Special Education Teaching Performance Assessment
(directions posted to TaskStream)
Introduction: In this assessment, you will select a subject area and two focus students with
both academic and nonacademic goals, preferably working on IEP goals in the same subject
area. You will then describe, analyze, and evaluate the teaching of a learning segment with
these two students. The structure of the learning segment depends on your role in teaching
the students.
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If your role is to teach subject matter lessons, e.g., teach with a general education
teacher, or provide supplemental subject matter instruction to a small group after
general education instructions, then the learning segment consists of a series of 3-5
lessons.
If your role is to support individual students in the classroom or in pull-out programs,
then the learning segment will consist of 2-4 hours of instruction and support.
You will describe your planning, instruction, support, and progress monitoring for the
students toward academic and nonacademic instructional objectives. Consistent with
the IDEA law, the learning segment will provide access to the curriculum and instruction
associated with a summative assessment in the subject area at the end of the learning
segment, consistent with the goals and benchmarks specified in the IEP.
Task 1 Planning
a. Planning the Lessons
Select two focus students with both academic and nonacademic goals in their IEPs,
preferably IEP goals in the same subject area. Elect a learning segment of 3-5 lessons or
2-4 hours, depending on your role in instruction and support of students. Plan the
learning segment to provide the two focus students access to curriculum and instruction
around a summative assessment in the general education curriculum, consistent with
IEP goals and benchmarks. Consider your students strengths and needs and select a key
language demand for the learning segment. Create an instruction and assessment plan
for the learning segment and write lesson plans.
Write a lesson plan for each lesson in the mini-unit and upload each one separately
into Taskstream. Use the lesson plan format provided and include the following
components:
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Standards (either state or common core)
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Specific learning objectives and IEP goals
Instructional materials and technology
Learning activities/procedures
Assessment
Differentiation/accommodations
To create a lesson aligned to the Common core standards, follow these steps:
1) Find Special Education Teaching Performance Assessment in Task Stream under
Special Education Section
2) Click on Sp Ed TPA
3) Click on Lessons, Units & Rubrics in the top menu
4) Give it a title
5) Pick the U of I lesson plan format from the drop down menu
6) Click “create” or the equivalent
7) In the next part, you can add all lesson information like a topic, grade level, etc. by
clicking on each section and filling it in
8) Here you also pick the standards- click on State of Idaho and/or common core
standards addressed
9) To find Idaho standards, you need to scroll down to “I” and find the appropriate ones
10) To find Common core, you need to scroll down to “USA- Common Core State
Standards (June 2010)
11) Progress with your lesson design and at the end save it as a pdf to submit as an
assignment
b. Lesson Commentary (at least 2 pages) - please attach with your lesson plans.
Select a set of three consecutive lessons that all have the same content focus. Answer
the following questions about the lessons you have selected to teach.
What main idea ties this set of lessons together? If these three lessons are part of a
larger unit, explain how/where these three lessons fit into that unit and the IEP goals
and objectives.
Task 2 Instruction
a. Videotaping of Instruction
Collect permission forms from parents/guardians and take video of yourself teaching
the three lessons.
Select and upload 1 video clip of approximately 20 minutes that shows students
being actively engaged in learning.
The clip must run continuously - no editing within the clip.
b. Instructional Commentary (at least 2 pages - please attach with your video clip
submission)
Answer the following questions regarding the lessons that are shown on your video. You
may attach a separate document if you need more space to complete your answers.
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Explain the context of the lessons. Which lesson(s) did the video(s) come from and
how do they fit in with the unit as a whole as well as with the students IEP goals and
objectives?
Explain how the teaching strategies and activities in the clips engaged students and
helped them to develop understanding of the material. Give examples from the clips
of what students said and did to support your explanation.
Explain how you prompted students to think at higher levels through questions,
materials, or activities. Give examples from the video to support your explanation.
Task 3 Assessment
a. Monitoring Student Learning/Student Work Samples/Feedback
Select an assessment from one of your lessons that you will use to evaluate your students’
developing knowledge and skills. The assessment should reflect the work of individuals, not
groups. The assessment should give both you and the students a sense of how well they are
progressing toward the lesson objectives and IEP goal and objectives.
Select three samples of student work that do a good job of showing what students
understood as well as what they were still struggling to understand with these lessons. The
student work can be shown in the form of photographs or video.
Show the feedback you provided students on their work. If the feedback is written directly
on the work sample be sure that reviewers can distinguish the feedback from the students'
own work. You may also submit a video of feedback if it is verbal. You may NOT submit a
transcript of verbal feedback.
Remove student names from all work and scan and upload the samples. Name the
files "student work 1", "student work 2" and "student work 3". You may provide video of
student work if it is not in written form. Provide (upload) a copy of the evaluation criteria
(e.g., rubric) and the assessment task/directions/prompt if it they are not obvious from the
student work samples.
b. Assessment Commentary/Analysis of Student Work (at least 2 pages - attach with
student work samples)
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Describe the informal and formal assessments you are using for these lessons.
Explain how the assessments will help you determine if students are working toward
the standards/objectives. In other words, how will you know if students are “getting
it”?
Describe any modifications or accommodations to the planned assessments to allow
students with specific needs to demonstrate their understanding of the content.
Summarize student performance of the whole class in narrative and/or graphic form
(e.g., table or chart). Discuss what students appeared to understand well and where
they continued to struggle or were confused.
For the three students selected, describe each student’s individual strengths and
challenges with this particular assessment. After analyzing each student’s work
sample, what conclusions did you make regarding their individual learning?
What opportunities were/will be provided for students to apply the feedback to
improve their work, either within the unit or at a later time?
Task 4 Using Assessment/Final Reflection
Answer the following questions about the teaching of your lessons. Attach a separate
document if you need more space to complete your answers. (at least 2 pages)
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What worked or what parts went well?
If you could teach these lessons to the same group of students again what are two
or three things you would do differently to improve the learning of these students?
Explain why you would expect these changes to make a difference in student
learning.
Make sure your reflection is very detailed and specific.