PROPOSED RULEMAKING
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
[ 22 PA. CODE CH. 4 ]
Academic Standards and Assessment
[54 Pa.B. 3353]
[Saturday, June 15, 2024]The State Board of Education (Board) proposes to amend Chapter 4 (relating to academic standards and assessment) by amending §§ 4.11—4.13, 4.21 4.23 and 4.51a and adding Appendix C-1, Appendix D-1, Appendix E-1 and Appendix F to read as set forth in Annex A. The Board further is proposing that certain provisions of Appendix C and Appendix D and the entirety of Appendix B and Appendix E expire as set forth in Annex A. The Board is acting under the authority of sections 290.1, 1551, 2603-B and 2604-B of the Public School Code of 1949 (24 P.S. §§ 2-290.1, 15-1551, 26-2603-B and 26-2604-B).
Purpose
Chapter 4 sets forth requirements for State academic standards and assessments for public schools across the Commonwealth, including school districts, area career and technical schools (ACTS), charter schools and cyber charter schools. This proposed rulemaking seeks to update the existing academic standards for Career Education and Work (CEW), Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) and Economics (ECON). Consistent with the act of December 13, 2023 (P.L. 311, No. 35) (Act 35 of 2023) this proposed rulemaking further seeks to establish standalone academic standards for Personal Finance. This proposed rulemaking also shifts the grade level at which the Commonwealth's elementary-level science assessment is administered, requires school entities to post various strategic plans on their publicly accessible web sites and makes numerous clarifying and technical amendments.
Background
The Board's Standing Committee on Academic Standards/Chapter 4 (Committee) is designated responsibility for leading efforts on regulations governing State academic standards and assessments. This responsibility includes overseeing reviews of the regulations in Chapter 4 and developing recommendations pertinent to these policies for consideration by the Board. Part of the responsibility designated to the Committee includes leading periodic reviews of the academic standards in Chapter 4 as called for in § 4.12(i) (relating to academic standards). Periodic reviews of State academic standards are intended to determine if the standards are appropriate, clear, specific and challenging.
On September 14, 2022, the Committee held a public meeting to determine which academic standards next would be opened for a periodic review. The Committee recommended to the Board that the academic standards for CEW, FCS and ECON be called up for review. The existing ECON and FCS standards took effect on January 11, 2003, and the existing CEW standards took effect on July 8, 2006. The Committee recommended that these standards be reviewed in their totality with a focus on whether the existing standards adequately address concepts related to financial literacy.
To support this work, the Board requested that the Department of Education (Department) convene advisory committees of educators and other content experts to conduct an initial review of the existing academic standards for CEW, ECON and FCS, and to consider whether the standards adequately addressed what students should know to be financially literate. The Committee tasked the Department to consult with these external standards review committees to develop recommendations on whether the existing standards should be revised and, if so, to formulate draft amendments to the standards for the Committee's consideration.
In the fall of 2022, educators and other content experts were invited by the Department to apply to serve on the advisory committees. Nominees to serve on these standards review committees were presented to the Committee for approval at its public meeting on January 11, 2023. An opportunity for public comment on the nominees was made available at the meeting prior to the Committee's approval of the standards review committees' membership. At the direction of the Committee, the Department later added four additional members to the standards review committees to provide greater geographic representation from Philadelphia and from this Commonwealth's Northern Tier.
The standards review committees met throughout the winter and spring of 2023 to develop recommendations in response to the charge presented to them. Meetings were held on February 22, 2023, March 9, 2023, March 20, 2023, April 3, 2023 (whole group session) and April 20, 2023 (whole group session). During these sessions, the standards review committees developed recommendations for updating the existing standards for CEW, ECON and FCS. The standards review committees also reached consensus to recommend the establishment of a standalone set of academic standards for Personal Finance.
To provide further guidance surrounding the recommendation to establish new standalone standards for Personal Finance, another external stakeholder advisory committee was formed to draft recommended Academic Standards for Personal Finance. That advisory committee was composed of some members of the teams that conducted an initial review of the CEW, ECON and FCS standards, along with additional members who held professional experience in personal finance. The Personal Finance Standards Committee met on May 31, 2023, and on June 1, 2023, in Harrisburg, and met again on June 15-16, 2023, at the Federal Reserve Bank in Philadelphia.
To inform their recommendations, the standards review committees examined standards from National organizations and exemplary standards from other states to identify strengths and gaps in the Commonwealth's current standards. The CEW standards review committee utilized the following resources as part of its evaluation: the National Business Education Association's National Standards for Business Education, North Dakota Career Development Content Standards, Nebraska Standards for Career Readiness and the Nevada State Board for Career and Technical Education's Employability Skills for Career Readiness Standards.
The CEW standards review committee recommended reorganizing the CEW standards into four new strands that reflected combining strands in the existing CEW standards and adding new strands to reflect components of the National and other state standards that the committee used in conducting its review. Recommended updates included reframing the existing strand for Career Awareness and Preparation to focus on Career Awareness and Exploration, reframing the existing strand for Career Retention and Advancement to address Personal Interests and Career Planning, and reframing the existing strand for Entrepreneurship to address Growth and Advancement.
