Description


Act 13 of 2020 revised the Act 82 Educator Effectiveness (EE) process used to evaluate professional employees in PK-12 education across the commonwealth. These revisions take effect for the 2021-22 school year and beyond.


As part of the Act 13 changes, a new template is available for some teachers to complete. The new template is called IEP Goals Progress and is posted on PDE's Standards Aligned System for review.  In addition to the template, Examples from the Field are also posted.  


Per Pennsylvania Act 13 of 2020, the evaluation of the effectiveness of a professional employee serving as a classroom teacher shall be comprised of multiple measures to include “progress in meeting the goals for student individualized education plans required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act as applicable and attributable to the classroom teacher.” 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 Progress if students have identified IEP Goals to which the teacher contributes data used by the IEP team to monitor progress.” The supervising administrator and the classroom teacher should work cooperatively to identify IEP goals to which the educator contributes data for monitoring the progress of students with similar academic or non-academic IEP goal skill areas.


Who is required to complete an IEP Goals Progress


According to Act 13, Chapter 19 provides for local flexibility in establishing an “n count”, below which a classroom teacher will not be evaluated on students’ progress in meeting IEP goals. Should an LEA choose to establish a minimum number (n count) for students with similar IEP Goals: 1) The n count may not exceed 11, the n count used by PDE for determining growth under PVAAS. 2) An “active n count” based on the portion of instructional responsibility may be used rather than an “actual n count”. For example, a teacher may have an “actual n count” of 20 students; however, each of those students may be claimed with only 50% instructional responsibility. In this case, the “active n count” would be 10 students (20 x .50 =10), not 20. 3) 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.


Important Notes:

  • The IEP Goals Progress template has been built into PAETEP so that teachers, if needed, can complete it electronically and submit to their supervisor for review.
  • A teacher should consult their LEA and the established n count to determine if they are required to complete an IEP Goals Progress at the beginning of each school year.
  • If required by a teacher to complete, the final score from the IEP Goals Progress process will constitute at least 2.5% of a teacher's final summative score on the 13-1 form (that is, within the Teacher Specific Data Rating section of the 13-1 form).
  • Note - The completion of an IEP Goals Progress template is independent and in addition to the completion of an LEA Selected Measure.  That is, teachers that are required to complete an IEP Goals Progress template are also required to complete an LEA Selected Measure (i.e., Student Performance Measure).  Learn more about Student Performance Measures. 
  • According to PDE, an LEA may elect to differentiate n-counts based on instructional settings (e.g., setting a lower n-count for an exclusive environment.  


Overview Tutorials


Learn More - PDE Overview and Examples of SPM / IEP / PPG



How to Complete an SPM within PAETEP

  1. Login to PAETEP
  2. Click on My Observations
  3. From the SLO/SPM section, click Create New and select IEP Goals Progress and the appropriate supervisor (see screen grab)
  4. Complete the Beginning of Year Action Plan and submit to your supervisor for review and approval (see screen grab)
  5. Once approved, return to the IEP Goals Progress to provide a Mid Year update and Year End update


Note - Help prompts and a reference to the IEP Goals Progress template are provided throughout the module.