The Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB) is responsible for overseeing the teacher testing requirements set forth in Minnesota statute and is continually monitoring and analyzing the testing program.
Board-Adopted Performance Assessment
The CPAST Form was developed by VARI-EPP through Ohio State University. The tool has strong evidence for validity and reliability, and is used as a PELSB approved performance assessment during the student teaching semester to assess student teacher progress, provide an opportunity to discuss appropriate evidence for that progress, and give CTs and Supervisors an opportunity to work with student teachers to identify areas of strength and goals to work toward.
The CPAST rubric has two subscales: Pedagogy (13 rows) and Dispositions (8 rows). Each of the 21 criteria contain detailed descriptors of observable, measurable behaviors to guide scoring decisions. University supervisors are required to complete a self-paced 90-minute online training module before using the instrument. A “Look Fors” resource is available to describe and give examples of the qualities and behaviors for a given level of performance of each row (i.e., evidence and sources of evidence). Candidates scoring at level 2 meet expectations on the CPAST rubric for the performance indicator.