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7 hours Act 45

Learn from PDE, Intermediate Units, and other experts!

Special STUDENT & Teacher Guest Speakers on Artificial Intelligence!

The TaC team needs your input! We want to hear from all district employees on your perceived areas of need in special education. This data is used to plan for the upcoming year and we find your input valuable. It only takes a minute or two!

TAKE THE SURVEY NOW

The Pennsylvania Department of Education is proud to announce that we are soliciting applications for committee members to participate in the review the the PA Academic Standards for Health, Safety, and Physical Education and the PA Academic Standards for Arts and Humanities. We need your help! If you're interested in being a part of the Standards Review Committee, please click on the appropriate link below. The deadline to submit your application will be February 7th, 2025. Thanks for all you do!

Arts and Humanities:

PDE Arts and Humanities Academic Standards Committee Application https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdc49Sian0OijBpg1ouDCB6sp071J66WQqQXlZ6AATQMI5UHw/viewform

Health, Safety, and Physical Education:

PDE Health, Safety, and Physical Education Academic Standards Committee Application https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeJoBKgcAWjsVnwwOfSu18CjKivij-QZ1Qy5Pa4pmMtiC0j2g/viewform

During the second semester of 2024-2025 ARIN will be hosting several student competitions including STEM Design Challenge, Media and Design Competition and the 24 Math Challenge. For details about all of these competitions go to the Student Competitions SMORE. Please share with your teachers.

During the 2023-24 school year, Intermediate Units began the process of finding and interviewing school districts on the topic of student-centered learning. Many schools from across the Commonwealth shared their stories with us and we then published those stories in an online publication. Continuing into the 2024-25 school year, the project has grown into a virtual network of educators and schools that are willing to share and wanting to learn more about student-centered learning. If this all sounds interesting to you please click the red button below to begin reading on how you can get involved in this network or schedule a visit to a PA school that has started down this path.

Please click here for details on upcoming trainings and supports for the STEELS Standards.

Coming Soon from PDE/Workgroups:

• Assessment Toolkit
• Safety Guidelines
• EL&S Curriculum Framework to SAS Portal

Available in-district sessions:

• Paper screening (curriculum resource review)
• Curriculum alignment

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) will host STEELS materials and resources curation sessions on March 3–5, 2025, at PaTTAN Harrisburg. Pennsylvania educator teams will collaborate to locate, identify, and curate STEELS aligned materials and resources for inclusion on the SAS Portal. The link to apply can be found here.

Key Details:
• Participants will be reimbursed for travel, meals, lodging, and substitute costs as applicable.
• Stipends are NOT available but Act 48 credit will be offered.
• Tentative Schedule:
o March 3: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
o March 4: 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM
o March 5: 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM
o Two virtual sessions may be scheduled as needed.

Application Information:
• Deadline: February 12, 2025
• Notification Date: February 19, 2025 (Accepted educators will receive lodging and reimbursement details at this time.)

Questions:
Brandt Hutzel: brhutzel@pa.gov

Tammie Peffer: tpeffer@pa.gov
Dave Bauman: davbauman@pa.gov

Remake Learning Days is a joyful celebration of hands-on learning events across Pennsylvania.RLD launched in May 2016 in Pittsburgh, PA as the largest open-house for families featuring hands-on learning. Your school can get involved with Remake Learning Days in the following ways:

1. Host an event

2. Promote events in your area

3. Register for the Career Ready PA Backpack Challenge

4. Participate in the discoverED design challenge (grades 1-2)

For more information, visit the link below.

Join us at the IU February 14 for AI for Educators! For more information and registration, CLICK HERE.

Can't make that date work? Have us come to you! Email Susan Griffith sgriffith@iu28.org or Stacie Isenberg sisenberg@iu28.org

Superintendent (SAC) & Principals meetings will be Act 45 eligible for up to 25 hours.

NEW❗Principal Collaborative Virtual Sessions (Act 45)

1. Curriculum Updates (Smore)
2. District Spotlight
3. Student Data
4. Curriculum & TaC Highlights, Offerings, and Discussion

There is a "pre-session work" component to this in order to earn all the hours. The work should take no longer than 2 hours to complete and is relevant to district/building student data. More details to come.

