demonstrate high-quality literacy instruction. 

California teacher candidates must pass either the California Teaching Performance Assessment (CalTPA), the Educative Teaching Performance Assessment (edTPA) or the Fresno Assessment of Student Teachers (FAST) before they can earn a preliminary teaching credential.

State legislation now requires all TPAs to incorporate a literacy performance assessment (LPA) by July 1, 2025. Senate Bill 488 mandates that candidates demonstrate they can effectively meet the new literacy instruction teaching performance expectations (TPEs) and that teacher preparation programs are certified to meet the Effective Literacy Instruction for All Students program standard.

During the August 2024 meeting, Commissioners heard updates on the CalTPA and FAST models of the LPA. 

The Commission recently completed an LPA pilot study that was developed alongside a literacy design team as well as two liaisons, Nancy Brynelson and Bonnie Garcia, statewide literacy co-directors, at the California Department of Education. 

The LPA emphasizes teaching foundational reading skills that include phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency.  Also included are four other literacy themes: meaning making, language development, effective expression, and content knowledge. 

A total of 213 of the 218 multiple subject and education specialist pilot candidates passed the assessment, a 97% pass rate with an overall mean score of 21.1. The passing standard is set at 14 points across the analytic rubrics. 

Each of the Plan, Teach and Assess, Reflect, and Apply rubrics were scored by trained, credential-specific literacy experts that included teachers and teacher educators. 

“You can’t help but be impressed with the level of detail and care taken at every step of this process, so I have to commend CTC staff and education systems,” Brynelson said. 

“Bonnie and I are really pleased to serve as liaisons and we look forward to our continued work as it moves to field study. What’s really critical is that we ensure through all of this that all teachers are fully prepared to teach literacy so that all students learn to read by third grade and beyond, that’s our superintendent’s initiative and it’s critically important. And that they learn to read, write, and critically communicate and use language powerfully toward their own ends,” she added.  

Single subject candidates are not required to demonstrate reading instruction competency prior to earning a preliminary credential. 

“This LPA will be revised based on the qualitative and quantitative pilot test data as well as the literacy design team’s feedback,” said Amy Reising, chief deputy director of the Commission.

“The assessment will be field-tested with a larger number of teacher preparation programs and candidates in the 2024-25 school year.”

Also during the meeting, Commissioners approved a field test of the FAST version of the LPA. The faculty of Fresno State plans to pilot the FAST 3.0 this fall with approximately 85 multiple subject candidates who completed a literacy methods course aligned with TPE 7 last spring or are currently enrolled in one this semester. 

An LPA pilot for the edTPA is expected to be presented by the October 2024 Commission meeting. 

New TPA Video ResourcesThe Commission is pleased to introduce a newly created series of videos in which teacher preparation program leaders and education experts share best practices for candidates preparing to take the Teaching Performance Assessment. 

Updated September 10, 2024