The Framework for the Evaluation of Classroom Teachers is adapted by the Pennsylvania Department of Education from Charlotte Danielson’s 2011 “Framework for Teachers” and adapted by the Pennsylvania Department of Education from Charlotte Danielson’s 2020 “Framework for Remote Teaching”.

Title: PEERS Refresh: A Hands-On Tour of What’s New This Summer

Description: Join us for a relaxed, interactive virtual session to explore the refreshed Pennsylvania Educator Effectiveness Rating System (PEERS), launching early July. With a modernized look and updates to functionality and Act 13 evaluation management, PEERS is now even easier to navigate and use. Whether you’re a current user or just curious about what PEERS has to offer, this session is for you.

Dates: Tuesday, July 15 at 9:00 AM or Wednesday, July 23 at 1:00 PM

Registration: Zoom registration

With Act 82, there were questions local education agencies (LEAs) had to use to determine classroom teacher vs. NTP. With Act 13, LEAs can make the determination based on the job description. Below definitions may help.

Classroom Teacher—A professional or temporary professional employee who provides direct instruction to students related to a specific subject or grade level.

Nonteaching Professional (NTP) Employee—An educational specialist, professional employee, or temporary professional employee who provides services and who is not a classroom teacher.

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

The definition for “temporary professional employee” in Article XI of the Pa. Public School Code does not address the term tenure directly; however, Commonwealth case law has held that the distinction between a professional employee and a temporary professional employee is that the former has secured tenure.  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 can check with their Human Resource personnel on how their employees are currently classified by the LEA. 

As of July 11, 2024, pursuant to 24 P.S. § 1749-A(b)(3.2), cyber charter schools are subject to 22 Pa Code §19 (relating to educator effectiveness). Although the application of Chapter 19 is not a clean fit as applied to cyber charter schools, PDE recommends that non-certified classroom teachers or non-certified non-teaching professionals be evaluated using the TPE observational tool. 

Note: Principals, special education teachers and supervisors, school nurses, school psychologists, and 75 percent of the remaining professional staff must be certified. The CEO of a charter school is not considered a professional staff member of a charter school; however, if the CEO performs the duties of a principal, that individual must hold appropriate state certification as a principal.

Any questions regarding whether an employee is a temporary professional employee or a professional employee should be discussed with your solicitor.

A professional employee is an employee who is tenured. If you have questions regarding tenure, speak with your LEA’s solicitor and/or bargaining unit.

As of July 11, 2024, pursuant to 24 P.S. § 1749-A(b)(3.2), cyber charter schools are subject to 22 Pa Code §19 (relating to educator effectiveness). For the purpose of cyber charter schools and in light of the definitions in chapter 19, PDE recommends that Classroom Teachers and Non-Teaching Professionals who are certified be evaluated using the professional employees form and requirements.

Note: Principals, special education teachers and supervisors, school nurses, school psychologists, and 75 percent of the remaining professional staff must be certified. The CEO of a charter school is not considered a professional staff member of a charter school; however, if the CEO performs the duties of a principal, that individual must hold appropriate state certification as a principal. 

Any questions regarding whether an employee is a temporary professional employee or a professional employee should be discussed with your solicitor.

All rating forms have been moved to PEERS and can be accessed there with a PVAAS account. If you have trouble logging into PEERS, please contact pdepvaas@iu13.org, and they will be able to assist.

Additionally, the PEERS FAQ or the Getting Started Guide may help.

PEERS: Access blank rating forms from either the user’s personal account or from the demo site

1.       Log in to your account.

2.       In the “Reports” menu, click “Evaluation List” under the PEERS header.

3.       Read the text and select the acknowledgment box and click “Submit”.

4.       Once you are on the PEERS Evaluation List, click “Help”.

5.       Click on “About PEERS”.

6.       The PDF links to the Blank Act 13 PEERS Forms will be under the “More Information” section of this page.

To access the blank Act 13 forms from the public site:

1.       Go to pvaas.sas.com

2.       Choose “public access”

3.       Click on the “help” link at the upper right corner of the screen

4.       Choose “PEERS”

5.       Choose “About PEERS”

6.       Select the Act 13 form from the screen

Help menu:

22 Pa. Code  19.1.a (b) (1) Evaluation Process

 (1)  The rating of an employee shall be performed by or under the supervision of the chief school administrator or, if so directed by the chief school administrator, by an assistant administrator, a supervisor, or a principal who has supervision over the work of the professional employee or temporary professional employee being rated, provided that no unsatisfactory rating shall be valid unless approved by the chief school administrator.