Monthly REMOTE Meeting: 9-11am & 2 hours of pre-work (on your own)

4-5 Act 45 hours per session will be eligible

Tentative session dates will be:

January 9, 2025 9-11

February 13, 2025 9-11

March 20, 2025 9-11

NO APRIL

May 8, 2025 9-11

June 5, 2025 9-11

Curious what trainings are mandated by PDE? Check out the new webpage on PDE's site that outlines Who/What/When! State Mandated Training Timeline | Department of Education | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

The Common Ground Framework Guidelines are not required to be included in LEA continuing education plans. However, LEAs are required to comply to 22 Pa. Code §§ 49.16(c) and 49.17(a)(6), which states:

“The continuing professional education plan must include a section which describes how the professional education needs of the school entity, including those of diverse learners, and its professional employees are to be met through implementation of the plan. The plan must describe how professional development activities will improve language and literacy acquisition for all students, including the provision of training in structured literacy for professional employees who hold instructional certificates in Early Childhood, Elementary/Middle, Special Education PK—12, English as a second language and Reading Specialists. The plan must contribute to closing achievement gaps among students, and improve professional employees knowledge of professional ethics and culturally relevant and sustaining education.”

This is true for induction plans as well.

Therefore, LEAs do not need to use the guidelines but are required to have a training in both the continuing education plan and the induction plan.

Please see this DOCUMENT for all Assessment Updates from PDE.

• Firefly Administration Training site
• DRC Online Enrollment
• Transition to Online Assessments
• TEI (Technology Enhanced Items) Software & Device Support
• And More!
• iPad Update

Educator Application: PSSA and Keystone Exams Assessment Committee Reviews

Online Tools Training sessions (5 finished, 9 to go). Registration link https://forms.office.com/g/6CtYCMQsgj. The sessions are open to all educators (including principals, coaches, curriculum specialists, etc.). During these sessions, it is suggested that LEAs do not have a single day for students to use the tools but rather smaller sessions and using the tools as a formative assessment. This will make things easier for the students, especially the younger students.

FYI: The tools for CDT and Firefly are identical to PSSA and Keystone. The main tool bar is identical for all grades and content. Mathematics has the additional calculator button(s) where applicable, and the added reference sheet button.

🍏 Well-Being in Action Summit 2025 (SEL & Mental Health) April 29-30 Harrisburg

🍎 PASCD Summit 25 August 3-5 @ Nittany Lion Inn & State College Area High School

Click here for more information!

CAFE Services

Partner Spotlight: National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS)

CAFE provides services for NNPS through funding from a grant from the U.S. Department of

Education. If your district in Maryland or Pennsylvania is interested in these services, please

contact CAFE at info@maec.org.

The National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS) guides school and district leaders

to improve their knowledge of school, family, and community partnerships; improve

policies and plans for partnerships; and guide schools’ Action Teams for Partnerships

(ATPs) in developing excellent programs of family and community involvement.

Partnerships are needed to help all elementary, middle, and high schools establish

teams, write plans, share best practices, and evaluate their programs of school, family,

and community partnerships. With strong leadership, every school will welcome, inform,

and engage parents in their children’s education.

NNPS supports school and district leaders for partnerships by providing professional

development and ongoing technical assistance to help them organize their work,

improve policies, and increase the quality of partnership programs at the school

and district level. NNPS approaches enable districts and their schools to meet the

requirements for family involvement in ESSA.

Want a 1:1 Consult with the PVAAS Team? Click HERE to schedule!

Users can now select the focus for the consultation that best meets their goals or professional learning objectives.

Great Learning Opportunities Coming Up:

PVAAS Professional Learning Page

Digging Deeper Guides- these are a great resource for identifying root cause and diving deeper into your data! User friendly for all users!

FRCPP Support: Office Hours every 1st and 3rd Tuesday via TEAMS. Click Here

The newest edition of “The CP Tip Jar” newsletter has been released. 🚩🚩Click here to access the most current Comprehensive Planning/FRCPP information.