Curriculum Council
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
9:00 AM-11:30 AM Meeting
8:30 Morning Refreshments/11:30 Lunch
-Meeting Minutes-
1. Welcome & Introductions:
Attendance: Dr. Betsy Baker, CIU #10; Kristen Baughman-Gray, CIU #10; Tracy Boone, Bald Eagle SD; Dr. Jill Dillon, Harmony SD; Paul Hetrick, Curwensville ASD; Bruce Nicolls, Clearfield ASD; Jamie Russler, CIU #10; David Simcox, Philipsburg-Osceola ASD; John Zesiger, Moshannon Valley SD; Sherri Connell, Penns Valley ASD; Terry Murty, Keystone Central SD; Cathy Thomas, CCCTC; Ed DiSabato, Glendale
Virtual Attendance: Deirdre Bauer, State college SD; Brett Everhart, Lock Haven University; Midge Barilla, Lock Haven University
See Slides 3-8 of the PowerPoint for an introduction to each member of the Department of Continuous School Improvement Services and their roles. The only new member for 2014-15 is Diane Hubona. She is an IU08 employee contracted to provide support for PIIC. Bethann McCain’s roles have changed slightly now that she will be heavily involved with KtO at the State level. Betsy Baker has accepted the position of Director of Education for the Altoona Area School District. At this point, she expects to remain at CIU until November 21. All scheduled trainings and meetings will proceed as planned.
Email addresses for each of the department members follow:
· Betsy Baker =
· Kristen Baughman-Gray =
· Bethann McCain =
· Diane Hubona =
· Jamie Russler =
· Patti Rice =
Pennsylvania Basic Funding Campaign - Dr. Dwyer discussed the Pennsylvania Basic Education Funding Campaign to be held on Tuesday, September 20, 2014, at the Central Intermediate Unit #10 starting at 6:30 PM. Superintendents, business managers, school administrators, and school board members are encouraged to attend. Register at www.paiu.org/vcon or contact Mary Ann Wigfield, P: 814-342-0884, ext. 3021/.
2. PDE/PAIUCC Updates & Discussion
a. Educator Effectiveness – PDE has updated the Educator Effectiveness pages. Please reference the 2013 PA Bulletin for regulations related to Classroom Teacher Evaluation and the 82-1 Rating form. This includes Table H which is used for determining a teacher’s rating for Student Performance on Assessments in the teacher Specific Data section. The 2014 PA Bulletin provides regulations for Principal Effectiveness/82-2 and also for Non-Teaching Professionals/82-3. The Administration Manual has been updated for 2014-15 and the Student Measures FAQ is a resource you want to be sure to review. Note that, although the new 82-1, 82-2, & 82-3 rating forms are posted, the teacher specific data section if the 82-1 form is being re-formatted to allow for entry of decimals.
Copyright Reminder - Teachscape holds the copyright for the 2011 & 2013 Framework for Teaching. ASCD holds the copyright for the 2007 version. To purchase the work from ASCD, email . Copyright issues regarding the Framework for Leadership and the Specialist Rubrics are currently being reviewed.
SAS Evaluation System – PDE has contracted SAS to develop an electronic system for evaluation only (i.e., 82-1, 82-2, & 82-3 rating tools). This system will NOT replace any supervisory systems you are currently using to record observation and practice data (ex. PA-eTEP, Teachscape, etc.). The new SAS evaluation system will be a web-based system for completing the electronic spreadsheets so that a variety of data will be able to be pre-filled for the evaluator (ex. SPP scores, PVAAS rolling average). This FREE system is expected to be open for voluntary use in the spring. More than one evaluator may have access to an individual’s rating form. LEAs will still determine the weighting for each Teacher Specific Data aspect.
Classifications within Job Descriptions – It is recommended that job descriptions be revised to clearly specify the classification of the particular position: Classroom Teacher under 82-1, Principal/CTC Director under 82-2, or Non-Teaching Professional Employee under 82-3.
i. SPP - September 19 - LEAs Preview SPP
October 1 – Public Release of SPPs
Data Files for 2012-13 and 2013-14 can be found in the footer at the bottom right of the SPP.
ii. Classroom Teacher Effectiveness- The Classroom Teacher Effectiveness page provides valuable resources related to the supervision and evaluation of those classified as Classroom Teachers. For 2014-15, the factors for the 82-1 form follow:
· Teacher Observation/Practice = 50% (approved practice models are posted)
· Building Level Data = 15%
· Teacher Specific Data (except for PVAAS) = 15% (resources for documenting IEP goal progress are posted on the Classroom Teacher Effectiveness page – The IEP Progress-Teacher Specific Data Template is an OPTIONAL document for determining IEP goal progress. It does NOT replace the use of SLO Template 4 for Elective Data)
· Elective Data = 20% (Required document = SLO Template 4)
Teacher Effectiveness Modules for Act 48 - Training modules regarding Teacher Effectiveness can be found within the SAS PD Center. You must be logged in to view the modules.
