edTPA Writing Mistakes a University Supervisor Sees Every Year

Nov 11

Chapter 24 is a guest chapter from Judy Longstreth, a university field supervisor who has watched teacher candidates start the edTPA™ for years and sees the same mistakes again and again. It is a short checklist for student teachers about to begin the portfolio, picking up where Chapter 23 leaves off. If you want to hear from a teacher who got through it, read Reflections on the edTPA too.

This is Chapter 24 of 51 from Road to Teaching (2025 edition). Read the whole book free, in order, at Read the Book.

By Judy Longstreth, University Field Supervisor. Introduced by Dr. Eric Hougan.

Over the past six years that I have been working with the edTPA™, I have come to realize that there are several mistakes that teacher candidates make when they begin writing for the edTPA™. This is a quick guide to help avoid common mistakes and improve your success with this huge project.

Read your whole handbook.
Pay particular attention to what is needed for videoing, academic language and language function, and reflections.
Review the Understanding Rubric Level Progressions booklet on what is needed to get a score of 3 and 4 on each rubric.

Next, begin to prepare for writing the lesson plans with all your notes in hand. Consider the following questions in your lesson planning:

What curriculum mini-unit will you teach over 3-5 days?
What days will you teach the mini-unit?
Which days on the calendar will you film? Who will film your videos? Or are you going to simply set-up an iPad to record yourself?
What kind of supports will I need to make or have available for my students to use? What research will you be using to support your instructional strategies? Attempt to find 8 to 10 pieces of research to back up your instructional strategies.
In which lesson(s) will you cover academic language and your chosen language function? Where will the students be able to use the supports?
Map out each video so you get exactly what you want on the video within the time limit. See the Evidence Chart for the time limits.
Film additional videos (2 or more) on different days so that you can select the best one to submit to be scored. Additionally, if you don’t pass the assessment, you have extra film for the rewrite.
Be intentional about identifying students that will need accommodations in your Context for Learning. Write continually throughout Tasks 1-3 about each student. Determine how will you differentiate and support each identified student.

In summary, read, take notes, plan, write quality lesson plans, prepare, and film! You will be in a better position to address and write your edTPA™ responses.

Key Takeaway

Read all edTPA™ materials thoroughly, plan systematically with research backing your instructional choices, and film multiple videos to give yourself options. Success on the edTPA™ comes from preparation, organization, and understanding exactly what evaluators are looking for at each performance level.