Act 13 and Educator Effectiveness and Certification Updates

Act 13 Requirements

*Includes Professional or Temporary Employee

What’s a TPE?

Article XI of the Pa. Public School Code defines the term "temporary professional employee" (TPE) to mean any individual who has been employed to perform, for a limited time (established by the LEA), the duties of a newly created position or of a regular professional employee whose services have been terminated by death, resignation, suspension, or removal.

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Although Pa. Act 13 of 2020 amends the measures by which a TPE will be evaluated, the legislation does not alter the definitions of professional employees under Article XI. Administrators should check with their Human Resource personnel on how professional employees are currently classified by the LEA.

Act 13: Temporary Teacher

Building Level Data

Building Level Score

The Building Level Score will provide a quantitative academic score based upon a 100-point scale to represent the overall academic performance of each school in Pennsylvania.

Where a school is missing an Assessment or Growth indicator, the 100-point scale is reduced proportionally. For example, a K-3 school with no PVAAS data (40 points) and no Science Assessment data (10 points) will have a denominator of 50 points.

Challenge Multiplier

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2021-22 Act 13 Building Level Score (pa.gov)

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Data vs. Non-Data Available Scenario

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Act 13: Teacher Specific Data (Set 10%)

Act 13 Teacher Specific Measures

• Professional Classroom Teachers currently have a 2-year growth measure but will NOT have 3-year rolling average or a 3-year Growth Composite until fall 2024
• Need 3 years of consecutive reporting for inclusion in Act 13 evals
• SY21-22, SY22-23, SY23-24

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• Teachers will have 1-year %Proficient/Advanced metric EACH year
• Calculated with roster verification weighting
• LEAs can choose to calculate this measure locally

IEP Goals Progress Measure

Chapter 19 of the Pennsylvania School Code clarifies “applicable and attributable” thusly: “Regardless of certification area, all classroom teachers shall be accountable for student progress toward IEP Goals.”

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The IEP Goals Progress measure is required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act if:

• the teacher provides instruction to a sufficient number of students with IEPs (meeting n count), and
• those students have similar academic or non-academic IEP Goals to which the teacher contributes data used by the IEP team to monitor student progress.

IEP Goals Progress Measure Continued

The n count is defined as follows:

• The n count set must be less than or equal to 11.
• An “active n count” based on the portion of instructional responsibility may be used rather than an “actual n count”. 
• The n count should apply to a grade-level cohort or correlate to all students within a subject area rather than a single class or course taught by the teacher.

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SLO vs. LEA Selected Measure (SPM)

Act 82

• Required and complex template
• Rigid structure
• Quantitative (assessment focus)
• Lack of alignment between educator and principal templates

Act 13

• Optional and streamlined template
• Flexible structure
• Qualitative addition
• Close alignment to other templates

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13-4 Interim Rating

• Professional employees deemed Unsatisfactory in the last evaluation must be rated at least once a year using the measures and weightings appropriate to the employee, as indicated in the table above.
• Subsequent ratings during the same evaluation period (i.e., interim evaluations) are not mandated; however, should an LEA elect to perform one, the interim evaluation must be comprised of the following:
• 70% Observation & Practice (aligns with the 13-1, 13-2, 13-3)
• 30% LEA Selected Measures
• For the LEA Selected Measures rating, the LEA should use measure(s) appropriate to the type of professional employee. Examples as follows:
• Performance Goal benchmarks might serve as a locally developed rubric in the evaluation of a principal.
• Student career readiness portfolios might be used in the evaluation of a school counselor.

Act 13 PD Requirements

BSLTQ/Certification Updates

BSLTQ Updates

• Reduced processing times of Emergency Permits and add-on certificates (32 employees in BSLTQ)
• Update on Interstate Mobility Compact
• Increased interest in paraprofessional/support staff to teacher pipelines
• Increased emphasis on Intern Certificates instead of Emergency Permits

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Overreliance on Emergency Permits�

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• In 2021-22, PDE issued 6,366 Type 1 and Type 4 Emergency Permits – that’s nearly one-third of the total number of permits issued.
• 3,253 Type 1 Emergency Permits (requires min. 9 credits)
• 3,113 Type 4 Emergency Permits (no educational credit requirements)

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• LEAs and EPPs might be better served by using individuals with Intern Certificates.

Emergency Permits

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• Type 1 and Type 4 Emergency Permits are used by an LEA to fill a vacant position when they are unable to find a fully qualified and properly certified educator with an active certificate.
• The LEA applies to PDE for the permit.
• Both Type 1 and Type 4 permits require a bachelor’s degree (except for career/technical education permits).
• ​The permit is valid for one service year.
• An individual may teach on Type 1 or Type 4 permits for a maximum of three service years.

Intern Certificates

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• The teacher intern certification is:
• A professional certificate that entitles the holder to fill a full-time professional teaching position;  
• An alternate route to certification through an approved Pennsylvania program provider; and
• Valid for three years of service, not calendar years.
• A teacher intern must be enrolled in an educator preparation program that leads to certification, must pass the content test for their area, and must complete the program within 3 service years.
• Student applies for the intern certification and the educator preparation program approves it after the student secures a position in an LEA.

Intern Certificates

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• Intern certificates are not emergency permits but allow schools to fill vacancies while increasing the number of certified teachers in the workforce.
• Benefits include:
• Allows the intern to complete their ed prep program while teaching FT
• Doesn’t require a mentor teacher
• Intern is taking coursework in education pedagogy while teaching
• Intern Certificates lead to an Instructional I Certification in three years; Emergency permits may not.
• Interns, after staying in a LEA for up to three years, may choose to continue teaching in that LEA, allowing for a seamless transition into an Instructional I position.

Expedited Intern Certificate Process�

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• In 2021-2022, the Department issued only 157 Intern Certificates.
• The Department is exploring how to increase the number of intern programs available statewide.
• A new intern certificate process will allow more teachers of record in the classroom as opposed to issuing Type 1 and 4 Emergency Permits. 
• Students will have better trained teachers with more continuity in the classroom over a three-year period.

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Overview: Emergency Permit or Intern Certificate

BSLTQ Contacts

For more information, please contact the following:

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• Email:
• ra-edcertquestions@pa.gov – questions about applications, how to become certified
• ra-edcertstaff@pa.gov – questions about staffing issues, certificate validity
• ra-edprepprograms@pa.gov – questions about educator preparation programs

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• See Contact the Bureau of SLTQ on the website

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OESE Contacts

For more information on Act 13, please visit PDE’s website at www.education.pa.gov ​

https://www.pdesas.org/EducatorFrameworks/EducatorEffectiveness/

Act 13 Questions

• RA-PDE-Evaluation@pa.gov

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PEERS or RV PVAAS Questions

• Contact Us
• pdepvaas@iu13.org

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