Teacher Candidate Tensions with the edTPA: A Neoliberal Policy Analysis

Abstract The edTPA, a recent example of a teacher candidate assessment, has influenced how teacher education classes are taught and how teacher candidates are learning. We describe three tensions present in candidate narratives during two separate years of edTPA implementation: attention to the edTPA rubrics vs. the student teachers’ real teaching, a focus on Pearson vs. the teacher education program, and candidates’ feelings of being monitored during the process rather than mentored.