CalTPA Submission Requirements and Condition Codes

Before preparing your CalTPA submission, review the Submission Requirements to ensure that your responses meet the technical specifications for required evidence and you have provided all the evidence necessary for your submission to be scored.

All submissions that are successfully uploaded to the California Educator Credentialing Assessments website will be scored. A scorable submission is one that includes all required evidence that can be reviewed by an assessor and have scores assigned according to every rubric.

• Multiple Subject. Candidates of the Preliminary Multiple Subject Teaching Credential must demonstrate both literacy and mathematics instruction across the two instructional cycles submitted (e.g., literacy for Cycle 1 and mathematics for Cycle 2 OR vice versa). If this requirement is not met, the submissions will be reported as "Incomplete" to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) and your educator preparation program. Submissions may feature lessons that are integrated with other subject matter, however, each cycle must clearly reflect primarily instruction of literacy or mathematics as described by the current California content standards and/or curriculum frameworks.
• Bilingual Authorization. Candidates of the Preliminary Multiple Subject and Single Subject Teaching Credential who are concurrently earning a Bilingual Authorization must adhere to the additional requirements outlined in the CTC's Bilingual Candidates and the CalTPA guidelines.
• Lesson Plans. You must use current grade-level California content standards and/or frameworks and, if appropriate, California English Language Development (ELD) Standards for both cycles. ELD standards should be written out, not just referred to by number. Candidates placed in transitional kindergarten classrooms should use the California State Content Kindergarten Standards for ELA/Literacy or Mathematics and/or the Transitional Kindergarten Implementation Guide. Do not use the California Preschool Learning Foundations. TK is considered K–12. With the exception of candidates of the Single Subject World Language Teaching Credential, your Cycle 1 lesson must include at least one ELD goal(s) for the English learners, including reclassified English learners, in your class and Focus Student 1 (FS1), and your Cycle 2 lesson must include at least one ELD goal(s) if you have any English learners in your class. Your Cycle 1 lesson must not be repeated/used in Cycle 2. Your Cycle 2 Step 4 re-teaching or extension activity must not be repeated from or included in the learning segment in Steps 1 and 2.
• Video. Any required video must conform to the technical specifications (e.g., format, file type) stipulated in the CalTPA assessment materials, and be viewable by assessors. After uploading a video file, review the file to confirm successful playback prior to submission. You are responsible for ensuring that each submitted video file meets the technical specifications and can be viewed by assessors. In addition, any submitted video clip(s) must be continuous and unedited, with no interruption in events (e.g., you may not edit a video clip to remove natural classroom activities such as "quiet time" when students are working independently, physical transitions, or disruptive student behavior, or to add titles, music, or explanations). Candidates and students must be visible in the video recordings according to the requirements in the assessment guides.
• Audio. The conversations in the video files must be clearly audible to assessors. Review each video prior to submission for potential background noise or poor audio quality that would interfere with an assessor's ability to hear you and your students. Please note that some environments (e.g., auditorium, gymnasium, pool, outdoor space) are less conducive to audio recording, and make any appropriate adjustments when recording video to ensure audio quality. In addition, the audio for any submitted video clip(s) must be continuous and unedited, with no interruptions (e.g., you may not add music).
• Online or Hybrid Settings. Candidates who complete the CalTPA in an online or hybrid setting must additionally adhere to the Guidelines for Completing the CalTPA in an Online or Hybrid Setting.
• Sufficient Evidence. Your materials must provide sufficient evidence so that assessors can evaluate your performance according to the CalTPA rubrics. An assessor may be unable to assign a score according to one or more rubrics due to the following reasons.
• A response is unrelated to the instructional cycle.
• Insufficient information is submitted to be able to evaluate performance.
• The incorrect file was uploaded to the designated location.
• The file was blank, containing no text or graphics, or the video clip or audio file contained no content.
• The file could not be opened for technical reasons (e.g., file extension does not match file type).
• The file was saved in the incorrect orientation (i.e., portrait or landscape), so that some content is not visible.
• Documents are illegible and a transcript is not provided (e.g., handwriting is too light; images are blurry, reduced in size, or otherwise cannot be read).
• Referenced material is not submitted (e.g., Learning Segment Template is referenced or described in the response, but not submitted).
• Hyperlinks are provided in lieu of the actual documents/materials.
• Required evidence is beyond the allowable page/video length.
• 3 examples of student work not provided (product, process or performance video/audio)
• Annotations. Annotations must correspond to the timestamped video evidence.
• English Translation.
  • Translations or transcripts are NOT required for the following:
    
    • concurrent bilingual candidates who are in a placement where a language other than English is exclusively used for instruction, or who are in a placement where both English and another language are used for instruction
      NOTE: Analysis and reflection narratives must be primarily in English
    • candidates registered for the World Languages assessment
    • candidates using American Sign Language (ASL) in a classroom setting with students who are deaf or hard of hearing
    • candidates using Braille instructional materials in a classroom setting with students who are visually impaired
  • For all other candidates, any evidence in a language other than English must be accompanied by a translation.