It is important to consult the LEA’s solicitor.

In Act 13, a comprehensive classroom observation is defined as an observational classroom visit that includes a pre-conference and post-conference between an evaluator and an employee which may be conducted by telephone or videoconferencing. Upon the mutual agreement of both an evaluator and a professional employee, the requirement of a post-conference may be waived for extenuating circumstances, if the evaluator places written documentation of the comprehensive classroom observation in the professional employee’s file. If the extenuating circumstances are raised by the evaluator, a professional employee who does not receive a post-conference shall not receive a rating of needs improvement or failing on the comprehensive classroom observation component of an evaluation. The requirement of a post-conference shall not be waived for a temporary professional employee.

Act 13 states that Observation and Practice ratings shall also be informed using evidentiary source materials noted in the professional employee’s record, including dates and times as applicable. Records may include, but are not limited to, any combination of the following items as appropriate for the employee and the employee’s placement in a classroom and educational program:

(i) Notations of classroom observations, teacher/rater conferences or interviews, or informal observations or visits.

(ii) Lesson plans, unit plans, instructional materials, and resources.

(iii) Student work, student records, progress reports, and grading.

(iv) Interactions with students and their families (for example, frequency, methods of communication).

(v) Student surveys, family and community feedback.

vi) Professional growth (for example, coursework, staff development, networking, reflection of practice).

(vii) Examination of sources of evidence provided by the teacher.

(6) Evaluators may include the use of multiple classroom walk-throughs in an academic year to gather evidence and artifacts, provided specific observations are based only on factors that are present or witnessed by the evaluator during the walk-through.

(7) Classroom walk-throughs shall be used to gather evidence in addition to, not in place of, data gathered during one or more comprehensive classroom observations except when defined by a plan of differentiated supervision.

The suggested discussion prompts and sources for evidence of practice are now integrated right into the Framework documents for ease of access during observation, which can be found on SAS.

"Differentiated supervision."  A system of supervision of professional employees that:

(1)  Involves a multi-year cycle in which supervisors complete a comprehensive classroom observation for one annual rating in the professional employee's supervision cycle and in the other years of the cycle collaborate with the professional employee to differentiate supervision by developing individualized goals, learning activities, and measures for the professional employee's growth in one or more areas listed in section 1138.3(a)(1) or (b)(1) or a nonteaching professional employee's growth in one or more areas listed in section 1138.5(a) or (b).

(2)  Is offered only to professional employees who received a proficient or distinguished annual rating in both of the two immediately preceding years and is not offered to temporary professional employees.

(3)  Is optional for the employer and the professional employee.

(4)  In any year in which the professional employee does not receive a comprehensive classroom observation, uses data sources and data collection strategies designed to measure a professional employee's progress toward the professional employee's individualized professional goals.

(5)  Allows a supervisor to move a professional employee out of individualized professional goals, activities, and measures and into comprehensive classroom observation at any time.

(6)  Allows a professional employee to move out of individualized professional goals, activities and measures and enter comprehensive classroom observation at any time

The LEA needs to speak with its solicitor about any possible employment or termination decisions based upon any TPE or PE evaluation results.  

Any public school district approved provider of PreK Counts, would utilize Act 13 of 2020 when evaluating their PreK Counts teaching staff. PreK Counts lead teachers must be certified and must follow all PDE requirements when moving from Level I to Level II certification.

As under 82, charter schools are not subject to Act 13. However, charter schools may elect to use (in part or in whole) the resources provided in order to evaluate their certificated personnel. We do have some charter schools who have aligned their evaluations primarily for two reasons: 

• ESSA reporting (which is aligned to EE metrics)
• Transitioning level I staff to level II requires evaluation (and the form has been aligned to EE metrics, historically)

As of July 11, 2024, pursuant to 24 P.S. § 1749-A(b)(3.2), cyber charter schools are subject to 22 Pa. Code §19 (relating to educator effectiveness). Cybers must use the Act 13 Rating Forms (13-1, 13-2, 13-3, and the optional 13-4) as described in Chapter 19, and educators are required to be evaluated based on the components outlined in Chapter 19.

