ALBANY, N.Y. Jan. 10, 2017 — New York State United Teachers today backed the report of a special task force that examined how to fix the flawed teacher certification process and urged the Board of Regents to adopt its findings.
“The task force should be applauded for maintaining high standards for aspiring teachers who wish to enter the profession while correcting some of the most onerous problems associated with high-stakes testing and the incredibly bad roll-out of edTPA that began in New York more than four years ago,” said NYSUT President Karen E. Magee.
NYSUT Vice President Catalina Fortino credited the task force with reducing costs for students, in part by recommending the elimination of an unnecessary exam. Fortino noted the task force’s approach also reduces the high-stakes nature of edTPA by allowing program faculty to recommend teacher candidates for initial certification based on multiple measures of readiness to teach, if they fail the edTPA within a narrow band of the cut score.
“The task force recommendations strike the right balance. If the Regents adopt them — and we urge them to do that — the new requirements will help to ensure that aspiring teachers know their subject area and how to teach it, which is essential to be successful in our profession,” Fortino said. “At the same time, it reduces some of the costs associated with these Pearson tests and eliminates an unnecessary and duplicative exam. That is a step forward for students and the teacher certification process.”
NYSUT also thanked members of the edTPA Task Force, which included union members who teach in the State University and City University systems, as well as K-12 school districts.
New York State United Teachers is a statewide union with more than 600,000 members in education, human services and health care. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and the AFL-CIO.
Photo Gallery: Regents Meeting