We all live in fear of Pearson Inc. It is a leviathan consuming our assessment autonomy and it is only getting stronger. I say this facetiously, of course, but when I see arguments attempting to advocate against the implementation of edTPA as a preservice teacher assessment, the argument is often peppered with the idea that teacher preparation programs (TPPs) are the victims being bullied by Pearson into succumbing to their philosophy. Now, the argument is far more complex than this when considering larger assessment topics like standards, corporate influence on education, formative vs summative assessment, etc. But lets focus on this perceived victimization of TPPs at the hands of Pearson.

An example of this feeling comes from a statement released by the National Association of Multicultural Education (NAME). 

http://www.nameorg.org/docs/Statement-rr-edTPA-1-21-14.pdf

Some highlighted "assaults" of edTPA:

"Imposing a common and pre-determined curriculum on teacher education that severely limits faculty ability to enact their commitment to preparing teachers to promote critical multicultural education, social justice, and democratic citizenship."

"Marginalizing opportunities to learn to teach through critical dialogues and feedback from others."

"Further encroachment of corporate control into the intensely personal, human, humane, and democratic endeavor that is public education."

Strong words. But weak arguments when it boils down to policy and assessment. Aside from some a few misunderstandings of the edTPA process (for example, the edTPA rubrics specifically require attention to the cultural needs of the students, student led assessment techniques, and an entire rubric focuses on students with disabilities), each point sees itself as the victim of the imposed assessment. Not one of NAME's assaults shows the inherent strength of education to regulate itself through assessment.

TPPs should not just play the victim when Pearson comes around to bully them, but rather use the policy as a way to amplify their own strength. One of the reasons edTPA and the standardization of education came about is states felt that TPPs were not doing a good enough job preparing teachers for the field. They wanted a more rigorous way to vet teachers before they enter schools. So why can't TPPs show off their rigorous methods to combat it? Instead, we seem shying away from preservice teacher assessment in general. We should be finding ways to strengthen or display our own assessment so the state does not feel the need to outsource it to a private company. 

This is obviously just one portion of the argument, but if we start from a position that we are already assessing our preservice teachers effectively, then we build strength off that foundation. And those are much more effective arguments to believe.