1. Teacher Specific Data - In regard to Teacher Specific Data, Act 82 states the following:
(B) Fifteen per centum (15%) teacher-specific data, including, but not limited to, student achievement attributable to a specific teacher as measured by all of the following:
(I) Student performance on assessments.*
(II) Value-added assessment system data made available by the department under section 221.
(III) Progress in meeting the goals of student individualized education plans required under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (Public Law 91-230, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq.).
(IV) Locally developed school district rubrics.
*The term "assessment" shall mean the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test, the Keystone Exam, an equivalent local assessment or another test established by the State Board of Education to meet the requirements of section
Link to Act 82:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2012/0/0082..HTM
Decisions regarding how to weight and apply each aspect need to be made locally in collaboration with the Collective Bargaining Unit and the Solicitor. PDE does not have the authority to provide black and white answers in relation to Teacher Specific Data.
LEA’s are encouraged to utilize an “N” Count of 11 across teacher specific and elective data; however, this is a local decision. Decisions should be applied consistently so as not to be deemed arbitrary or capricious.
2. Teachers with Unique Roles & Functions – See the SAS portal for new examples of evidence and guiding questions.
3. SLOs – The SAS SLO site has been updated. On the landing page, the blue box on the left side of the page provides all resources by category. The only required document is Template 4. On the Homeroom Site, documents are organized by the following categories: Orientation, Design, Build, Review. There is an I am a Teacher section and an I am a School Leader section. The documents are essentially the same. The School Leader section is just a scaled down version of the Teacher section. The one major difference between the Homeroom Site and the SAS SLO landing page is that the Homeroom Site provides web-based versions of Template 4 & 5 that can saved to My History in a teacher’s SAS account. Unfortunately, though, the web-based version times out quickly so saving frequently is required. Betsy has also received reports that complete templates have been lost in cyber space, so if you use this tool, it is recommended that you also download and save the completed template to another location.
- Principal Effectiveness – Multiple resources can be found on the Principal Effectiveness page, including the Principal Effectiveness Program Brochure (PDE’s “advertisement” of its new system), the Framework for Leadership, Types of Evidence documents, Possible Guiding Questions documents, Correlation Data resources, and Elective Data/SLOs. More details will be provided at the upcoming Principal Effectiveness trainings.
iv. Non-Teaching Professional Effectiveness - All three groups of NTPEs (i.e., 1. Instructionally Certified people who are not providing direct instruction, 2. Educational specialists, and 3. supervisors) will be evaluated using 82-3. All domains for the Observation/Practice area of the 82-3 will be weighted equally. The four domains follow:
· Planning and Preparation
· Educational Environment
· Delivery of Service
· Professional Development
For the supervision process, the three groups will utilize differing tools:
· NTPEs working under their Instructional Certification will be supervised using the Danielson Framework for Teaching. A crosswalk has been posted on PDEs NTPE page to illustrate the connection between the legislative intent of Act 82 for NTPEs and the Danielson Framework.
· NTPEs working under their Supervisory Certification will be supervised using the Framework for Leadership. Examples of professional employees in this group would include Special Education Directors and Curriculum Directors.
(Note: Principal certification may qualify an administrator to serve as a Director of Curriculum. In such a case, the employee would be considered a NTPE working under their Supervisory Certification.) A crosswalk has been posted on PDEs website to illustrate the connection between the legislative intent of Act 82 for NTPEs and the Framework for Leadership. Types of Evidence documents and Guiding Question documents for various supervisors are also posted.
· NTPEs working under an Educational Specialist Certification will be supervised using the specialist rubrics which are designed to help the evaluators have a better understanding of the level of performance of their specialists. Guiding Questions for each specialist group are also posted.
