edTPA Comprehensive
Questions and Solutions
Graded A+
Learning Segment - Answer: A set of 3-5 lessons that build one upon another toward a central
focus, with a clearly defined beginning and end. Each discipline has its own requirements for the
learning segment (see Handbook)
Commentary - Answer: Submitted as part of each task and, along with artifacts, make up your
evidence. The commentaries should be written to explain the rationale behind your teaching
decisions and to analyze and reflect on what you have learned about your teaching practice and
your students' learning.
Formal Assessment - Answer: "[R]efer[s] to all those activities undertaken by teachers and by
their students . . . that provide information to be used as feedback to modify teaching and
learning activities. Assessments provide evidence of students' prior knowledge, thinking, or
learning in order to evaluate what students understand and how they are thinking. Formal
assessments may include, for example, quizzes, homework assignments, journals, and projects.
Informal Assessment - Answer: "[R]efer[s] to all those activities undertaken by teachers and by
their students . . . that provide information to be used as feedback to modify teaching and
learning activities."14 Assessments provide evidence of students' prior knowledge, thinking, or
learning in order to evaluate what students understand and how they are thinking. Informal
assessments may include, for example, student questions and responses during instruction and
teacher observations of students as they work.
, Central Focus - Answer: central focus: A description of the important understandings and core
concepts that you want students to develop within the learning segment. The central focus
should go beyond a list of facts and skills, align with content standards and learning objectives,
and address the subject-specific components in the learning segment. The subject-specific
components for elementary literacy include an essential literacy strategy and the associated
requisite skills for comprehending or composing text.
For example, the central focus for a primary grade literacy learning segment might be
summarizing narratives. The learning segment would focus on the essential literacy strategy
(summarizing) and requisite skills (e.g., decoding, recalling, sequencing). The central focus for
an upper elementary learning segment might be persuasive writing. The learning segment
would focus on the essential literacy strategy (using evidence to support an argument) and
requisite skills (e.g., writing paragraphs, using correct verb tense, or other conventions). See the
Making Good Choices resource for suggestions on selecting your central focus.
For example, the subject-specific components for elementary mathematics are: conceptual
understanding, procedural fluency, and mathematical reasoning/problem-solving skills. A
central focus for an intermediate grade mathematics learning segment might be equivalent
fractions or equivalencies. The learning segment would focus on conceptual understanding and
the associated computational/procedural understandings and reasoning/problem-solving skills.
Learning Target - Answer: A specific learning goal that has been articulated for student learning.
Literacy Strategy (Literacy) - Answer: An approach selected deliberately by a reader or writer to
comprehend or compose text. When students are able to select and use strategies
automatically, they have achieved independence in using the strategy to accomplish reading
and writing goals. Example strategies for reading include summarizing or retelling, comparing
and contrasting firsthand and secondhand accounts of the same event, using evidence to
predict, interpreting a character's feelings, or drawing conclusions from informational text.
Example strategies for writing include organizing ideas before writing, note taking from
informational text to support drafting a topic, using graphic organizers to organize writing, using
a rubric to revise a draft, or using quotes as evidence to support an argument.
Developmental Approximation (Literacy) - Answer: Include transitional spelling or other
attempts to use skills or strategies just beyond a student's current level/capability.
Questions and Solutions
Graded A+
Learning Segment - Answer: A set of 3-5 lessons that build one upon another toward a central
focus, with a clearly defined beginning and end. Each discipline has its own requirements for the
learning segment (see Handbook)
Commentary - Answer: Submitted as part of each task and, along with artifacts, make up your
evidence. The commentaries should be written to explain the rationale behind your teaching
decisions and to analyze and reflect on what you have learned about your teaching practice and
your students' learning.
Formal Assessment - Answer: "[R]efer[s] to all those activities undertaken by teachers and by
their students . . . that provide information to be used as feedback to modify teaching and
learning activities. Assessments provide evidence of students' prior knowledge, thinking, or
learning in order to evaluate what students understand and how they are thinking. Formal
assessments may include, for example, quizzes, homework assignments, journals, and projects.
Informal Assessment - Answer: "[R]efer[s] to all those activities undertaken by teachers and by
their students . . . that provide information to be used as feedback to modify teaching and
learning activities."14 Assessments provide evidence of students' prior knowledge, thinking, or
learning in order to evaluate what students understand and how they are thinking. Informal
assessments may include, for example, student questions and responses during instruction and
teacher observations of students as they work.
, Central Focus - Answer: central focus: A description of the important understandings and core
concepts that you want students to develop within the learning segment. The central focus
should go beyond a list of facts and skills, align with content standards and learning objectives,
and address the subject-specific components in the learning segment. The subject-specific
components for elementary literacy include an essential literacy strategy and the associated
requisite skills for comprehending or composing text.
For example, the central focus for a primary grade literacy learning segment might be
summarizing narratives. The learning segment would focus on the essential literacy strategy
(summarizing) and requisite skills (e.g., decoding, recalling, sequencing). The central focus for
an upper elementary learning segment might be persuasive writing. The learning segment
would focus on the essential literacy strategy (using evidence to support an argument) and
requisite skills (e.g., writing paragraphs, using correct verb tense, or other conventions). See the
Making Good Choices resource for suggestions on selecting your central focus.
For example, the subject-specific components for elementary mathematics are: conceptual
understanding, procedural fluency, and mathematical reasoning/problem-solving skills. A
central focus for an intermediate grade mathematics learning segment might be equivalent
fractions or equivalencies. The learning segment would focus on conceptual understanding and
the associated computational/procedural understandings and reasoning/problem-solving skills.
Learning Target - Answer: A specific learning goal that has been articulated for student learning.
Literacy Strategy (Literacy) - Answer: An approach selected deliberately by a reader or writer to
comprehend or compose text. When students are able to select and use strategies
automatically, they have achieved independence in using the strategy to accomplish reading
and writing goals. Example strategies for reading include summarizing or retelling, comparing
and contrasting firsthand and secondhand accounts of the same event, using evidence to
predict, interpreting a character's feelings, or drawing conclusions from informational text.
Example strategies for writing include organizing ideas before writing, note taking from
informational text to support drafting a topic, using graphic organizers to organize writing, using
a rubric to revise a draft, or using quotes as evidence to support an argument.
Developmental Approximation (Literacy) - Answer: Include transitional spelling or other
attempts to use skills or strategies just beyond a student's current level/capability.
