The Pennsylvania Inspired Leadership (PIL) Program is a statewide, standards-based continuing professional education program for school and system leaders. This comprehensive program is focused on developing the capacity of leaders to improve student achievement.

PIL courses, offered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), per 24 P.S. § 11-1109 (f) provide PIL induction programming and continuing education credit/hours required for certified administrators serving in PIL-covered positions in Commonwealth schools to fulfill the Act 45 of 2007 requirements.

The Principal Induction Program component addresses the three core PA leadership standards, and the Continuing Professional Education Program addresses the three core and six corollary PA leadership standards in the Framework for Principal Preparation Program Guidelines.

Professional Development
Frequently Asked Questions
Types of Administrative Certificates

- Effective May 13, 2024, Pennsylvania Inspired Leadership (PIL) continuing education course registration will transition from a paper registration form via PDE's website to an online registration via the SAS PD Center.
- Continuing Education Courses running between July 1 and September 30, 2024, will be populated in the SAS PD Center; both induction and continuing education PIL courses will be added throughout the summer.
- Check back on May 13, 2024, to begin signing up for your summer and early fall courses!
- For induction courses offered between June 1 and September 30, 2024, complete the NISL Course 2 application and follow the instructions for submittal.
- Induction courses will be added to the online registration beginning October 1, 2024.
Continuing Education Course Descriptions
- Act 45 Continuing Education Hours
  
  The courses below provide participants with 30 Act 45 Continuing Education hours upon successful completion, except for Equitable Education for All Students: Why Leadership Matters (1), which provides participants with 45 Act 45 Continuing Education hours upon successful completion.
- - Description:
    
    Act 13 requires a deep understanding of the supervision and evaluative process. School leaders need to be positioned to engage in supervision and evaluation with knowledge, skills, and confidence whether new to the leadership role or experienced. Act 13 and Beyond: School Leaders Driving Instructional Excellence is designed to underscore the importance of the supervision and evaluation model for elevating classroom instruction and building faculty capacity.
    
    NOTE: This course satisfies the Act 13 requirements for new Assistant/Vice Principals and Principals.
  - Prerequisite: None
  - Number of Weeks: N/A
  - Virtual Session Information: 3 full days
- - Prerequisite: None
  - Number of Weeks: 8
  - Virtual Session Information: 2 half days
- - Description:
    
    Comprehensive Mental Health for School Leaders (1) is designed to help school leaders understand the core components of comprehensive school mental health as they engage in a planning process around implementation of services. The course focuses on a comprehensive school mental health curriculum and several core features of effective school mental health initiatives.
    
    Participants will examine a range of supports and services that promote positive school climate, social emotional learning, mental health, and well-being, while reducing the prevalence and severity of mental illness. This course examines ways to build or improve a foundation of district and school professionals, including administrators and educators, specialized instructional support personnel in strategic partnership with students, families, and community health and mental health partners. Participants will focus on ways to assess and address the social and environmental factors that impact health and mental health.
  - Prerequisite: None
  - Number of Weeks: 10
  - Virtual Session Information: 1 full day
- - Description: Comprehensive Mental Health for School Leaders in Action (2) is the second course in the PIL Blended Mental Health set. Participants will focus on the next steps for the SHAPE assessment and how to move from theory into practice. The course focuses on what action steps school leaders will take—based on successes and lessons learned—to drive systematic change within their schools or districts. Self-care, purposeful implementation, opportunities for reflection, and the benefits of networking are emphasized.
  - Prerequisite: Comprehensive Mental Health for School Leaders (1)
  - Number of Weeks: 8
  - Virtual Session Information: 2 half days
- - Description: Continuous Improvement I: Get Up and Running with the Essentials focuses on systematically guiding staff through the change process while positively impacting the culture and performance of the school. Participants will explore continuous improvement, designed by and for PA schools and school leaders, as a process requiring collaboration, innovation, and action. While reviewing each step of the cycle of continuous improvement, participants will be introduced to tools and strategies aligned with the phases of the cycle, including monitoring the implementation and the effectiveness of plans. These strategies shift teams from planning to improve implementing their plans and demonstrating improvement, which will lead to actualizing their vision.
  - Prerequisite: None
  - Number of Weeks: 8
  - Virtual Session Information: 1 full day
- - Description: Equitable Education for All Students: Why Leadership Matters (1) is designed to enhance rural, suburban, and urban educator effectiveness to improve academic achievement and promote equitable schools and districts. Using a framework with an emphasis on prevention, response, and recovery, course activities will prepare all school leaders to plan, implement, and sustain a culture of equity in their school environments. Modeling effective practices, conducting needs assessments, composing plans for stakeholder buy-in and support, creating a shared identity, communicating effectively, exploring the roles of academic and disciplinary equity, and applying data to improve and sustain equitable practices are among the topics that school leaders will examine during the course experience. Important: In this course, participants will use existing or new school climate survey data.
  - Prerequisite: None
  - Number of Weeks: 12
  - Virtual Session Information: 2 full days
- - Description:
    
    Foundations: Data to Action (1) is the first in a rigorous three-course series designed to equip school leaders with the knowledge, skills, and practices they need to create and sustain an effective data culture in their schools. This course will explore the various types of data, the types of data, the benefits of using data, and the basic structures and processes that must be in place for administrators to be successful in promoting and sustaining a data-driven school culture.
    