There are not any plans to alter the frameworks from what was released in 2021. The current frameworks were modified/customized based on stakeholder input.

There are currently four trainings available on SAS surrounding Act 13.

Educator Effectiveness: Classroom Teachers
Educator Effectiveness: Oher Non-Teaching Professionals
Educator Effectiveness: Non-Teaching Professional Supervisors
Educator Effectiveness: Supervisors of Special Education

They can be accessed by logging into SAS and choosing PD Center from the drop-down menu.

Type Act 13 into the search and click on the magnifying glass.

The courses must be completed within 90 days, or the course will reset.

It is uploaded daily and can be viewed in PERMS.

If not uploading to PERMS after completion, please contact SAS directly:

By Email: helpdesk@pdesas.org 

By Phone: Toll Free 1.877.973.3727 

Online: Help Desk

If the individual takes the induction courses offered after October 1, 2024, Act 13 training will be included. If the individual had taken induction prior to October 1, 2024, they will need to attend the PIL course “Act 13 & Beyond” or a PDE-approved course as it is required for anyone who is new to the “principal” role. A new supervisor of special education has the option of taking the PIL course or may take the 5-hour SAS course in its place.

Given 24 P.S. § 1749-A(b)(3.2), cyber charter school educators are strongly recommended to complete the Act 13 trainings.

The training requirements delineated in Act 13 are as follows:

·       Local induction programs must be updated to incorporate training on Educator Effectiveness inclusive of the consistent use of quality evaluation data. To satisfy this requirement:

o   Inductees may complete either a locally provided training or the appropriate 5-hour Act 48 course available via the SAS PD Center.

·       Temporary Professional Employees (TPEs) serving as classroom teachers or as non-teaching professionals must participate in training on Educator Effectiveness during their probationary period. To satisfy this requirement:

o   TPEs may complete either a locally provided training or the appropriate 5-hour Act 48 course available via the SAS PD Center.

·       All professional employees serving as classroom teachers, non-teaching professionals, and principals must complete a condensed Educator Effectiveness training every seven years.

·       Given 24 P.S. § 1749-A(b)(3.2), cyber charter school educators are strongly recommended to complete the Act 13 trainings.

Article XI of the Pa. Public School Code defines the term "substitute" to mean any individual who has been employed to perform the duties of a regular professional employee during such period of time as the regular professional employee is absent on sabbatical leave or for other legal cause authorized and approved by the board of school directors or to perform the duties of a temporary professional employee who is absent.

Only individuals employed as a temporary professional employee or professional employee must be evaluated according the requirements of Act 13; LEAs should consult with their solicitor when  uncertain if a staff member is employed  as a “substitute” pursuant to Article XI or a TPE or professional employee

It is best to consult with your solicitor to ensure you are following your LEA’s protocols or collective bargaining agreement.

THE LEGISLATION READS: “An overall performance rating of "needs improvement" shall be considered satisfactory, except that any subsequent overall rating of "needs improvement" issued by the same employer within four years of the first overall performance rating of "needs improvement" where the employee is in the same certification shall be considered unsatisfactory.”

An overall performance rating of needs improvement or failing requires the employee to be placed on a performance improvement plan. Professional employees marked unsatisfactory (failing) could receive an interim evaluation. Under Act 13, an interim evaluation is optional for LEAs when a professional employee is deemed unsatisfactory on their last evaluation. A 13-4 would be utilized by the professional employee’s supervisor for an interim evaluation.

Questions related to any employment actions or decisions related to unsatisfactory performance should be discussed with your solicitor.

The statute does not speak to the length of the improvement plan, and it should be discussed with your solicitor.

Please note: Act 13 does state that the improvement plan must be designed by an LEA with documented input of the employee, that:

(1)    Provides actionable feedback to an employee on the specific domain within the comprehensive classroom observation and practice models that prevented the employee from achieving a proficient rating. The employer shall consider the documented input from the employee for inclusion in the plan.

(2)    Identifies employer resources that will be provided to an employee to help the employee improve. Resources may include, but shall not be limited to, mentoring, coaching, and recommendations for professional development and intensive supervision based on the contents of the rating tool provided for under sections 1138.1—1138.16 of the Public School Code.

The optional 13-4 evaluation may be used as an interim evaluation for professional employees if they received an unsatisfactory rating the prior year or received a second Needs Improvement rating by the same LEA within the last 4 years.

