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School Counseling Updates�Fall 2024

ARIN IU 28

November 18, 2024

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Join the Community

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Career Education and Work

  • CEW Standards final version approved

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  • Rollout expected 26/27 SY

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Career Ready PA Coalition Virtual Stakeholder Statewide Sessions

  • November 1:  Career Ready PA Regions 1, 2, 3, 6
  • November 8:  Career Ready PA Regions 9, 10, and Philadelphia
  • November 18:  Regions 4, 5 , 7, 8

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  • Presented by Career Ready PA and the Bureau of Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction, PDE:
    • Brian Campbell, Director
    • Laura Fridirici, Career Readiness Advisor
    • Karen Rubican, School Counselor Advisor

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  • Highlighted topics include Future Ready PA Index, Career Education and Work Standards collection and reporting and K-12 Guidance Plan updates
  • Each Career Ready PA region will also feature a panel of stakeholder champions in career and workforce readiness  
  •  Event details available on the Career Ready PA Coalition Eventbrite

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K-12 Guidance Plan

  • Changes in My PDE Suite happening now
    • Improved alignment to language in code
    • Improved alignment to current school counselor practice
  • Changes to templates in process
  • Phase 2 due March 2025

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Voluntary Model Framework

  • Funding obtained to develop a voluntary model framework and school counselor competencies
    • Aligned with ASCA National Model
  • Workgroup
  • ASCA involvement/support
  • More details to follow-sign up at Communities - SAS (pdesas.org) to get updates

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Role-Alike Meeting Opportunities

  • Intermediate Units are being funded to support role-alike group meeting opportunities
  • School Counselors, School Social Workers/Social Workers, School Psychologists, School Nurses
  • Four meetings/year

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Additional training

  • Training opportunities for school mental health professionals are being created
  • No cost
  • IUs and PDE collaborating
  • Increased asynchronous learning opportunities in PD Center in SAS

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Act 1 of 2022

Assisting Students Experiencing Education Instability

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Purpose

On-time high school graduation

Equal access to academics and extracurricular activities

Removal of systemic barriers for students

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Background

signed into law

on January 26, 2022

Jul 22

Jun 22

May 22

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Mar 22

Feb 22

Jan 22

Amended Act 1 - School entities must identify students who were eligible in 2021-2022 and must fulfill Act 1 obligations.  

Obligations to eligible students include the ability to:

1.) access a diploma at their current school entity, 

2.) secure a diploma from their prior school entity, or 

3.) obtain a Keystone Diploma.

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Identification

Education instability  -- one or more changes in school entity enrollment during a single school year as a result of: 

Homelessness, as defined in the McKinney-Vento; 

An adjudication of dependency; 

An adjudication of delinquency as disclosed at the discretion of the parent or guardian of the student; or

An adjudication as part of court-ordered services under a voluntary placement or custody agreement.

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Eligibility Considerations

Be flexible with documentation sources and format.

Parents are not required to disclose sensitive information.

All information shared with the school entity should be kept confidential & not redisclosed without permission.

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School Entity Responsibilities

Establish a Point of Contact (POC)

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Ensure equal access to extra-curricular activities, educational activities, and school-sponsored events, including the elimination of fees.

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Adopt a policy regarding credit assessments

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    • Ensure that students receive full or partial credit for work satisfactorily completed at prior school entities, including from residential placement.
    • Account for the fact that prior schools may use many different names for the same or similar course. 
    • Account for the course's substance and alignment with standards, rather than just the name of the course.

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Point of Contact’s (POC)

Expedite a consultation with the school counselor or mental health professionals, as appropriate

Facilitate the prompt placement of a student in the appropriate courses

Connect the student with necessary educational services

Immediately request the student’s complete education record, including an IEP or 504 service agreement, if applicable

For students in grades 9-12, develop and execute a graduation plan in collaboration with the student to support the student’s on-time graduation. The graduation plan must be included in the student’s education records.

