TPE Portfolio

Key Updates and Expectations for Teacher Candidates:

1. TPE 7.1: Evidence-Based Literacy Instruction

Teacher candidates must plan and implement evidence-based literacy instruction that integrates content and literacy. This instruction will be grounded in an understanding of literacy-related standards and the California English Language Arts/English Language Development (ELA/ELD) Framework. Instruction must develop student proficiency in:

• Foundational Skills: including phonological awareness, phonics, word recognition, and text reading fluency.

• Meaning Making: supporting students' ability to comprehend and interpret complex texts.

• Language Development: promoting the acquisition and use of vocabulary and grammatical structures.

• Effective Expression: fostering students’ ability to communicate ideas through writing, speaking, and presenting.

• Content Knowledge: supporting literacy across subject areas.

Candidates will focus on integrating these areas into their teaching to ensure students can read and write complex disciplinary texts with comprehension and effective expression.

2. TPE 7.2: Multi-Tiered Instruction and Structured Literacy

Candidates must also demonstrate literacy instruction based on the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles and California’s Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS), which includes:

• Tier 1: Best-first instruction for all students.

• Tier 2: Targeted supplemental instruction for students requiring additional support.

• Tier 3: Intensive interventions for students with significant literacy challenges.

Additionally, teacher candidates are expected to have a deep understanding of the California Dyslexia Guidelines. This includes recognizing the characteristics of dyslexia and applying structured literacy, a comprehensive, systematic, explicit, cumulative, and multimodal approach that covers phonology, orthography, phonics, morphology, syntax, and semantics. This is critical for students at risk for or with dyslexia.

3. TPE 7.3: Asset-Based and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies

Teacher candidates are required to incorporate asset-based pedagogies that reflect inclusive, culturally, and linguistically sustaining practices. These practices will:

• Recognize and incorporate the diversity of students’ cultures, languages, dialects, and home communities.

• Support students’ literacy development in both English and other languages, especially in multilingual, dual-language, and bilingual education programs.

4. TPE 7.4: Engaging, Active Literacy Instruction

Instruction must be active, motivating, and engaging, taking into account students’ age, language development, literacy goals, and individual learning needs. Candidates will incorporate social and emotional learning, family engagement, and trauma-informed practices to create a responsive learning environment.

5. Performance Assessments: Literacy Focus

Teacher candidates are required to take and pass a Commission-approved literacy performance assessment as part of their credentialing process. This assessment will evaluate their ability to:

• Provide instruction in foundational literacy skills such as print concepts, phonics, decoding, and text fluency.

• Deliver structured and systematic instruction that is explicit and organized.

• Integrate the cross-cutting literacy themes: Foundational Skills, Meaning Making, Language Development, Effective Expression, and Content Knowledge.

6. TPE 7.5: Foundational Literacy Skills

Teacher candidates must develop students' foundational literacy skills through explicit and systematic instruction in:

• Print Concepts: Including letter recognition.

• Phonological Awareness: Focusing on phonemic awareness.

• Phonics and Word Recognition: Emphasizing sound-symbol correspondences.

• Decoding and Encoding: Including morphology and word structure.

• Text Reading Fluency: Promoting accuracy, prosody, and automaticity.

Candidates must provide instruction that emphasizes spelling patterns, semantics, morphology, and syntax to advance students' ability to read and write complex texts.

7. TPE 7.6 - 7.9: Literacy Integration Across Disciplines

Candidates are expected to engage students in:

• Meaning Making: Building comprehension through discussion, questioning, and reflection.

• Language Development: Promoting vocabulary and syntax in reading, writing, and speaking.

• Effective Expression: Supporting students’ communication in various genres and formats.

• Content Knowledge: Integrating literacy into subject areas using diverse texts, multimedia, and inquiry-based learning.