The grounds for dismissal are addressed in the statute in 24 P.S. § 11-1122, which is referenced in Act 13. See below for reference to section 1122 in Act 13. Also, it is important to speak with your solicitor about any dismissal decision related to evaluation or otherwise.

Section 1138.2.  

In determining whether a professional employee shall be dismissed for unsatisfactory teaching performance as provided for in section 1122(a), and in rating professional employees and temporary professional employees, each professional employee and temporary professional employee shall be rated through the use of a rating tool approved by the department in consultation with education experts, parents of school-age children enrolled in a public school, teachers and administrators, including research and collaboration conducted by the department.

Since Act 13 doesn’t specifically name the assistant director of career and technical education, it is important to consult with your solicitor on the final determination. However, in the absence of the clear statutory mandate for a specific evaluation framework for this position, the LEA and employee should agree on the evaluation model based on the certification and job duties of the employee.

Generally, if the duties of an assistant director of career and technical education align with duties of a director of career and technical education then the principal (13-2) would be used.

Act 13 states: “the evaluation of…a nonteaching professional primarily assigned in a building or buildings within a school entity by which the nonteaching professional is not employed or where building-level data is not made available by the department…” is 100 percent Observation & Practice (25 percent per Domain). The specialists could be considered 100 percent Observation & Practice under either condition above.

The IU should speak with its solicitor related to any questions regarding the evaluation of IU employees serving in district buildings.

The employing entity is usually responsible for evaluating its employee. However, it is always best to speak with your solicitor to discuss any concerns or issues involving contracted staff.

The template process for LEA Selected Measures encourages a reflection of one’s own practice and encourages alignment to one or more domains. Differentiated Supervision allows for the development of individualized goals, learning activities, and measures for professional growth relative to the domains of practice. Therefore, the response identified as part of the LEA Selected Measure rating during the comprehensive evaluation year may inform the professional growth area and provide related student performance data for Action Research in a Differentiated Supervision year.

School districts can determine what the action research model looks like, so it can emulate the LEA Selected Measure approach. However, please note that there is a requirement for the LEA Selected Measure score with regard to the evaluation process. Therefore, both the observation and practice measure and the LEA Selected Measures are required.

LEA-selected measures are identified by the LEA, and one option for deriving this score is the use of the PDE Student Performance Measures Template.

The template is not mandated by law, but the measure must be accounted for in every professional classroom teacher’s evaluation except for temporary professional teachers. There is not an n-count associated with this measure.

On our SAS Site there is a section with examples under the tab “Examples from the Field.”

An LEA should speak with their solicitor related to evaluating staff on leave.

The LEA Selected Measures are the same as the Elective Data under 82 (with the addition of locally developed rubrics, which were part of TSD previously), so you can continue to employ whatever parameters you did under Act 82 to ensure rigor.

Pennsylvania’s Alternate System of Assessment (PASA) is not included in PVAAS analyses as there are a very low number of students tested statewide. A significant number of students are needed for each grade level and subject to build a statistical model to yield value-added measures for teachers from this assessment. PA has previously been involved in national forums to discuss the feasibility of measuring growth with students who take the PASA. Students taking the PASA are not included in the analyses for PVAAS district, school, or teacher-specific reporting.

PASA contributes to achievement rates. Therefore, PASA results will be included in building level scores as part of the proficiency rates and the teacher-specific proficiency rate. They are not included with growth measures. 

The score from the current year is used, but only if it is the highest score to date. A score from a former year is never attributed to a teacher.

The current teacher is attributed the current year score.

LEAs may choose to use the NOCTI as an LEA Selected Measure, but it will not be used as a measure for the Building Level Score or the Teacher Specific Data.

Here are the steps for exporting the %P/A metric for Act 13 teacher specific data.

1. From the Reports menu, select “Teacher List by School- %P/A” listed under Teacher Reports.
2. Accept the confidentiality agreement.
3. If the user has access to multiple schools, select the appropriate school from the left filter panel.
4. Click the “Export to Excel” button on the right-hand side.  Save your report. 
5. Repeat the steps for each school in the LEA.

If you have additional questions, please reach out to evaas_support@sas.com.

1. Log into pvaas.sas.com. Only users with export permission will be able to export data. Contact your District Admin account holder to gain access to data export.
2. Select “Export” from the right side of the screen. Select “Teacher Value-Added.”

