As we are educators, students, and residents of CT who care about public education and teacher quality, we are calling on the School Board for the CT State Board of Education to reconsider the edTPA requirement for teacher certification in Connecticut.

This high stakes standardized test, which costs $300 during student teaching, was never supported by the literature. Furthermore, the edTPA is widely unpopular as it has only made it more difficult to become a certified public school teacher in  CT, when many schools in our state are facing a hiring crisis.

The ineffectiveness of the edTPA can be summed up as follows: It was once required in most states in the nation, but now it is only required in three - Connecticut, Alabama, and Utah.  

Seriously. C'mon Connecticut!

The financial burden placed on our aspiring teachers by the edTPA is unjustifiable. It's time to stop this bad policy. Let's stop taking money from college students and giving it to billion dollar standardized testing corporations. 

If Connecticut policymakers want to require a standardized performance assessment for teacher candidates, then look no further than to our neighbor: Massachusetts.

Over six years ago, MA developed an evidence-based model for teacher certification (CAP - Candidate Assessment of Performance) that comes at no cost to the individual. The CAP is a non-controversial, evidence-based system, which can easily be replicated here in Connecticut. By doing so, we would not only alleviate unnecessary financial stress on our future educators but also ensure a more equitable path towards their teaching career. 

There are no valid reasons to maintain this costly and unsupported hurdle for our future teachers.

We urge the CT State Board of Education to take action now: eliminate the edTPA requirement from our teacher certification process in Connecticut.

Please sign this petition and help put $300 back into the pockets of our future public school teachers of CT.