To evaluate the impact of the emergent national teacher performance assessment (TPA) on student teachers (STs), this study examined a pilot implementation at one university in Washington State during Spring 2011. The findings reveal that there are some potential benefits to the TPA that
may positively affect student and teacher learning. The finding show that STs report greater levels of reflection enabling them to better focus on student thinking. Similarly, university supervisors see the TPA as an opportunity to shift the analysis of teaching episodes to the ST, thereby developing more complex pedagogical thinking in teacher candidates. More