• What: A Q/A Discussion Regarding Online Testing, State Assessments, STEELS, & SAS
• When: Friday, January 31, 2025; 9 am - 12 pm (lunch provided)
• Where: WIU Administration Building
• Who: Kevin Mauro, PDE Math Content Advisor & Dave Baumann, PDE Science Content Advisor
• Audience: District Administration, School Administration, District/ School Test Coordinators, District Technology Administrators
• Fee: Complimentary (no cost to participants)

Click here.

The Act 13 Office Hours with Amy Lena (PDE), Amanda Lerew (PDE), Laurie Kolka (PEERS & PVAAS), and David Myers (PA-ETEP) are designed to support the implementation of Act 13 Educator Effectiveness.

• These sessions will be held the 4th Thursday of each month from 12:00 - 1:00 pm.

• They will address frequently asked questions as well as an opportunity for attendees to ask questions relative to Educator Effectiveness implementation and processes.

• NOTE - No registration is required to attend.

Dates for 24-25

• October 24

• November 21 (week prior to fourth Thursday due to the holiday)

• December 19 (week prior to fourth Thursday due to the holiday)

• January 23, February 27, March 27

• April 24, May 22, June 26

Click here to join the meeting

Meeting ID: 224 532 637 16

Passcode: NoLP3t

Download Teams | Join on the web

Or call in (audio only)

+1 267-332-8737,978120212#

Phone Conference ID: 978 120 212#

For more information:

• ADA.gov Fact Sheet

• International Association of Accessibility Professionals

• Knowability

• OCR Video Series

Please use this link to view the most up-to-date FRCPP plan release and due dates.

• In order to access the Tip Jar, you need to login to your SAS account and then join the FRCPP Tip Jar Community from the “Tools” area.

• If you need to create a SAS account, follow the directions outlined here.
• To join the FRCPP Tip Jar Community, please follow the directions outlined here.

• To allow for everyone to transition, the Tip Jar will continue to be sent via the listserv for the next couple of months, and then it will only be accessible via SAS.

Click here.

• These open office hours are held from 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm on the 1st Tuesday of each month.

• To join a session via Teams, click here.

• Expect a typical fall release, though PDE has not yet announced dates.
• Prior to release, if an LEA/district wants to save anything, export is available. Export Help
• Principals and teachers may also want to save teacher-specific reports prior to release, as reporting is not archived.

Important Clarification for Districts: District and school administrators will no longer have access to Teacher Value-Added reports and composites for teachers who do not receive a Teacher Value-Added report in their respective LEA/district/school for SY 2023-24.

• I can’t access my account! → pvaas.sas.com “forgot password”
• How do I navigate the report and use filter options? → Online Help
• How do I interpret this report & use the data? → e-Learning
• How is all of this calculated? → Methodology

• There is a new scheduling link now available on the PVAAS login page.

• Preview Phase: April 17, 2025 to April 30, 2025
• Teacher Verification: May 1, 2025 to May 14, 2025
• School Verification: May 15, 2025 to May 28, 2025
• District/LEA Verification: May 29, 2025 to June 20, 2025

• Tell Your Story with Data: A Statewide Forum on Communication Strategies
• PVAAS Scatterplots: A New Look at Achievement & Growth Data?
• PVAAS & Your Current Students: Leveraging Teachers + Student Enrollment

• New Benchmark Assessments are Coming!
• DRC’s Online Enrollment System
• Transition to Statewide Online Testing
  
• Technology Enhanced Items for All Subjects
  
• Testing Devices and Software
  
• Device Support Awareness
  
• Section-Specific Test Tickets
  
• A New Grade for PSSA Science
  
• DRC INSIGHT System Requirements
  
• Enhanced Student Testing Experience
  
• 2024-25 Important Dates
• Resources & Training Google Site

Click here to access the PDE ASSESSMENT UPDATE, Fall-Winter 2024.

The CDT has operational technology-enhanced items this year!

• Firefly Benchmark
• Firefly Quick Start Guide.pdf

• Introducing Pennsylvania’s New Firefly Assessments.pdf

CDT is not a predictor of PSSA/Keystone performance.

