Using Teacher Performance Assessment to Dismantle Injustice and Construct Possibilities in Teacher Education

Educators at a public institution embraced the opportunity to collaborate with faculty, school partners, and community members to develop a portfolio-based teacher performance assessment (TPA) that centers program values and goals along with state and professional standards when their state removed the edTPA as a certification requirement in 2022. This study describes the process of development, the product generated with faculty and community engagement, as well as the results of a content analysis of data collected during the first round of full implementation. Findings support use of a portfolio-based TPA as a promising component of teacher certification with the potential to advance inclusive, culturally-sustaining, evidence-based practices that create pathways to equitable, just futures through a critical approach to collaboration, persistence, care, and joy, and prioritized authentic relationships with students, families, teachers, schools, and communities.