Bureau of Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction

Pennsylvania Department of Education

Pennsylvania Association of Intermediate Units

Curriculum Coordinators

October 17, 2014

Rita PerezActing Bureau Director

Bureau of Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction

DIVISION OF INSTRUCTIONAL QUALITY

Driver’s Safety:

Opened three Private Driver Training Schools.

Began conducting site visits of both Public and Private schools who offer driver education. Attended the Face-to-Face meeting of the Organ and Tissue Donation Education Awareness

STEM

Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics, and Science (TEAMS) Registration in now open.

Registration for the 2015 TEAMS (Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics and Science) competition is now open. This year’s theme is “The Power of Engineering,” and the competition includes scenarios that explore the relationship between energy and engineering.

Students have the opportunity to explore topics such as solar energy, wind and hydro power, nuclear power, alternative fuels, and smart homes through participation in the TEAMS competition. During this one-day competition, teams of four to eight students work together to solve issues related to these engineering topics and to compete for competition day, division, and state rankings. The TEAMS competition brings learning full-circle as teams apply classroom knowledge and research to real-world engineering problems. The 2015 TEAMS competition window is February 9 through March 21.

To learn more about the TEAMS competition and to register, visit

For more information on TEAMS, contact TEAMS program manager Sandy Honour via email or at 888-860-9010.

Governor’s Jobs1st STEM Competition: Building a Stronger Pennsylvania; Open to Students in Grades 9-12

The competition is open to public, nonpublic and private school students in grades 9-12 to showcase their skills and expertise in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Teams of five students will be selected from each interested school and will explore STEM opportunities available in their local communities. Students will select a real-world problem, conduct research, and design, build and present a prototype device that is capable of making the quality of life better for the citizens of Pennsylvania.

The first phase of the competition will take place in February 2015 during 27 regional competitions to be hosted by the state’s intermediate units. Student teams that win the regional competition will advance to the statewide competition, which will be held on May 29, 2015, at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster.

To ensure that all students are able to participate, each student team will be provided with a $500 stipend to cover project costs at the regional level, and each team that advances to the state competition will be provided with an additional $750 stipend.

For the statewide competition, the top three teams will be awarded with scholarships for postsecondary education. For first place, each student team member will receive $2,000; for second place, each student will receive $1,000; and for third place, each student will receive $500.

In addition, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) will provide an additional scholarship to those winning students who choose to attend one of the 14 PASSHE universities. First place winners will receive an additional $1,000 and second and third place winners will receive an additional $500.

For information about the competition’s rules and guidelines, visit

Promoting Adolescent Health through School –Based HIV/STD and Teen

Pregnancy Prevention Initiative:

Year 2 of the initiative is underway. West Chester University’s Center for Healthy Schools will be providing the Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (HECAT) training on October 27-28, 2014 at the Harrisburg PaTTAN. All 15 school district teams will attend.

The purpose of the HECAT is to provide state, regional and local education agencies with a common set of tools to assist with the selection or development of health education curricula. The HECAT contains guidance, analysis tools, scoring rubrics, and resources for carrying out a clear, complete, and consistent examination of health education curricula. The HECAT results can help schools select or develop appropriate and effective health education curricula, strengthen the delivery of health education, and improve the ability of health educators to influence healthy behaviors and healthy outcomes among school-age youth. The HECAT is customizable to meet local community needs and conform to the curriculum requirements of a state or school district. HECAT modules address the following curricula:

  • Alcohol and Other Drugs
  • Healthy Eating
  • Mental and Emotional Health
  • Personal Health and Wellness
  • Physical Activity
  • Safety
  • Sexual Health
  • Tobacco
  • Violence Prevention
  • Comprehensive Health Education

This training will assist the schools in fulfilling the required activities for the Exemplary Sexual Health Education (ESHE) approach of the initiative. The districts will continue to receive additional professional development, technical assistance and follow-up support for the other following approaches: Sexual Health Services, Safe and Supportive Environments for Students and Staff and Policy.

