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PA Transition Resources: Take a step ahead in Secondary Transition

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Ready to make a difference with the world’s strongest & effective secondary transition plan? Get a step ahead with PA Transition to shape bright future for independent living.

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Procedural Safeguards Notice - Office for Dispute Resolution

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The Procedural Safeguards Notice The Procedural Safeguards Notice describes the rights of a parent of a child with a disability and the procedures that safeguard those rights under state and federal special education law, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, commonly referred to as “IDEA 2004”. These laws and regulations require schools to provide […]

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NEW PEAL PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE CHECKLIST

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NEW PEAL PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE CHECKLIST

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General

Office of Developmental Supports provides supports for eligible teenagers with an intellectual disability or autism.

A Parent's Guide to Autism is a great resource if your child has been recently diagnosed.

Search Autism Speaks by topic-sleep, safety, nutrition-or by age.

ASERT, The Autism Services, Education, Resources, and Training Collaborative

evolve Coaching provides individual and group coaching services encouraging clients to advocate for themselves, manage their workloads, lead more independent lives, and achieve self-defined success.

Education and Social Life

Medical Insurance

General

Employment and Social Life

Housing

Medical Insurance

If you have Medical Assistance (Called HealthChoices in Allegheny County), your managed care organization has dedicated phone numbers for special needs. Call Community Care Behavioral Health at 1-800-553-7499. Find a COMPASS Community Partner to assist you.

Immigrants & Internationals

Turtle Creek Valley MH/MR
Delivers a variety of services that focus on outreach and case management, mental health service coordination, drug and alcohol abuse, intellectual developmental disabilities, supported housing and employment, and more.
Call 412-351-0222

Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center, Inc. COTRAIC
Multiple early childhood education programs that offer inclusive settings for children with disabilities and are accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Head Start offers free preschool programming to qualifying children ages 3-5
Located at 201 Rochelle Street Pittsburgh, PA 15210
Call 412-488-2750

Early Head Start offers free early developmental programming in either a home-based or childcare setting, to qualifying children, 3 years of age and younger.
Located at 2201 Salisbury Street Pittsburgh, PA 15210 or 4910 Second Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15207
Call 412-431-4339 or send an email

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Intellectual Disability/Autism Resources by Age : Allegheny Connect

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Measurable Annual Goal Development Guide

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Measurable Annual Goal Development Guide

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Examples of Accommodations & Modifications

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Examples of Accommodations & Modifications

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Ultimate List of IEP Accommodations, Modifications & Strategies (SDIs)

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Ultimate List of IEP Accommodations, Modifications & Strategies (SDIs)

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PSSA & Keystone Assessment Accommodations

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PSSA & Keystone Assessment Accommodations

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Examples of Disabilities & Accommodations 

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Examples of Disabilities & Accommodations 

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Alignment of PA Career Ready Skills & Trauma Informed Care Principles 

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Alignment of PA Career Ready Skills & Trauma Informed Care Principles 

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PASA: Answers to Questions Frequently Asked by Families

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PASA: Answers to Questions Frequently Asked by Families

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Calendars

To request to modify the PSSA testing schedule: If a school entity is currently in conflict with the 2023-2024 testing sch​edule for the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) due to religious observances or other dates of cultural significance, assistance is available. Schools with students seeking accommodations are permitted to delay the administration of the English Language Arts test until the make-up window, which concludes May 10, 2024. Those chief school administrators wishing to take advantage of this scheduling flexibility, or who would benefit from a consultation with the Department of Education on this topic, should email ra-ed-pssa-keystone@pa.gov. For more information on future schedules, please visit PSSA T​esting Windows.​​​​

Accommodations

Handbooks

Reporting Violations

Testing irregularities should be reported to the PDE by emailing ra-ed-pssa-keystone@pa.gov. Please provide as many details as possible when reporting irregularities including how to contact the person making the report.

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The Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) test administration training, guidance, medical exemptions, calendars, accommodations, and reporting are located here.

