CalAPA Confidentiality and Security of Candidate Materials and Assessment Data
This document describes the policies and procedures related to the confidentiality and security of CalAPA submissions and candidate performance data for each phase of the assessment process:
- Pre-Submission of Assessment Materials for Scoring
- Transfer, Upload, and Storage of Assessment Materials
- Post-Submission and Scoring of Assessment Materials
This information applies to the handling of CalAPA submissions and candidate data by the Evaluation Systems group of Pearson (Evaluation Systems) and the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC).
The CTC owns all materials, including candidate submissions and data collected in relation to the CalAPA.
Candidate use of video for the CalAPA is restricted by the parameters of the release forms verified for all individuals featured in a video. Because parents/guardians/families and/or adults have not typically granted permission for public use of the videos in which they or their minors appear, videos must NOT be displayed publicly (e.g., through personal websites, YouTube™, or Facebook™).
Information about submission status may be provided to the administrator preparation program in which the candidate is enrolled.
Pre-Submission of Assessment Materials for Scoring
Prior to preparing a CalAPA submission, candidates and faculty supporting candidates should review the following guidelines related to the creation, review, and handling of video recordings.
- CalAPA Candidate Guidelines for Confidentiality of Video Recordings
- CalAPA Faculty Guidelines for Confidentiality of Video Recordings
These guidelines address the need to maintain confidentiality of video-recorded participants and to direct candidates to verify appropriate permission from parents/guardians/families for students and from adults who appear in video recordings. Candidates should verify that complete consent forms are on file with their schools or districts. If the appropriate permissions are not on file with a school or district, or the school or district does not have a standard consent form in place, candidates may use the sample consent forms provided on the California Educator Credentialing Assessments website for this purpose. Candidates should consult with their programs for other specific information that they may be required to include on the consent forms. Also, candidates should retain these permissions for as long as they plan to use the video for educative purposes.
Authorized Access
Prior to submitting materials for scoring, candidates may request that support providers associated with their preparation program—including faculty, supervisors, coaches/mentor administrators, peers, and others who may offer assistance (e.g., tutors)—provide feedback on their CalAPA materials (including video recordings). These support providers are required to abide by the CalAPA Faculty Guidelines for Confidentiality of Candidate Video Recordings and the CalAPA Acceptable Support document, which prohibit the sharing, copying, or posting of candidate assessment materials, including video recordings, in a public way and for purposes other than program improvement.
If a candidate wants to retain a copy of submitted materials and share with support providers based on appropriate permissions, the files should be saved outside of the CalAPA site prior to submission. Once CalAPA materials are uploaded and submitted for scoring, they cannot be returned to candidates or administrator preparation programs.
Attestations
When candidates are ready to submit their assessment materials to Evaluation Systems for scoring, they are presented with candidate attestations, which include confirmation that they have verified the necessary consent forms from all individuals featured in video recordings and that they have not posted and will not post video recordings in any unsecured, public location. Candidates must keep their CalAPA video recordings under secure conditions and share with support providers only when appropriate permissions are granted.
Transfer, Upload, and Storage of Assessment Materials
Candidate assessment materials, including video recordings, are uploaded by the candidate directly into the designated CalAPA site. Transmission of assessment materials via this method is protected using industry standard encryption practices.
Once materials have been uploaded directly into the CalAPA site, they must be reviewed and verified by the candidate before they are submitted for official scoring.
Storage
Assessment materials are stored by Evaluation Systems in secure repositories and areas accessible only to authorized users via unique, secure login credentials for specific actions and for limited periods of time.
Access
By using industry-standard security software (encrypted protocols and encrypted and expiring tokens), the system ensures that access to view the stored assessment materials, including video files, is granted only to the following authorized users:
- Authorized Evaluation Systems users, including assessors, assessor supervisors, lead assessors, assessor support personnel, and personnel required to conduct quality control.
- Authorized CTC personnel associated with management of the CalAPA may view candidates' materials for the purposes of assessment development, selecting exemplar submissions, selecting assessor and faculty training materials, and monitoring assessor training, calibration, and scoring activities
Post-Submission and Scoring of Assessment Materials
Access
Following scoring, access to view assessment materials, including video files, is granted only to the following authorized users:
- Authorized Evaluation Systems users, including assessors, assessor supervisors, lead assessors, assessor support personnel, and personnel required to conduct quality control, or an investigation associated with compliance with the CalAPA Rules of Participation, as needed
- Authorized CTC personnel associated with management of the CalAPA may view candidates' materials for the purposes of assessment development, selecting exemplar submissions, selecting assessor and faculty training materials, and monitoring assessor training, calibration, and scoring activities
- Authorized individuals at administrator preparation programs and the CTC for purposes of program development and faculty training
- Authorized individuals at the administrator preparation program in which a candidate is enrolled and/or the CTC may be provided access to submission materials (or a portion thereof) as part of an investigation associated with compliance with the CalAPA Rules of Participation, as needed
Authorized assessors access candidate assessment materials, including video recordings, through Evaluation Systems' password-protected secure scoring system. Candidate assessment materials are available only for the period in which scoring occurs. Assessors' access to the Evaluation Systems scoring system is disabled after the assessors' reviews are completed.
Access to Performance Data
Assessment results will be reported to the candidate, to the administrator preparation program in which the candidate is enrolled, and to the CTC.
- Candidates will be informed of their status in meeting the CTC-approved passing standard for each leadership cycle and their progress toward meeting the overall CalAPA requirement.
- The CalAPA Coordinator for a CTC-approved administrator preparation program will have secure access to candidate-level performance data (the status of each participating candidate in meeting the CTC-approved passing standard on all leadership cycles) and aggregate-level data for the candidates associated with that program.
- The CTC will have access to all performance data, by candidate, by administrator preparation program, and across all CalAPA submissions.
Other Uses of Candidate Materials
- CalAPA submission materials, without candidate or other identifying information, may be used for CalAPA development and implementation, including assessor and faculty training and as exemplars to guide preparation programs and other candidates.
Retention and Destruction
The standard retention period for CalAPA submissions, including videos, is four years, after which submission materials will be destroyed. There may be exceptions to the standard retention period for extenuating circumstances, such as a voided score or use for training purposes.
After the retention period, CalAPA submissions, including videos, are disposed of through a set of automated processes that identify and physically delete the artifacts from their repository locations. These processes are executed on a regular, periodic basis and render the artifacts inaccessible and irretrievable.
Candidate performance results and associated identifying information will be retained indefinitely, supporting the reproduction of results reports for candidates as requested.
View Cart