DIVISION OF PLANNING

Individual Area Updates:

Comprehensive Planning (CP)

As a reminder, we are now approximately a month and a half out from the Phase 3 CP submission deadline of November 30, 2014. Phase 3 LEAs should be prepared to submit their plans by the deadline via the CP web application unless granted an extension in advance by PDE.

Phase 2 LEAs were to have submitted their plans by November 30, 2013 unless granted an extension by PDE. Any and all extensions granted to Phase 2 LEAs have since expired regardless. Therefore, all outstanding (delinquent) Phase 2 LEAs should submit their plans by COB on Thursday, October 16, 2014. The following information is directed to the attention of Phase 3 LEAs for their upcoming submissions, as well as to Phase 2 LEAs with delinquent submissions:

LEAs should be aware that some conscious final steps are required when submitting their plans within the CP web application.

  • Check the plan for issues to ensure that all sections are complete and ready for submission. A tutorial on checking your plan for issues is available at:
  • When all final edits have been made to the plan, the Board President and the Chief School Administrator should visit the “Plan Submission” section of the web application to sign and affirm that the plan’s contents are true and correct. A tutorial on signing and submitting the plan is available at:

Questions about the submission process can be answered by the CP Development Team Help Desk at r (717) 732-8403.

Ready to Learn Block Grant (RTL)

The Ready to Learn Block Grant was released via PDE’s eGrants system at the end of August 2014. As of October 6th, approximately 85% of LEAs had either started or submitted their grants. LEAs that have not submitted have until October 15, 2014 to submit. All errant LEAs have been notified by email to submit by that date.

Those LEAs that have started or submitted by the initial September 30, 2014 deadline will receive 50% of their RTL allocation in the October Unipay. The next collection date for payment will be December 1, 2014. All LEAs should have submitted their grant applications in full by then and be approved, in which case they would receive the balance of their allocation in the December Unipay.

DIVISION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, COMPLIANCE and MONITORING

Individual Area Updates:

2014-15 Consolidated Application processing

Fall Regional Workshops at IUs 15, 3, 8, 14, 24, 19, 10, and 6

2013-14 Final Expenditure Reports processing

SIG Principal Academy – Oct 29-31

Comparability Reports due in November

Coming Soon – School Reward Grants

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DIVISION OF STUDENT SERVICES

Individual Area Updates:

Migrant Education:

  • The Diploma Project Toolkit for migrant parents and students, to learn about high school graduation requirements and post-secondary options has been posted on the website for use in the 2014-15 school years. A follow-up webinar was provided and more information will be shared at the migrant/ESL conference.

Refugee Program Office:

  • Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Division of Students Services and its Refugee Program Office are pleased to have recently received a federal award of $586,000 for the 2014-16 Refugee School Impact Grant years.

21st Century Community Learning Centers Grants (21st CCLC):

  • The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) announced the completion of the grant review process for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) grant and the awarding of 64 new 21st CCLC grant awards totaling $23.1 million for 2014-17 on September 29, 20214. In response to the Request for Proposals, PDE received 117 grant applications requesting more than $41,194,300 million that were read and scored by teams of three evaluators. The total scores were rank ordered from highest to lowest within eight geographic regions and grants were recommended for funding until available funds were exhausted. Of the 117 applications reviewed, PDE approved funding for 64 applications including 21 applications from school districts, 14 applications from community-based organizations, 12 applications from charter schools, five applications from intermediate units, three applications from faith-based organizations and six applications from nationally affiliated service organizations. Of those selected for funding, 34 applicants are proposing to work with priority and focus schools, two are proposing to work partially with priority and focus schools and 28 are working with neither priority nor focus schools. The intermediate units receiving funding under cohort 7 include: Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit, Chester County Intermediate Unit, Lincoln Intermediate Unit, Northeastern Intermediate Unit 19 and Schuylkill IU #29.
  • A Proclamation from the Governor’s Office has been prepared in support of the 15th annual Lights on Afterschool on October 22, 2014 to bring attention to afterschool programming. Throughout the state Pennsylvania’s grantees will recognize this event with special activities planned for the day or during the week and to encourage support for their local 21st CCLC programs.

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