On July 12, 2023 the PA State Board of Education held its 375th meeting. The meeting was held both in person and via virtual means.

At the meeting, Chairperson Karen Farmer White announced that Dr. Khalid Mumin has been confirmed by the PA Senate to serve as the PA Secretary of Ed. Chairperson White also introduced Dr. Carrie Rowe, who is the new PA Deputy Sec. of Ed. for Elementary and Secondary Ed. She also reported that four new Board members, who were nominated by Governor Shapiro, have been confirmed to serve on the Basic Council of Education.

Later during the meeting, during her remarks to the Board, Deputy Sec. Rowe spoke of the urgent need for aviation mechanics and how schools need to make this known to students considering a career.

Chairperson White also recognized Highmark as a Student Leadership Program Partner and a resolution was passed to acknowledge the support Highmark has provided via grant funding to provide an opportunity for student voices to be heard in the state education process through student members of the Board.

The Special and Gifted Ed. Committee presented an eight-page report. It was stated that there is a periodic review – every four years – of Chapter 16. The most recent review began in the fall of 2022. Recommendations to improve the delivery of gifted ed. was provided to the Board by the committee. Those recommendations included such items as:           
-School districts should be required to post their approved gifted ed. plan on their website as is currently done with Chapter 4 procedures.
-There needs to be an increase in understanding the characteristics of gifted students.
-There is a need to provide training for educators regarding the delivery of gifted ed. through IUs and for data regarding such.
-Undergrad teacher prep coursework should be required to include gifted ed.
-There is a need to expand the advisory committee to ensure including school psychologists since they play such a critical role on identifying gifted students.
-The committee supports revising guidelines for identifying gifted ed. students, including a look at criteria used.  
-Caseloads for gifted ed. instructors must be examined for appropriateness and should be monitored.
-The Board should provide the report to the General Assembly along with a request for an increase in state funding for gifted ed.

The Professional Standards and Practices Commission presented its annual report, which noted that 45% of disciplinary actions taken against school staff by the commission were related to sexual misconduct. It was also reported that a new model of ethics for educators will be developed in keeping with Chapter 49.

A report titled “How the Pandemic and Remote Learning Shaped Education and Health Outcomes in Pennsylvania” was given by PDE’s Candy Miller and officials from Mathematica. The report was based on survey information from LEAs during the summer and fall of 2021. Other sources of data came from PDE and DHS. The report looked at school instruction changes and found, among other things, that LEAs had a difficult time of providing special ed. services and that there was a higher attrition rate for early career staff and staff of color. It also found that remote learning by itself had a negative impact on test scores, but did not appear to affect graduation rates.

The State Board will post its 2024 meeting calendar on the PDE website.