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Welcome friends to PassedTPA. Today we will discuss the Context for Learning – which
is part of Task 1, or the Planning Task.
The Context for Learning is a source of evidence, used by assessors to generate scores for Task
1. There are other sources of evidence for Task 1 as well, including your writing Commentary,
lesson plans, and assessments.
Please note that our discussion of the Context for Learning applies to every discipline and
grade. However, some of the Context for Learning prompts in the Special Education handbook
depend on identification of one focus learner. Nevertheless, you can begin the Context for
Learning before selecting this student, though you may need to revise over time.
Please pause this video and examine your edTPA handbook by searching for the Context for
Learning prompts. Also, download a copy of the Context for Learning writing template,
which is a Word file located near your handbook, which you can save to your local computer.
Be sure not to adjust the formatting of the template, such as changing the font size or
color.
Welcome back. Your deliverable for the Context for Learning is a three page summary of the
class, school, and community context. Candidates endorsing in special education write four
pages of Context. These page counts include the writing prompts from the downloadable
template.
The Context serves three functions. First, it provides information about your situation
to the scorer. Secondly, and more importantly, it serves as evidence that you know your students,
both general class characteristics and also characteristics of individual students. Third,
it serves as evidence that you have knowledge of student, school, and community resources
and that this information informs your instruction.
You will use a variety of sources of information to write the Context. These may include your
mentor teacher, previous assessment results, informal assessment results, perhaps a preassessment
aligned with your lesson sequence, entitlement documents like IEPs and 504s, observations,
and also State level demographic information showing statistics about your school.
The quality and substance of your writing is key for producing a successful edTPA portfolio.
Let’s commit to producing high-quality writing, beginning with the Context for Learning.
For example, your list of special features should be descriptive. Be sure to respond
to each prompt and answer the question. Do this even if you believe the prompt does not
relate to your context. One feature of weak writing is brevity; be descriptive and consider
your audience, specifically the portfolio scorer. The strong example begins with specifics
and connects available resources with instruction.
The same principle applies to identifying resources, such as textbooks. Use descriptive
writing. Indicate that you are in-touch with your context and infer through your writing
that you use this information to inform instruction.
Let’s have a closer look at the kind of writing that is required for the Context for
Learning. Again, when listing special features, your writing should
sound
like this. Clearly, this student understands the context of the school, community, and
her own classroom. Evidence for this shows in the level of detail in her writing, along
with explicitly stating that she uses background information to inform instruction.
Let’s examine a second example, in the area of ability grouping. Again, even though there
are no ability groupings, the student doesn’t simply write, “There are no ability groupings”
and end there. Rather she elaborates on the prompt and provides some insights, showing
that she knows her context.
The last example is the ability chart, which is included on every Context template, except
for those endorsing in special education. Nevertheless, this chart provides a format
for showing the needs of particular students. Some may have 504s, IEPs, or be designated
as transitional bilingual. Or, some may not have any of these designations, but simply
have particular learning needs, such as advanced pacing, sitting close to the teacher, or assistance
with class materials. The point is to complete this chart with detail by selecting two to
five students to highlight, along with their particular needs. For example....
Here’s a few tips regarding the Context for Learning. Write early. Writing the Context
depends only on your knowledge of students, school, and community. You can always come
back to the Context and add to it or revise it later. Time spent writing the Context early
frees time for writing Commentary later.
Also, use the Context as an opportunity to show that you know your students well.
And finally maximize the page count with high-quality writing. Be sure to fill the maximum allowable
number of pages. Although you should not adjust the formatting of the template to add text,
you can make slight formatting adjustments, such as eliminating extra return spaces or
widening the column of a table, to utilize all available space.
Thanks again for joining me for this module of PassedTPA, Context for Learning.