Teaching performance assessments: an overview for schools

Pre-service teachers collect evidence of practice to complete a TPA in the final year of their initial teacher education program. It is assessed by ITE providers and is a requirement for graduation.

During a TPA, a pre-service teacher gathers evidence and demonstrates their skills, knowledge and practices across the spectrum of teaching activities including planning, teaching, assessing and reflecting. All evidence of practice must be aligned to the Graduate Teacher Standards.

The TPA must be a valid and reliable assessment, with clear and measurable achievement criteria.

Download the teaching performance assessment Program Standard 1.2 fact sheet for more information (PDF)

Pre-service teachers deserve the very best preparation so that they can be successful from their first day in the classroom. AITSL is helping achieve this by setting requirements for rigorous new assessments for teaching students before they complete an Initial Teacher Education (ITE) program.

The TEMAG reforms identified opportunities to further improve the quality of pre-service teachers. The issue is not that graduates weren’t of high quality before, but that we need to be confident this is the case for every graduate. Before graduation, all pre-service teachers must reach the Graduate Career Stage of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. The introduction of a TPA before pre-service teachers complete their ITE program will form part of the process to ensure they meet that standard.

Teaching performance assessments aligned to the Graduate Teacher Standards are starting to be rolled out from this year (2019)

ITE providers are ultimately responsible for TPAs.

The strengthened accreditation process focuses on:

• evidence of impact, and
• assessing a pre-service teacher’s readiness for the teaching role in a consistent way.

This means that providers are required to demonstrate that their pre-service teachers have gained the knowledge and skills needed to be successful in the classroom by the time they graduate.

AITSL provided grants to two separate consortia of ITE providers to develop high-quality teaching performance assessment tools that demonstrate pre-service teachers' readiness to take on the role of teaching. These two groups have developed high-quality TPAs that are being implemented.

ITE providers outside of these two consortia are also required to implement TPAs. They may develop these themselves, work together to develop one, or adopt one of the options designed by the consortia.

TPAs are being rolled out across all ITE programs this year (2019).

You can read more about this on the dedicated teaching performance assessment page.

The requirement for each pre-service teacher to pass a TPA before graduating will lift the standard of graduates leaving ITE programs.

In turn, this will give principals and teachers reassurance and confidence that beginning teachers are well-equipped to manage a classroom and have a positive impact on student learning from day one in their first teaching role. Their development can be further supported by an effective induction into both the school and the profession.

Once the system is in place, we expect schools will see a more consistently high standard of graduates. You should also find that ITE providers are keen to follow up the performance and quality of their pre-service teachers and graduates.

Many providers are still finalising their TPA tools and processes, which will vary across institutions. So it is well worth contacting the ITE provider/s your school works with to find out what progress they are making with their TPA, how you may be able to help, and what the eventual assessment might look like. 

This new initiative won’t necessarily mean more work for schools that take pre-service teachers, but more likely a difference in some aspects of the professional experience process.