3. Make appropriate selections from the file exporter. Remember that only 3-year growth composites are used in Act 13 evaluations for professional employees.

4. The file will be available in exported files for download.

Cyber charter schools must complete roster verification beginning in the 2024-2025 school year.

If the brick and mortar charter school does NOT want to receive PVAAS teacher specific reporting for use in your local continuous improvement work, the brick and mortar charter would not need to submit the PIMS Staff-Student-Subtest Collection and would therefore not complete the online PVAAS Roster Verification process.

If the brick and mortar charter school DOES want to receive PVAAS teacher specific reporting for use in your local continuous improvement work, the brick and mortar charter would have needed to submit the PIMS Staff-Student- Subtest Collection and would then complete the online PVAAS Roster Verification process.

If the brick and mortar charter school DID submit the PIMS Staff-Student-Subtest Collection, rosters will be populated in the PVAAS Roster Verification system unless they are deleted. Someone from the brick and mortar charter would need to go into the PVAAS roster system during the initial LEA Preview Phase and delete all rosters. If there are any rosters in the system at the end of the rostering window, SAS EVAAS will provide teacher specific reporting for those rosters and teachers would receive emails about the available reporting in the online PVAAS system.

If you need additional details on the PVAAS roster system itself, don’t hesitate to reach out to EVAAS Support evaas_support@sas.com or pdepvaas@iu13.org.

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” therefore “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 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.

However, Chapter 19 provides for local flexibility in establishing an “n count”, which a classroom teacher will be evaluated on students’ progress in meeting IEP goals.

The n count is defined as follows:

1.       The n count set must be less than or equal to 11. Eleven is the n count used by PDE for determining growth under PVAAS. However, the LEA may choose to use a lower n count.

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 percent 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 the teacher’s roster rather than a single class or course taught by the teacher.

If IEP Goals Progress is not applicable, LEA Selected Measures is bumped up to 20 percent rather than only 10 percent.

Please note: The LEA may choose to use a lower n count or no n count since it less than 11 - meaning a special education teacher in that situation would either have 10 percent based on Teacher Specific Data IEP Goals Progress and 10 percent LEA Selected Measure, or 20 percent LEA Selected Measure.

As for measurement, LEA Selected Measures and IEP Progress Goals are separate. LEA Selected Measures minimally comprise 10 percent of the overall rating, and IEP Goals Progress is also 10 percent. However, if IEP Goals Progress is not applicable (based on no or little attributable data), LEA Selected Measures is then 20 percent of the overall rating.

Note: The basis should not be as broad as ‘academic’ or ‘behavioral’; however, how far into the weeds you go is a local discussion as to what reasonably can be considered similar in terms of IEP goals.  It is probably best to look for similar concepts rather than discrete competencies or perhaps a shared intervention. However, this is a discussion for your LEA.

When using the n count for the IEP Progress Goal Measure, the LEA cannot set the n count higher than 11. The n count is representing the minimum number of students an educator can have to meet the IEP Progress Goals Measure; therefore, the LEA cannot set it higher because it could be set where 0 teachers would have the number of students needed.

The special education classroom teacher is required to complete the LEA Selected Measure (SPM). If the special education teachers also meet the n-count set by the LEA, they are required to complete the IEP Goals Progress measure. Therefore, they may have both templates to complete.

If the n-count is not met, the special education teacher would not complete an IEP goals progress. Minimally, 10 percent of the evaluation of all (non-temporary) classroom teachers will be comprised of LEA Selected Measure(s). If the classroom teacher does not have any Teacher Specific Data (assessments, growth, IEP Goals Progress), the LEA Selected Measures rating is also used as the substitute measure for the Teacher Specific Data (TSD) rating.

The LEA in your example may choose to use a lower n count or no n count (since it less than 11) - meaning an special education teacher in that situation would either have 10% based on TSD IEP Goals Progress and 10% LEA Selected Measure, or 20% LEA Selected Measure.

No, only IEP goals qualify for the IEP Goals Progress Measure. From the legislation: Progress in meeting the goals of student individualized education plans required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Public Law 91-230, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq.) as applicable and attributable to the classroom teacher.

Building Level Data is comprised of Student Performance on Assessments (Assessment), Value-added Assessment System Data (Growth), Attendance, and Graduation Rate.