Firefly will serve as a performance predictor; however, this will be in the future, after at least one year of performance data is collected.

Pennsylvania Firefly and CDT - How are they different.pdf

• Newly released or updated

  On September 12, 2024, the State Board of Education approved final-form amendments to 22 Pa. Code Chapter 4. Collectively, the five documents listed below comprise the final-form rulemaking that was approved by the Board. They are scheduled to be published in the PA Bulletin in December, 2024.

  • Annex A (22 Pa. Code Chapter 4) (PDF)

  • Academic Standards for Personal Finance (PDF). **Link to Toolkit (still in revision) below

  • Academic Standards for Career Education and Work (PDF)

  • Academic Standards for Economics (PDF)

  • Academic Standards for Family and Consumer Sciences (PDF)

• STEELS Assessment toolkit & Communications toolkit are close to being released. Additionally, a Safety Guide is close to being released.

💲NEW! PERSONAL FINANCE TOOLKIT! $

STAY INFORMED! JOIN the SAS COMMUNITIES!

As PDE continues to build up the SAS portal, you and your district educators are encouraged to join one or more of the many professional communities found there.

How to Create a SAS Account

Find and Join a Community

The following is a sample communication as a benefit of joining the ELA Community:

We are offering a comprehensive training series that supports teaching and learning of the new PA STEELS Standards. If you need customized support, please reach out to lcunningham@wiu7.org.

We are offering a series of math workshops this school year, facilitated and co-facilitated by Kevin Mauro, PDE Math Content Advisor and our Curriculum Services Team.

Come join us at Westmoreland Intermediate Unit to dig into learning and discussion around quality ELA instruction! Whether you are a new ELA teacher or a veteran ELA teacher, we have an excellent line-up of professional learning sessions targeted at supporting instruction in the ELA classroom.

The following professional learning sessions are offered this winter at the WIU! Session details & registration coming soon!

Engaging Students and Meeting Standards with Document Based Questions (DBQs)

January 20, 2025; 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Participants: Teachers (Grades 4+), Curriculum Coordinators, Coaches, Principals

Social Studies Seminar: America's First Three Presidents

February 12, 2025; 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Participants: Middle/High School Teachers, Curriculum Coordinators, Coaches, Principals

Inquiry-based Learning in History & Civics Education

March 31, 2025; 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Participants: K-12 Teachers, Curriculum Coordinators, Coaches, Principals

Can We Talk? (Pennsylvania Project for Civic Engagement)

Introductory Slide Deck

Website

Lessons & Activities

Please share this link with your district's social studies teachers, all grade levels, so they are included in communications from the WIU Social Studies Network!

WIU Career Ready Network Lunch 'n Learn Series (virtual)

Details to come!

To access the agenda with links and the slide deck:

Summit Smore/Agenda

Summit Slide Deck

Please share this link with your district's Career Readiness faculty, all grade levels, so they are included in communications from the WIU Career Ready Network!

Fall 2024 Career Ready Connections Newletter

• 30 Act 45/48 hours per course
• Click the button below for complete details about each Leadership Road Trip course!

P.L.A.Y. Alludo is Westmoreland IU7’s new professional learning experience that offers you an opportunity to grow and advance your skills anytime, from anywhere.

With asynchronous bite-sized, incremental activities, you focus on the topics that are most important to your professional development needs. Whether you are new to a topic or have advanced skills, there is something for everyone!

• ESL
• STEELS Academy
• An Introduction to PA STEELS and Ambitious Science Teaching
• Student Talk in the Science Classroom
• Digging Deeper into Modeling, CERs, and Direct Instruction
• Culturally Relevant Teaching in the Science Classroom
• Building Thinking Classrooms Book Study
• Teaching Strategies to Enhance Student Engagement
• WIU7's Webbs DOK
• Engaging in Effective School Improvement
• Assessment and Accountability
• Using Screencasts to Maximize In-Person Instruction

🍎 Please share the attached Winter/Spring CPE flyer and P.L.A.Y. Catalog & Registration link (Category: CPE) with your educators! Our team looks forward to offering new and timely WIU CPE courses in the semesters to come!