Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1512793
W H E N J A Z E L L E J O H N S T O N E N R O L L E D in her credential course in 2022 , she was told that she shouldn't have a job because the coursework , clinical practice and TPA requirements would take all her time. "During my first semester I didn' t work , but then during the second semester I had to get a job," recalls Johnston, a member of Campbell High School Teachers A ssociation. "I was substitute teaching, coaching a softball team and working at a café on weekends." Her workload became untenable. "I would do my TPA videos, then I would have to edit videos or write up the nine pages that go along with them at 11 p.m. at night. I'd be unconscious on my keyboard at 11:15, then wake up to be on campus student teaching by 7:30." Johnston feels that her stressful schedule "100%" affected her ability to pass the TPA, which she did this past June after two attempts. She also felt "the assessment is very biased. There is a prescribed way the CalTPA is set up — it's super-scripted and you have to follow 'rules' that are ambiguous and unspoken. "I'm an English teacher and contex t is ever y thing — the TPA is worded in such a way that it 's unapproachable. And the TPEs ( Teaching Per formance E xpectations) are vaguely worded. You have to read it seven times over and tr y to figure out what you're supposed to show as evidence." Johnston, 28, adds that the TPA is "really outdated. Instead of rote memorization we are now about stu- dent engagement and getting them on track." She favors eliminating it, a sentiment shared by fifth-grade teacher Erin Githens, a member of La Habra Educa- tion Association, and second-grade teacher Miyuki Manzanedo, a member of Davis Teachers Association. Githens started the CalTPA in 2018 after she had com- pleted her credential program. "It's difficult because once you complete your cre- dential program there is no support for the TPA," she says. "I had to seek support from other teachers." She found the TPA redundant. "It gives you tasks to assess the quality of your teaching, but that's what a credential program does — [the latter] already gives you assignments and assessments and observes you in the classroom. The TPA takes away time and focus from this." Manzanedo says the TPA distracted from more Jazelle Johnston, pictured here in her classroom, says "the TPA is worded in such a way that it's unapproachable." Erin Githens and Miyuki Manzanedo pass out CTA survey results at the October meeting of the Commission on Teacher Credentialing. " The TPA Takes Away Time and Focus" " The assessment is very biased. The CalTPA is super- scripted and you have to follow 'rules' that are ambiguous and unspoken." — Jazelle Johnston, Campbell High School Teachers Association 28 cta.org Feature