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https://achievethecore.org/category/774/mathematics-focus-by-grade-level

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Achievethecore.org :: Instructional Content Nav - Mathematics: Focus by Grade Level

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The Common Core and other college- and career-ready (CCR) standards call for a greater focus in mathematics. Rather than racing to cover topics in a mile-wide, inch-deep curriculum, CCR standards require us to significantly narrow and deepen the way time and energy are spent in the math classroom. We focus deeply on the major work of each grade so that students can gain strong foundations: solid conceptual understanding, a high degree of procedural skill and fluency, and the ability to apply the math they know to solve problems inside and outside the math classroom. The following documents illustrate these concepts using the Common Core State Standards, but Focus, Coherence, and Rigor are integral to all college- and career-ready standards.

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The 2020-21 school year presents a unique set of opportunities and challenges due to the disruption to instruction in spring 2020, as well as the uncertainty associated with what the "return to school" will look like. Educators know that every school year there are students who require support in addressing unfinished learning from prior grades; a challenge that will be felt more prominently in the 2020-21 school year. It is vitally important that educators are supported in making deliberate instructional and assessment choices within a comprehensive system that allow all students to effectively engage with grade-level work.

Instruction must be aligned to a coherent set of learning outcomes, indicating what students should know and be able to do. Dimensions for consideration when planning for instruction include the following.

Instructional Delivery: Instructional delivery is differentiated relative to explicitness through modeling, systematic instruction with appropriate scaffolding and pacing, and provision of immediate corrective feedback to students with sufficient opportunities to respond.

Grouping includes whole group, homogeneous small group, partners, heterogeneous mixed ability small group, independent and one-to-one.

The amount of instructional time varies relative to a particular area of content, small group instruction versus whole group instruction, and opportunities for students to interact or work independently.

Selecting materials for specific students and purposes is often a challenge. Materials should be evidence-based and adjusted to meet the needs of students.

Learning Environment: A positive and safelearning environment has clearly defined and consistent expectations.

Differentiated instruction is key to enhancing students' ability to learn. Teachers must have the content knowledge and knowledge of students (students' needs, interests, cultures, and experiential backgrounds) that enable them to plan instruction. Differentiation is one critical active response to meet the various needs of the students in the classroom.

The most effective and equitable way to support students in their learning is to ensure the majority of time is spent engaging with grade-level content, remediating with precision and only as necessary. It is entirely possible to hold high expectations for all students while addressing unfinished learning in the context of grade-level work. Since time is a scarce commodity in classrooms - made more limited by anticipated closures and remote or blended learning models in the fall of 2020 - strategic instructional choices about which content to prioritize must be made, supported by key PA Academic Standards. Note that while all standards deserve a defined level of instruction, neglecting key concepts may result in learning gaps in student skill and understanding and may leave students unprepared for the challenges of a later grade.

Assess: Schools should have a well-articulated plan that describes the assessment tools that will be used at various grade levels across the local education agency(LEA). Various assessment tools (progress monitoring, benchmark), results of observations, or other formative data can be used on a regular basis to make important decisions about classroom instruction, grouping, and materials. Recommendations may be made to administer additional assessments, perhaps to specific students (e.g., students who may be struggling). Other data may also be used during this cycle, as a means of taking a broader look at why students may be successful or having difficulties; for example, as mentioned by Bernhardt (2014), data about student demographics, classroom processes, perceptions, as well as student outcome data can provide important information.

Access the Pennsylvania Classroom Diagnostic Tools (CDT).
Access the SAS Assessment Builder.

Analyze: Analyzing data requires that it be organized in ways that make it easy to understand and interpret. Schools can identify specific professionals (e.g., data analysts, literacy coaches, psychologists) to put the data into charts or graphs, perhaps by grade level. Such organization is important as it allows teachers reviewing this data to interpret it easily and effectively. During this analysis phase, assessment results can be examined to look for patterns and trends.

Interpret: The information gained from interpretation is used to inform instruction. Generally, this interpretation is made by teachers who can identify areas of strength and academic need. Teachers may also present other data (from classroom observations or informal measures) that can be used to validate current results and conclusions. They can make plans about how to use those results to plan instruction. They may also consider the need for additional assessments for specific students, including careful observations in the classroom or additional formative assessments. Interpretation generally occurs during a data team.

Access the sample Remote Learning Rubrics for LEA leaders. (Word)
Access an annotated guide to PDE Resources.

Instruct: During this part of the cycle, teachers apply the interpretation to their instruction. They may make changes in instructional strategies, materials, and so forth. Students may be reassigned to other teachers or groups. Regardless, what is important is for teachers to implement the plan that they decided on during the data team meeting.

