In our continued effort to prepare effective teachers in Massachusetts, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) with support and guidance of an advisory group of external stakeholders, has developed the Candidate Assessment of Performance (CAP) to assess the overall readiness of teacher candidates prior to program completion. This performance assessment will be piloted by teacher preparation programs in the 2015-16 academic year and will fully replace the Pre-service Performance Assessment (PPA) by September 1, 2016. During the 2015-16 academic year, Sponsoring Organizations (SO) with approved teacher preparation programs are required to participate in the CAP Pilot.
In support of successful CAP implementation, ESE is working to develop a system of support and resources that will aid SOs in the training and communication of program supervisors (PS), supervising practitioners (SP), and candidates. SOs are responsible for communicating with candidates and partners about CAP and are accountable for the training and support provided to program supervisors and supervising practitioners. Forthcoming ESE-developed resources include:
These materials will be posted on the CAP website along with the currently available resources (CAP Guidelines , CAP Overview Webinar, etc.). Additionally, as CAP is based on the MA Educator Evaluation Framework we encourage SOs to review the extensive suite of resources available at Educator Evaluation, including some exciting new and upcoming materials such as:
ESE will communicate with Sponsoring Organizations as additional resources are added but continue to encourage providers to check the CAP website periodically for updates.
For questions or comments regarding CAP, please email us at edprep@doe.mass.edu .