Now that COVID-19 has shuttered schools, thousands of future teachers need help from the state | Opinion

Teacher Aid op ed

The workaround for certification in the post-coronavirus world isn't adequate, Tabitha Dell'Angelo and Stuart Carroll say. Students who are doing great work in the face of unprecedented challenges will only get a substandard certification.

By Tabitha Dell’Angelo and Stuart Carroll

Imagine you are in year four or five of your teacher education program, you have done everything right, but now you cannot be fully certified because of obstacles created by the COVID 19 virus. Now imagine that the biggest obstacle could be overcome if the State of New Jersey would be flexible with one small piece of the certification puzzle.

Right now, teacher candidates across the state are working in tandem with fabulous cooperating teachers to support children who are working from home. While not ideal, this has the potential to be a great learning experience. These candidates are learning how to deal with unexpected challenges, to work collaboratively with colleagues, and to exercise creativity and flexibility. They will be even more prepared to begin their careers than they would have been otherwise. Yet, at the end of this experience, many will leave their programs without full certification.

This is because the State of New Jersey mandates a teaching performance test called edTPA. This is in addition to the many accountability tests teacher candidates already take, the Praxis basic skills test, the Praxis exams in different subject areas, specialty tests in areas like teaching English as a Second Language, etc. We test them quite a bit. They pay in both time and fees. Many students pay over $1,000 in certification and testing fees. But recently New Jersey became one of the states to mandate an additional test, the $300 edTPA.

Most teaching candidates have already registered and paid for this exam. It has to be done in the student teaching semester, and they were in the midst of doing it. It is a huge endeavor, requiring the creation of complicated lesson plans, videotaping of lessons that satisfy dozens of specific requirements, and extensive analysis of student learning. With schools closed, the candidates cannot do the filming, or generate the student work that they need to examine in detail.

Of course, we look to the state for guidance. Their answer is that students can get a different kind of certification that they can convert into the full certification upon completion of the edTPA in their own classrooms at some future date. Nobody knows if this certification will be recognized in other states, whether it enables its holders to get certification in additional endorsement areas, or even how New Jersey superintendents will regard it. Pearson Inc., the company that administers the test, has provided the reassurance that anyone who has already paid has 18 months in which to complete the test, which is a better deal for them than refunding the fees they have received.

So, here is the bottom line. Students who are doing great work in the face of unprecedented challenge will get a substandard certification, have to hope they are hired with this version of their credential and then, in the midst of all the newness and anxiety that first year teaching can bring, complete a cumbersome side project so that they can finally be fully certified.

In the midst of all of this chaos and the whole world coming together to help each other out, the state should not penalize future teachers for something wholly out of their control. Surely the state could waive the edTPA requirement for this semester’s graduates, recognizing the nearly impossible circumstances they are dealing with. And Pearson could give them their money back.

Tabitha Dell’Angelo is a professor of Urban Education at The College of New Jersey. Stuart Carroll is an associate professor of Elementary & Early Childhood Education at The College of New Jersey.

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