Access the high-level focus documents for English Language Arts.
Access the high-level focus documents for Mathematics.
Access the high-level focus documents for Science and Technology.
Access other high-level focus documents for Academic Standards.

Reflect and Monitor: As teachers are instructing, they should be thinking about how the changes in instructional or grouping practices have affected students. Have they had a positive effect? No effect? Negative effect? In other words, they must monitor their own instructional practices and observe students' reactions and responses to them. During this period, they can take notes so that they can share their reflections at the next data team meeting. They can also think about what additional assessments may be necessary to help them plan and teach more effectively.

Access researched evidence briefs from the Annenberg Institute at Brown University. Briefs currently available include:

Access the PDE Staff and Student Wellness Guide.

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The 2020-21 school year presents a unique set of opportunities and challenges due to the disruption to instruction in spring 2020, as well as the uncertainty associated with what the "return to school" will look like.

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https://dynamiclearningmaps.org/pennsylvania

AIU Created Navigating the PASA DLM document

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Model
Year-End

2022-23 Testing Windows
Instructionally Embedded: 9/12/22-2/22/23
Spring: 3/13/23-5/5/23

Additional Information
Welcome to the Pennsylvania DLM home page!

The 2022-23 PASA DLM opens March 13 and concludes on May 5, 2023.

Is your school ready? 6 steps must be completed before testlets can be released:

The state testing window must be open.

The security agreement must be completed.

The teacher must complete the RTAT (Required Test Administrator Training) which includes the PA Lessons Learned module.

Students must be rostered to a teacher for each subject they will be assessed.

The First Contact Survey (FCS) must be submitted for each student.

Student Portal must be installed on the student computer (see the Kite Suite link for directions).

For more information on timelines and training requirements see PASA DLM Instruction and Assessment Calendar (pdf) and At-A-Glance PASA Instruction and Assessment Calendar (pdf).

Required Test Administrator Training
2022-23 required training for teachers administering the DLM assessment opens on your state's scheduled training date. The Guide to DLM Required Test Administrator Training (pdf) is a great place to start, with information about accessing the DLM training site for your first login.

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Model Year-End 2022-23 Testing Windows Instructionally Embedded: 9/12/22-2/22/23 Spring: 3/13/23-5/5/23 Additional Information Welcome to the Pennsylvania DLM home page! The 2022-23 PASA DLM opens March 13 and concludes on May 5, 2023. Is your school ready? 6 steps must be completed before testlets can be released: The state testing window must be open.

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Classroom Diagnostic Tools (CDT) are based on content assessed by the Keystone Exams and the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA). Although not a predictor for PSSA and Keystone Exam performance, CDTs provide a snapshot on why and how students may still be struggling or exceeding grade and/or course Eligible Content. The CDT data, along with other data, informs instruction in a timely and efficient manner.

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The Pennsylvania Classroom Diagnostic Tools (CDT) is a set of online assessments, divided by content area, designed to provide diagnostic information to guide instruction and remediation. A shorter, diagnostic category assessment focuses on subject-area content aligned to PA assessment reporting categories. Diagnostic Category CDT assists educators in identifying student academic strengths and areas in need of improvement by providing links to classroom resources in the Standards Aligned System (SAS). The Cycle of Assessment, Teaching and Learning is illuminated below with explanatory screencasts aligned to each phase of the cycle.

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Middle School Transition Tools & Resources

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Middle School Transition Tools & Resources

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Here are two resources that may help:

1. Least Restrictive Environment Calculation Overview Training

2. Guidelines for Calculating Educational Environment for Federal Special Education Reporting  (see page 4)

Additionally, PA Chapter 14 provides guidance on counting co-teaching as time within the general education environment. Specifically, time spent in co-taught classrooms is considered as time in regular education, aligning with IDEA. This approach ensures that co-teaching models support the inclusion of students in general education settings and contribute to the LRE percentage specific for PENN DATA.

For co-teaching situations, all time spent in the co-taught classroom counts as time in the general education setting, so you do not subtract it from the total. Co-teaching does not reduce the LRE percentage because the student remains in the general education setting with peers

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South Allegheny Writing Compliant & Meaningful IEPs