The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) is has introduced PA EdVentures, a new free monthly newsletter, delivering key updates, essential news, and other important information from us to you. PENN*LINK users will automatically receive the first edition in the next few weeks but will not be charged, since this is a complimentary new feature.
Category: State Government Actions
PAPSA Steps Up Advocacy Efforts, Joins Student Services Coalition (October 30, 2023)
PAPSA has stepped up its advocacy efforts by joining theĀ PA Coalition of Student Services Associations. Along with PAPSA, six other educational associations have joined together to advocate for the effective delivery of pupil/student services in the commonwealth and will be calling on the Basic Education Funding Commission (BEFC) to ensure that funding for student services professionalsĀ is included in the outcome of the Commissionās work and in keeping with Chapter 12 requirements.Ā Those organizations are: PA School Counselors Association (PSCA), PA Association of Student Assistance Professionals (PASAP), PA Association of School Nurses and Practitioners (PASNAP), Association of School Psychologists of Pennsylvania (ASPP), and PA Association of School Social Work Personnel (PASSWP).
Interested parties can contact [email protected] with suggestions with regard to these advocacy efforts.
PDE Offers Ukrainian Refugee School Impact Grant (October 23, 2023)
Pennsylvania Department of Education, please see the letter with notice of the Ukrainian Refugee School Impact Grant (URSI) Request for Application (RFA). The application is currently open in eGrants and the submission deadline is 12:00 PM on Tuesday, October 31, 2023.
You may email additional questions to: [email protected] or to Joseph J. Eye, Refugee School Impact State Coordinator, Division of Student Services, Bureau of School Support, at [email protected], or contact by phone at 717-783-3755.
Ed. Sec. Mumin Highlights Importance of CTE (October 22, 2023)
Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) Secretary Dr. Khalid N. Mumin was recently joined by Commissioner Kathryn Zerfuss from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), in a tour of the Cumberland Perry Area Career and Technical Center (CPACTC) to highlight the importance of Career and Technical Education (CTE) in Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission oversees more than 9,000 entities which provide utility services across the Commonwealth. Those utilities and suppliers will need plant operators and technicians, industrial mechanics, engineers, line workers, electricians, solar developers, energy analysts, and economists as the Commonwealth moves through an energy transition that will bring systematic change.
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission balances the needs of consumers and utilities; ensures safe and reliable utility service at reasonable rates; protects the public interest; educates consumers to make independent and informed utility choices; furthers economic development; and fosters new technologies and competitive markets in an environmentally sound manner.
The 2023-24 commonsense, bipartisan budget makes a historic investment in students across the Commonwealth and includes $23.5 million to bring career and technical education back into the classroom, giving every student the freedom to chart their own course and the opportunity to succeed.
For more information on the Pennsylvania Department of Education, please visit the website.
PDE Announces New Program To Expand Access to Gifted Ed. (October 5, 2023)
On September 28, 2023, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) announced that $3.5 million is now available to expand access to gifted education programming in schools and serve more students through the Pennsylvania Gifted Equity Initiative (PGEI).
Research shows there is severe underrepresentation of African American, American Indian, and Hispanic/Latino students in gifted education. PGEI will provide school districts with the tools, training, and resources necessary to implement identification procedures that will increase the number of culturally, linguistically, and economically disadvantaged students that are identified as gifted.
The program will use federal Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Program funding to develop systemic technical assistance and support to close the excellence and achievement gap currently found in Pennsylvania school districts by the identification of and provision of services to gifted students who are not traditionally identified. This will allow educators to use culturally responsive tools to recognize potential in students; increase identification and retention rates of underrepresented students in gifted education; encourage collaboration between institutions of higher education to prepare pre-service teachers to better serve underrepresented gifted students; and provide support and training to families.
PGEI will develop a statewide support team including state level leads, Intermediate Units (IUs), local education agencies (LEAs), and national leaders in equity to advance the equitable practices in gifted identification across the Commonwealth and will interact with 400 school districtsāor 80% of school districtsāover the course of the five-year grant. IUs will work directly with LEAs to implement the programming.
For more information on the Pennsylvania Department of Education, please visit the website.