For Immediate Release: EdVoice and 12 Orgs Oppose Elimination of TPAs
Sacramento, CA (June 5, 2024) – EdVoice and 12 other organizations have submitted a letter to the California Legislature expressing opposition to Senate Bill 1263. This bill would eliminate the Teacher Performance Assessment (TPA) requirement for teacher candidates attaining their preliminary multiple subject, single subject, or education specialist teaching credential through a teacher preparation program. The bill’s most recent amendments would also eliminate the requirement for teacher candidates to demonstrate their knowledge in literacy instruction, a requirement only recently passed in 2021 through Senate Bill 488 (Rubio).
“Performance assessments are an important measure to demonstrate that teachers are prepared to teach on day one in the classroom. The financial burden of assessments, however, should not fall on prospective teacher candidates,” said Marshall Tuck, CEO of EdVoice. “We recommend the state waive the costs of TPAs to remove potential barriers to the teaching profession, while maintaining an important tool to effectively hold teacher preparation programs accountable in meeting the state’s adopted standards of quality and effectiveness,” Tuck added.