Additional details can be found on the SAS Toolkit Site under “Evaluation Measures” and “Building Level Data.”

Building Level Scores are located on PDE’s website.

For a professional assigned to multiple buildings, a single Building Level Score shall be calculated proportional to the professional employee’s building assignments.

For example: If a teacher is assigned to two buildings, and the percentage assigned is Building A – 60 percent and Building B – 40 percent, then the BLS component would be calculated as follows.

Building A – No Score (K only) but Observation and Practice score was 2.25

Building B – 78.4

Building A - Observation and Practice score substituted in for Building A, so O&P score x 0.6 to get this portion (2.25 x 0.6 = 1.35)

Building B – Score of 1.92 x 0.4 (amount in bldg.) =0.768

Add them together:1.35 + 0.768 = 2.118 is the Building Level Score for this educator.

Note: Instead of using a Building Level Score, a nonteaching professional who transfers from one building to another within the LEA shall have the option of reallocating the 10 percent weighting to Observation & Practice or using the LEA Selected Measures for the first two school years of the new location assignment. Before evaluation in the new location assignment, the nonteaching professional and the LEA shall agree to the LEA Selected Measures, if applicable, and the reallocation of the weighting of 10 percent from Building Level Data to Observation and Practice or to LEA Selected Measures to calculate the final performance rating.

If a professional educator works in a building that receives a building level score, then the professional educator has building level data as part of their evaluation regardless of category – classroom, nonteaching, or principal.

Exceptions are as follows:

·       Temporary employees do not have building level score in their evaluations.

·       Building Level Data (BLD) are not attributed to professional employees serving as classroom teachers or as non-teaching professionals who are primarily assigned in a building or buildings within a school entity by which the professional is not employed.

·       A professional employee who transfers from one building to another within an LEA has the option of using a measure in lieu of BLD for the first two school years of the new location assignment. Before evaluation in the new location assignment, the employee and the LEA must agree on the substitute measure(s) and the reallocation of the 10 percent weighting for calculating the final performance rating. The following table delineates permissible substitute measures by type of professional employee:

Under Act 13, third grade averages will not be used for K-2 buildings; therefore K-2 buildings will not receive a Building Level Score. There may be exceptional cases in which third graders attend K-2 schools (this sometimes happens in Special Education). Those cases might make it possible for K-2 schools to receive achievement scores. However, if a school does not have third graders in the K-2 building, there will not be a building score or any achievement/PVAAS data for that school. 

1138.5 (b) addresses this:

(b) Evaluation without building-level data.--Beginning in the 2021-2022 school year, the evaluation of the effectiveness of a professional employee who is a nonteaching professional primarily assigned in a building or buildings within a school entity by which the nonteaching professional is not employed or where building-level data is not made available by the department shall include the following:

(1)  Planning and preparation, with a weight of 25 percent.

(2)  Educational environment, with a weight of 25 percent.

(3)  Delivery of service, with a weight of 25 percent.

(4)  Professional development, with a weight of 25 percent.

It is also best to speak with the LEA’s solicitor. 

See link. https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/uconsCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&yr=1949&sessInd=0&smthLwInd=0&act=14&chpt=11&sctn=38&subsctn=5

New schools will not receive a building score for their first year of existence, until they have an opportunity to generate an attendance/graduation rate. They would not receive an exemption in the second year, even if they continue not to have an attendance rate due to low N counts.

The transfer option is only used when staff is transferring from existing schools within the LEA. When a new school is created, the building level score is not issued the first year. Beginning with the second year, the staff in the building will be issued the building level score. If an educator does transfer from another building within the LEA to the new building and wasn’t part of the move, they may use the transfer option if they would prefer. For example, a teacher moved from another school within the LEA to the new building this year (or any subsequent) years, then they would be eligible. However, the entire staff who opened the new building is not eligible for the transfer option.

The data is reported to us by schools in PIMS. Schools are required to report whether each student falls into the category of “economically disadvantaged” using the following guidance:

To determine if a student is economically disadvantaged, poverty data sources such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families cases, census poor, Medicaid, children living in institutions for the neglected or delinquent, or those supported in foster homes may be used. If such data are not available, use the most recent reliable data available at the time of determination, such as free and reduced-price lunch eligibility. For Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) schools, do not use free and reduced-price lunch eligibility to determine a student’s economic status.