edTPA (Educative Teacher Performance Assessment) Task 1: Planning for Instruction and Assessment Syllabus

Task 1: Planning for Instruction and Assessment syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Task 1: Planning for Instruction and Assessment in edTPA (Educative Teacher Performance Assessment), not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Establishing the Context for Learning

   3 topics

   • Knowing Your Students
     • Prior academic learning and prerequisite skills
     • Personal, cultural, and community assets
     • Linguistic and developmental backgrounds
   • Documenting Class Context
     • Grade level, content area, and class size
     • Required curriculum and instructional resources
     • Required accommodations and modifications
   • Identifying Learners with Specific Needs
     • Students with IEPs and 504 plans
     • English learners and gifted students
2. 2

   Standards, Objectives, and Central Focus

   3 topics

   • Selecting and Aligning Standards
     • State and Common Core / content standards
     • Alignment to objectives and assessments
   • Writing Measurable Learning Objectives
     • Content and skill targets
     • Observable, assessable outcomes
   • Defining the Central Focus
     • Connecting facts, concepts, and skills
     • Content-specific central focus requirements
3. 3

   Designing the Learning Segment

   4 topics

   • Sequencing Lessons for Coherence
     • Building from prior to new learning
     • Logical progression toward the central focus
   • Selecting Instructional Strategies and Materials
     • Research- and theory-based strategies
     • Texts, tools, and technology
   • Planning to Support Varied Learners
     • Differentiation and scaffolding
     • Universal Design for Learning principles
     • Supports for the whole class, groups, and individuals
   • Planned Formal and Informal Assessments
     • Aligning assessments to objectives
     • Eliciting evidence of student learning
4. 4

   Connecting Planning to Research and Theory

   3 topics

   • Justifying Instructional Choices
     • Citing learning theory and research
     • Connecting choices to student characteristics
   • Building on Students' Assets
     • Funds of knowledge and prior experiences
     • Culturally responsive planning
   • Planning Commentary Structure
     • Responding to each prompt with evidence
     • Coherence between plans and commentary
5. 5

   Task 1 Planning Rubrics

   5 topics

   • Rubric 1: Planning for Content Understandings
     • Connecting facts, concepts, and skills
   • Rubric 2: Planning to Support Varied Learning Needs
     • Supports tied to learning objectives and student needs
   • Rubric 3: Using Knowledge of Students
     • Justifying plans with knowledge of learners
   • Rubric 4: Identifying and Supporting Language Demands
   • Rubric 5: Planning Assessments to Monitor Learning

Task 1: Planning for Instruction and Assessment flashcards for edTPA (Educative Teacher Performance Assessment)

22 of 51 cards from the Task 1: Planning for Instruction and Assessment deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. In edTPA, what is the overall purpose of Task 1?

   To demonstrate that a candidate can plan instruction and assessment that builds on knowledge of students, their academic content, and the central focus, while supporting all learners' development of understanding.

2. What three rubrics-spanning categories of knowledge must a candidate document about students before planning (Task 1)?

   Prior academic learning/prerequisite skills, personal/cultural/community assets, and developmental/learning needs (including language and specific needs).

3. Define 'central focus' in edTPA Task 1.

   The overarching understanding or purpose for the learning segment—what students will come to understand, the essential strategies, skills, and concepts, that connects the lessons into a coherent whole.

4. How many lessons typically make up an edTPA 'learning segment'?

   3 to 5 consecutive lessons that build toward the central focus.

5. What is the difference between 'personal assets' and 'community assets' when documenting students?

   Personal assets are individual student backgrounds, interests, and experiences; community assets are cultural, economic, linguistic, and social resources of the students' homes and neighborhoods that can be tied to instruction.

6. What does 'Documenting Class Context' (Context for Learning) require a candidate to describe?

   School/district setting, grade level and subject, class size, time allotted, available resources/technology, and relevant student characteristics including IEPs/504s, English learners, and other specific needs.

7. List the categories of 'students with specific learning needs' that must be identified in the Context for Learning.

   English learners, gifted/talented students, students with IEPs or 504 plans, struggling readers, underperforming students, and students with other identified needs (e.g., behavioral, medical).

8. What is the difference between an IEP and a 504 plan?

   An IEP (Individualized Education Program) provides specialized instruction/services under IDEA for a qualifying disability; a 504 plan provides accommodations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act to ensure access without specialized instruction.

9. In Task 1, what must be true about the standards a candidate selects?

   They must be the relevant state-adopted or national content standards that directly align to the central focus, learning objectives, and the planned assessments.

10. What is the relationship that must exist among standards, objectives, learning tasks, and assessments?

    They must be aligned: objectives derive from standards, learning tasks teach the objectives, and assessments measure those same objectives.

11. What are the three components of a measurable learning objective (ABCD minus condition, or the core)?

    An observable behavior/verb, the content/concept to be learned, and a measurable criterion for success (often stated as Audience-Behavior-Condition-Degree).

12. Why are verbs like 'understand' or 'know' considered weak in learning objectives?

    They are not directly observable or measurable; objectives should use action verbs (e.g., identify, analyze, calculate, explain) that can be assessed.

13. What framework is commonly used to classify the cognitive level of learning objectives?

    Bloom's Taxonomy (Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, Create).

14. Define 'academic language' as used in edTPA.

    The oral and written language used for academic purposes—the means by which students develop and express content understandings, including vocabulary, language functions, syntax, and discourse.

15. What are the four components of academic language in edTPA?

    Language function, vocabulary/key terms, syntax, and discourse (plus the identified language demands of the learning task).

16. Define 'language function' in edTPA.

    The content/active verb that represents the key intellectual work or purpose of the learning task (e.g., analyze, compare, justify, interpret).

17. Define 'language demand' in edTPA.

    The specific ways academic language is used by students to participate in learning tasks and demonstrate understanding—including the language function, vocabulary, syntax, and discourse a task requires.

18. Differentiate 'syntax' from 'discourse' in academic language.

    Syntax is the set of rules/conventions for organizing words, symbols, and phrases into structures (sentences, equations, graphs); discourse is how members of a discipline talk, write, and organize ideas in larger structures.

19. What is a 'language support' in edTPA?

    The scaffolds, representations, and instructional strategies a teacher plans to help students understand, develop, and use the targeted academic language demands.

20. In sequencing lessons for coherence, what should each successive lesson do?

    Build on prior lessons' learning, increase in complexity or depth, and move students progressively toward mastery of the central focus.

21. What is the difference between 'instructional strategies' and 'instructional materials'?

    Strategies are the teacher's methods/approaches for engaging students in learning (e.g., modeling, inquiry, think-pair-share); materials are the resources/tools used (texts, manipulatives, technology, handouts).

22. What does 'planning to support varied learners' require beyond whole-class plans?

    Planned differentiation, accommodations, modifications, and supports targeted to the specific needs of individuals and groups (ELs, IEP/504, gifted, struggling) identified in the context.

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