Curriculum Updates
November 2025 Newsletter
Educators Learning About Healthcare
Calling all educators/community members interested in learning about rural healthcare! This is a great opportunity to learn about the advancements, barriers and initiatives in rural healthcare and K12 connections for careers. Email sgriffith@iu28.org for registration PROMO code if you are an educator.
Date: Thursday, November 20, 2025
Location: Kovalchick Center & Athletic Complex, Indiana, PA
Time: 7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Register here: 2025 Rural Health Conference Registration
Indiana County Tourist Bureau Student Contest
Description of Artwork Contest:
In honor of America's upcoming birthday, the tourist bureau is excited to invite local high school students to participate in a special artwork project that reflects the spirit of this historic
milestone. This is your chance to have your masterpiece showcased in the tourist bureau’s official 2026 Annual Event Wall Calendar.
How to Participate: Students are encouraged to create original artwork that represents America’s 250th birthday and its significance. Whether it’s through drawing, painting, or any other form of visual art (AI not accepted), your work should reflect your interpretation of the spirit of America as we approach this historic anniversary. Think about people, landmarks, events, and ideas that make America unique.
America250PA Semiquin Scholarship Program
In commemoration of America’s 250th anniversary and to honor the legacy of Pennsylvania’s strong commitment to education, America250PA will be awarding $250,000 in scholarships to deserving Pennsylvania students attending Pennsylvania colleges and universities in the 2026/2027 academic school year. Application
Western PA Student Centered Learning Conference
Biology Keystone
Remember....
- The 2025-2026 Winter Biology Keystone Exam is based on the “legacy” Biology standards (for re-testers).
- The Spring 2026 Biology Keystone Exam is based on the new STEELS Biology standards (1st time test takers).
- The best score-to-date will not translate between the two (2) different standards-based tests.
Assessments & Calculators
There are a number of updates to the online calculators for PSSA Mathematics, Keystone Algebra I, Firefly and CDT. Please access this link https://www.desmos.com/state-pdfs/PA_Desmos_Calculators.pdf for specific details, including:
- The calculators available for each assessment based upon grade level.
- Functions turned off for Pennsylvania testing.
Also,
- There is a free Desmos App which can be downloaded to school owned devices. Students can also download the free App to their devices. I would suggest downloading the testing version of the App. The testing version has a green bar with Pennsylvania.
- If interested in downloading the App, this link may be helpful. https://help.desmos.com/hc/en-us/articles/4405003743757-Using-Desmos-on-In-Class-Assessments
Additional notes:
- Students in grades 4-8 may continue to use a handheld calculator which complies with the PDE Calculator Policy to answer calculator permitted questions.
- Students in grade 3 may not use a calculator.
- Students in grades 4 and 5 can access the Desmos four function calculator. I often receive questions regarding students having access to a handheld device with a fraction button. My suggestion is to ensure students in grades 4 and 5 can operate (add, subtract, multiply and divide) fractions as outlined in the Assessment Anchors/Eligible Content. Often, these questions appear in the non-calculator section of the PSSA. Also, if students are asked to show/explain their work for an open ended question, we would expect to see all the middle steps involved with converting to common denominators, etc. For example, grade 5 students might be asked to add . They should type If students are missing the middle steps, they will not earn credit for the work.
As a side note, students could also type fractions that are not stacked and would earn full credit by showing this work:
(2 3/5)+ (1 7/8) = (2 24/40) + (1 35/40) = (3 59/40) = (4 19/40); the parentheses are not needed. The equation editor in the testing platform does have stacked fractions, and I would encourage students to practice typing fractions using the Online Tools since they are accustomed to seeing and working with stacked fractions. Here is a link to the Online Tools Training: https://portal.te.drcedirect.com/PA.
- Students in grades 7 and 8 will have access to the Pennsylvania testing version of Desmos graphing tool for the PSSA in 2026. As noted above, certain functions are turned off for testing.
- The calculators in the OTTs will be updated in the coming weeks.
🍏SAS Conference 2025 December 8-10 @ Hershey Lodge
🍎PETE & C 2026 February 1-4 @ Hershey Lodge
PVAAS
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!
Here are several links to resources to help build your understanding of this change:
- PVAAS Methodology Transition
- Changes in PA’s Assessment System: Impact on PVAAS
- PVAAS Methodologies (see pages 10-13 for predictive model information)
- eLearning – District/School Value-Added (view section on Predictive Methodology in menu)
The newest edition of “The CP Tip Jar” newsletter has been released. 🚩🚩
Click here to access the most current Comprehensive Planning/FRCPP information.