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Competence

Student

  • Completed named requirement
  • Completed a similar course to the required course that can be substituted for credit
  • Demonstrated competence in the required course through any means acceptable to the school entity.

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School Entity

  • Can waive the requirement
  • Must provide an alternative or modified course that will assist a student in proving competency by the student's on-time graduation date if none of the other options meet the requirement

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Alternative Pathways

The Chief School Administrator may utilize the 5% waiver.

The IEP team may determine that graduation based on IEP goals is most appropriate.

�The receiving school may solicit a diploma from the student’s PRIOR school, if the student meets the graduation requirements of the prior school entity.

If none of the above state options are valid, then the receiving school district may apply for the Keystone Diploma*.

Waiver

Prior School

IEP

Keystone

*Keystone Diplomas shall have the full force of an LEA issued diploma and are not considered a diploma of general equivalency.

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PIMS

*If a prior school entity issues the diploma, it is considered an 806 not an 826.  Does not negatively affect graduation cohort rate.

**Negatively affects graduation cohort rate.

Graduation Codes

806

Traditional Diploma*

816

GED

826

Keystone Diploma**

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Act 1 Resources

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Governor’s Civic Engagement Awards

The Governor's Civic Engagement Awards program is an exciting opportunity for high schools to actively engage students in voter registration and the electoral process.

Civic Engagement Award | Voting & Election Information | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (pa.gov)

  • Registration drives, opportunities for students to volunteer at the polls

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9/11 School Resource Toolkit

On June 17, 2024, Governor Shapiro signed into law Act 25 of 2024 (Act 25), which amended the Public School Code of 1949 to  require school entities to hold a moment of silence for students and faculty to observe the September 11, 2001 anniversary.  This toolkit is designed to support schools in implementing Act 25.

9/11 School Resource Toolkit

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Information and Media Literacy Toolkit

  • Governor Josh Shapiro charged the Department of Education and the Office of Commonwealth Libraries with developing resources to help schools incorporate information literacy into all aspects of learning
  • As more and more Pennsylvanians turn to digital sources for news and information, it’s more important than ever that students be equipped with the skills to discern between fact and fiction online.
  • Information literacy is a vital component of the high-quality academic standards taught across the Commonwealth
  • Information and Media Literacy Toolkit: Overview/Rationale - SAS (pdesas.org)

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Field Updates

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23/24 Student Outcomes: SAT Suite

  • 45% of PA’s class of 2024 took the SAT during high school
  • 44% of 11th graders and 35% of 10th graders took the PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10 in 23/24 SY
  • 8% of 9th graders took the PSAT 8/9 in 23/24 SY

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23/24 PA Student Outcomes: AP Exams

  • The number of AP test takers rose 6.2% to 70,570 students
  • 21.8% received a fee reduction
  • The number of AP exams taken in PA rose 8.9% to 129,951
  • 74% of students scored a 3 or higher, an increase of 16.3%

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Financial Aid

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PDE/PSCA Symposiums

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Registration is required.

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PSCA Conference

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College Counseling Education Program

  • Four webinar series
  • Focused on college and career development as part of a comprehensive school counseling program
  • Free for members of PSCA and/or PACAC
  • Registration

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Professional Learning Portal

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Youth Risk Behavior Survey

https://www.cdc.gov/yrbs/dstr/

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Social-Emotional Learning Toolkit

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  • Free Resource
  • Supports state and district leaders who are interested in engaging in the work of integrating equity-focused social-emotional learning (SEL) into a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS).

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Contact/Mission

Karen Rubican, MS.ED, NCC, LPC

School Counselor Advisor

krubican@pa.gov

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

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The mission of the Department of Education is to ensure that every learner has access to a world-class education system that academically prepares children and adults to succeed as productive citizens. Further, the Department seeks to establish a culture that is committed to improving opportunities throughout the commonwealth by ensuring that technical support, resources, and optimal learning environments are available for all students, whether children or adults.

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