    Note: Activities in early courses will be re-visited in later courses. As a result, all courses in this series must be taken sequentially.
  - Prerequisite: None
  - Number of Weeks: 8
  - Virtual Session Information: 1 full day
- - Description: In an effort to elevate teaching and learning, the instructional leader must lead with purpose and intention in an environment built upon trust, equity, efficacy, and continuous improvement! The school leaders will explore the many ways they can enact instructional leadership designed to elevate teaching and learning. In this course, you will engage in a thoughtful examination of the research, a consideration of your specific school context, reflection on your current leadership practices, and ultimately, a consideration of this question: How can I align my leadership behaviors and actions with the best of what research has to share on effective school leadership?
  - Prerequisite:
    
    ONE of the following must be satisfied:
    
    Successfully completed Act 13 & Beyond: School Leaders Driving Instructional Excellence
    
    OR
    
    Currently hold Administrative Level II Certification
  - Number of Weeks: N/A
  - Virtual Session Information: 3 full days
- - Description:
    
    School Level: Data to Action is the second course in a three-part series. This course allows school leaders to build upon their work in Course 1 (Foundations: Data to Action), which provided participants with a solid foundational knowledge of the types, purposes, and sources of data.
    
    This second course provides participants with the tools needed to establish and refine school-level use of data through the development and enhancement of various processes, procedures and structures which promote a data driven culture at the school level. Emphasis in the course is on the design and use of a school assessment map, the development of various types of data teams, and the use of a structured data inquiry cycle to facilitate effective root cause analysis and action planning. Throughout this course, school leaders will have opportunities to network and collaborate with others to enhance and/or create procedures and processes in place at their schools.
  - Prerequisite: Foundations: Data to Action (1)
  - Number of Weeks: 8
  - Virtual Session Information: 1 full day
- - Description: Effective communication is the foundational underpinning of successful relationships and leadership. Clear, focused, and strategic communication with built-in feedback loops assists leaders in executing their vision and managing the continuous improvement process. This course explores core communication processes, typical correspondence, crisis communications, methods to engage multiple audiences, and opportunities for new communication structures. Equipped with communication strategies, a variety of communication modes, appropriate media, and an organized communication plan, school leaders will shape their current practices and enhance their skills for improved leadership.
  - Prerequisite: None
  - Number of Weeks: 8
  - Virtual Session Information: 1 full day
- - Description: Student Career Readiness: Foundations for School Leaders is designed to help school and district leaders understand the rapidly changing nature of work and the Pennsylvania, U.S. and global workforce needs. Leaders will build knowledge of educational delivery systems, policies, structures, and strategies related to career development and career preparation. Specifically, this course will help leaders K-12 school and district leaders will learn how to implement the Career Education Work Standards, meet the Future Ready PA Index Career Readiness Indicators, develop plans to strengthen employer and community partnerships to support career education, increase communication and collaboration with career and technical education administrators, and examine strategies and best practices in career connected learning.
  - Prerequisite: None
  - Number of Weeks: 8
  - Virtual Session Information: 1 full day
- - Description: In Transforming Organizations, participants will develop and enhance the skills and knowledge they need to transform their organizations. When transforming organizations, school leaders must develop a clear vision and collaborative culture. In order to successfully transform organizations, a change in mindset must occur. Transformative change is persistent, purposeful, and intentional. Communication of the intent for transformation, as seen in revised visions, norms, values, expectations, and goals, is essential to enable transformative change. Successful transformative leaders recognize individual and collective contributions and utilize failure as an opportunity to improve school culture and student performance. When navigating systemic transformation, school leaders need to seamlessly integrate digital technologies that support all aspects of the process.
  - Prerequisite: None
  - Number of Weeks: 8
  - Virtual Session Information: 1 full day

- - An Act 45, administrator is defined as those in one of the following positions:
    
    Assistant/Vice Principal
    
    Principal
    
    Assistant Superintendent
    
    Superintendent
    
    Assistant Executive Director
    
    Executive Director
    
    Career and Technical Education (CTE) Director
  - Administrators with an active Administrative I or Administrative II certification and serving as an administrator must earn 180 hours of Act 45 credit every 5 years.
  - Educators who hold an Administrative I certification but are NOT currently serving on the Administrative certification are NOT required to participate in administrative induction courses or earn Act 45 credit hours.
  - To determine status, see the questions below. If the response is no to both questions, Act 45 hours are NOT required.
- - The annual school/district PIMS staffing assignment report informs PERMS that an administrator is no longer serving in an Act 45 position.
    
    When that occurs, the number of Act 45 hours originally assigned to the administrator for that continuing education period may be reduced due to the reduction of prorated years of service in an Act 45 position (e.g., An educator who served as a principal for 2.5 years during the continuing education period would only be required to complete 90 Act 45 hours).
  - Additional Act 45 hours will not be required until the administrator returns to an Act 45 position.
    
    If the former administrator begins a new continuing education period, there will be no assignment of Act 45 hours on the PERMS record. The person will require only Act 48 credit hours to keep all certificates active.
  - If the administrator did not complete the Act 45 hours assigned for the period of time actually served, the hours must be completed after they move to the non-Act 45 position (before the end of the current continuing education period) to keep the administrative certificate active.
- - Administrators with an active Administrative I or Administrative II certification and currently serving as an administrator must earn 180 hours of Act 45 credit every five years.
- - New administrators, those who for the first time serve in an administrative position and hold an Administrative I certification, must complete the PDE Induction Program or PDE Approved Induction Program within the first five years of service in the position in order to apply for and convert to an Administrative Level II certification.
  - All new administrators with an active Administrative certification must complete the Educator Effectiveness (Act 13) course within the first 6 months of an administrative position.
For additional FAQs visit Act 45 FAQ .

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