· Speech & Language - Districts have struggled to find Speech and Language teachers. Qualified speech therapists may not have instructional certification. Therefore, a new specialist certification for speech was posted on PDE’s sites last week (CSPG #86). This means that there are now two speech certifications: specialist and instructional. Most current speech teachers have both. PDE will create a specialist rubric for speech teachers who do not have instructional certification. They will be evaluated using 82-3 with all other educational specialists. Once that rubric is available, it will be a local call regarding how speech teachers with both specialist and instructional certification are evaluated.
b. Comprehensive Planning - Reminder: The PDE Comp Planning site has been updated to align with Chapter 4 requirements. A Wiki links you to all of the current resources from Comprehensive Planning trainings. One update not yet incorporated onto the site is the recent removal of the Technology Planning requirements for Priority 2 schools, the ENTIRE Materials and Resources section underCoreFoundations is now OPTIONAL and can be left blank. It is still strongly recommended that schools infuse technology throughout their Action Planning components.
- Title I School Improvement – A waiver application has been submitted. If approved, the timeline for Priority and Focus School Improvement will be changed to allow these schools the full three years to improve their AMOs. This waiver will also impact whether or not a Title I School needs to do a School Improvement Plan if they are not designated as a Priority or Focus School, but do not make their AMOs for two years in a row. For now, we are awaiting the response to the waiver request.
c. PVAAS – The updated PVAAS Public Site will open on October 8. Teacher Specific Reports will be available to District and School Admins on October 23rd and to the teachers on October 30. No Teacher Specific Reports will be released for Grade 5 & 8 Writing.
A District Launchpad will be available this year along with a new Export Function.
There will be the option to incorporate Grade 3 into Roster Verification this year. The value in doing so is that the PVAAS system may calculate student proficiency for the Teacher Specific Data segment. Percent Instructional Responsibility won’t need to be calculated for grade 3.
Dates for 2014-15 Roster Verification follow:
· April 27-May 3 = LEA Preview Window, by school
· May 4-17 = Teacher Verification Window
· May 18-31 = School Admin Verification Window
· June 1-14 = LEA Verification Window
d. Assessment – The eDirect site posts periodic assessment updates. The August Assessment Update includes a variety of important dates relative to the various assessments. Online testing will be expanded to be able to be done on Chromebooks and on iPads with external keyboards. CDTs will not require external keyboards since they do not incorporate open-ended responses. A FAQ regarding testing guidance in relation to Chapter 4 regulations is under development.
Out of State Transfers – If a student transfers to PA from another state after completing and passing the other state’s test for accountability purposes, the student will be considered proficient and will not need to take the Keystone Exam.
Q: When using electronic online testing, how can the assessment be shown for parental review for religious exemption reasons to remain compliant? (One of our districts who participated in online testing last year ran into this situation. There were told they had to have a plan for providing parents with access to the test.)
A: Order one hard copy of each test for parental review purposes.
i. CDTs - DRC has posted a number of new CDT resources on eDirect. To access them, go to https://pa.drcedirect.com/. Click on Documents on left side bar. Select 2014-2015 Classroom Diagnostic Tools under Administration. Select All as the Document Type. Click Show Documents button.
· Parent Letter
· Student Metacognition Templates for Lower Grades (3-5) - all content and grade levels
· Student Metacognition Templates for Upper Grades (6-12) - all content and grade levels
· Lower Grades Skill Pamphlets for all content and grade levels (Science is not yet completed, but when finished, they will be posted.)
· Upper Grades Skill Pamphlets for all content and grade levels (Science is not yet completed, but when finished, they will be posted.)
· Simulations for Grade 4: Writing, Science, Reading and Math
· Simulation for Grade 7 Science
ii. PSSA – New resources have been posted on the PDE PSSA site. These include the new test blueprints. The Science PSSAs have not changed. The Math & ELA testing will be separate weeks and separate test books. For Math, items can now be double coded, meaning that one test item may cross over more than one piece of eligible content. The number of reporting categories will be reduced from 5 to 4. For the ELA assessment, there will now be 4 sections instead of 3. The first section will be the writing. It will include language questions and a writing prompt. All grades will now be tested on writing. For the reading sections, there will be Evidence Based Selected Response questions (EBSR) which require the student to mark multiple correct answers. For example, part one will ask for one correct answer. Part two will ask the tester to select the one or two pieces of evidence that support his/her response. If the question requires two answers, students will fill in two answer bubbles. EBSRs are worth 2-3 points each. For Text Dependent Analysis Questions (TDAs), students will be expected to write an essay to support their response. CIU consultants will receive training on TDAs in October and then will be sharing this information with LEAs.