If your submission does not meet the Submission Requirements, it may result in the inability to assign a score according to one or more rubrics. If a score cannot be assigned according to each rubric, the submission will be reported as "not passed" to the CTC and your educator preparation program.

In addition to these specific Submission Requirements, you must also review and comply with all policies and guidelines and all other requirements contained in the CalTPA assessment.

If you are unable to resolve a technical issue observed when you review your uploaded materials, contact CalTPA Customer Service for assistance prior to submission.

If your submission does not meet the Submission Requirements as described above and your submission or a portion of your submission is deemed unscorable, your score report will be marked as "Not Scorable," and it will specify one or more of the following Condition Codes indicating the requirement(s) that were not met for each applicable rubric and a non-numeric score of "X" for any remaining rubrics.

If you receive a condition code on your score report, please carefully review the information below under "For Candidates Who Receive a Condition Code on Their Score Report."

If you received a Condition Code on your score report, you are advised to consider the following course of action:

1. Review your rubric(s) that received a Condition Code with a faculty or program advisor.
2. Review the CalTPA Submission Requirements on this page (above) so that you understand how to correct your evidence for your rubric(s) that received a Condition Code.
3. Read and consider the additional information below about some of the most frequently assigned condition codes, if applicable.
4. Review the CalTPA Retake Policy .
5. Re-register for the cycle and submit your updated evidence, correcting the Submission Requirement errors that you and your advisor identified.

A6: Current California Content Standards and/or Curriculum Frameworks are not used

• You must use current California content standards and/or frameworks ; other content standards and frameworks are not acceptable.
• Candidates placed in transitional kindergarten classrooms should use the California State Content Kindergarten Standards for ELA/Literacy or Mathematics and/or the Transitional Kindergarten Implementation Guide . Do not use the California Preschool Learning Foundations. TK is considered K–12.
• The content standard subject area should match the lesson subject area.
• Standards should be written out, not just referred to by number.

Additional guidance for using and citing content standards can be found throughout the CalTPA Performance Assessment Guides and in particular under the Cycle 1 Step 1 Lesson Plan section and Cycle 2 Step 1 Learning Segment section.

A8: Current California English Language Development (ELD) Standards are not used

• You must reference the ELD standards listed in Chapter 3 of the California English Language Development Standards publication, not ELA standards.
• Standards should be written out, not just referred to by number.

Additional guidance for using and citing ELD standards can be found throughout the CalTPA Performance Assessment Guides and in particular under the Cycle 1 Step 1 Lesson Plan section and Cycle 2 Step 1 Learning Segment section.

A9: English Language Development (ELD) learning goals are not identified

• ELD goal(s) are specific statements of intended student attainment of essential English language skill development as delineated by the ELD standard(s); they should not simply reiterate the ELD standard language.
• Your ELD goal(s) must directly align to the ELD standard(s) you selected.
• Your Cycle 1 lesson must include at least one ELD goal(s) for any identified English learners, including reclassified English learners, in your class and Focus Student 1 (FS1).
• Your Cycle 2 lesson segment must include at least one ELD goal(s) if you have any English learners, including reclassified English learners, in your class.
• For Cycle 2, if one or more English learners, including reclassified English learners, are included in the Step 4 reteach/extension lesson, ELD goal(s) are required there as well.

Additional guidance for creating ELD goal(s) that map to your selected ELD standard(s) can be found throughout the CalTPA Performance Assessment Guides and in particular under the Cycle 1 Step 1 Lesson Plan section and Cycle 2 Step 1 Learning Segment section.

A89: Current California English Language Development (ELD) Standards and learning goals are not identified

• Refer to A8 and A9.

A99: Multiple Condition Codes apply

• You received more than one condition code for the specified rubric.
• Look to receive an email from Pearson within 1–2 business days of the score release date with a breakdown of what those condition codes are.

B12: Re-teaching or extension activity is from the original learning segment and not new instruction based on assessment analysis

• In Cycle 2, the reteach/extension activity should not be repeated from or included in your original learning segment.
• In Cycle 2, the reteach/extension activity should be a newly planned activity based on your analysis of the data collected from your informal, student-self, and formal assessments.

Additional guidance for planning your reteach/extension activity can be found in Step 4 Section II of the CalTPA Cycle 2 Performance Assessment Guide.

B20: The Step 4 video clip is from the Step 2 instruction

• In Cycle 2, the Step 4 video clip should be from the newly planned reteach/extension activity.
• In Cycle 2, the Step 4 video clip should not come from any of the learning segment lesson recordings in Step 2.

Additional guidance for planning and recording your reteach/extension activity can be found in Step 4 Sections II and III of the CalTPA Cycle 2 Performance Assessment Guide.

E7: Required examples of individual student work not provided (product, process or performance video/audio).

• You must provide actual student work (either as a document or a video/audio file).
• Scored rubrics are not a replacement for student work.
• A summary of the student work is not a replacement for student work.
• If the formal assessment is a group project, you must be able to identify individual student work within that group project, and you must be able to provide individual student feedback.

Additional guidance for providing student work can be found in Step 3 Section I of the CalTPA Cycle 2 Performance Assessment Guide.