The CEW standards review committee also proposed adding a new strand for Employability Skills that would replace the strand in the current CEW standards for Career Acquisition (Getting a Job). Employability skills address qualities that employers often look for in candidates in addition to academic or technical qualifications. These skills are not specific to a particular job. Rather, they embody foundational skills that are transferable across workplace settings. Competencies for students addressed within the recommended new strand for Employability Skills included critical thinking and problem solving, oral and written communication, teamwork and collaboration, technology, time management and entrepreneurial mindset.
The ECON standards review committee utilized a similar approach in reviewing the Commonwealth's existing ECON standards and identifying strengths and gaps in the standards. The standards review committee utilized the following resources to inform its work: the Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics from the Council for Economic Education, Delaware's K—12 Economic Standards, Indiana's K—12 Economic Standards and Minnesota's K—12 Economic Strand of its Social Studies Standards. Stemming from its analysis, the ECON review committee recommended four new strand topics under which existing standards and recommended new standards would be organized. The existing ECON standards include five strands for: Economic Systems, Markets and the Functions of Governments, Scarcity and Choice, Economic Interdependence and Work and Earnings. The review committee recommended transforming the standards to be arranged under the following strands: Fundamentals of Economics, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, and Money and Financial Institutions.
The FCS standards review committee also consulted other National and state-level resources to inform its work. The review committee recommended updates to the Commonwealth's FCS standards consistent with the language and formatting of the Family and Consumer Sciences National Standards 3.0, a resource from the National Association of State Administrators of Family and Consumer Sciences and consistent with National standards of the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America. The Pennsylvania Learning Standards for Early Childhood also were used by the standards review committee to inform the development of FCS standards for the K—2 grade band. These Commonwealth early childhood standards are research-based according to age and development and address a continuum of learning from the infant and toddler stages through second grade. The FCS standards review committee also consulted FCS standards from Wisconsin and New Hampshire and used these other exemplary state standards as a point of reference when considering revisions or additions to the Commonwealth's existing standards and in considering whether recommended revisions or additions were aligned in a coherent manner.
The FCS standards review committee supported restructuring the Commonwealth's current standards. The existing FCS standards include four strands for: Food Science and Nutrition; Financial and Resource Management; Child Development and Balancing Family, Work and Community Responsibility. The standards review committee recommended restructuring the FCS standards under the following six strands: Food Science and Nutrition; Physical Resource Management; Human Development, Family, and Relationships. Education and Early Childhood Development; Personal Finance and Consumer Skills and Career, Community and Family Connections. For the recommended standards applicable to the 6—8 and 9—12 grade bands, the FCS standards review committee also recommended adding a career-focused standard within each strand as a means of incorporating employability skills within the standards.
The standards review committees further recommended that the Board adopt standalone academic standards for Personal Finance. While the standards review committees recognized that content related to personal finance is embedded throughout the existing CEW, ECON and FCS standards, the standards review committees determined that standalone standards would benefit students by creating greater alignment and consistency in how this content is taught. A July 2023 report containing recommendations from the standards review committees found that personal financial literacy ''is a key aspect of preparing students for meaningful engagement in postsecondary education, workforce training, and career pathways and as responsible, involved citizens.'' The standards review committees concluded that, for this reason, a separate standalone set of standards should be added to Chapter 4.
To provide further guidance on the recommendation to establish new standalone standards, another external committee of educators and content experts was convened to draft recommended academic standards for Personal Finance. The Committee reviewed resources from other states and National organizations to inform its work, including: the National Jump$tart Standards, Wisconsin's Standards for Personal Finance, Washington's Standards for Personal Finance and Delaware's Standards for Personal Finance. The Committee also reviewed Pennsylvania's Instructional Framework for Personal Finance. This resource was developed by the Department in accordance with the act of November 17, 2010 (P.L. 996, No. 104) to provide economic and personal financial literacy materials to educators in this Commonwealth's public and private schools. Stemming from this review, the committee developed recommended standards for Personal Finance that include competencies organized under the following six strands: Personal Finance Fundamentals, Income, Spending, Saving and Investment, Risk and Insurance and Credit.
The standards review committees further recommended a new organizational structure that would be applied consistently across the CEW, ECON, FCS and Personal Finance standards. The existing academic standards for CEW include standards for grade 3, grade 5, grade 8 and grade 11. The existing academic standards for ECON and for FCS include standards for grade 3, grade 6, grade 9 and grade 12. The standards review committees recommended that updates to these existing standards and new standards for Personal Finance be organized in grade bands covering Kindergarten—grade 2, grades 3—5, grades 6—8 and grades 9—12. The standards review committees concluded that organizing the standards around these four grade bands provides flexibility to school entities in determining how best to meet each standard, when to include particular courses and how to best support the needs of individual students. The standards review committees further supported reorganizing the standards in grade bands as this structure is used frequently in National standards and standards adopted by other states, but, at present, is applied inconsistently in the Commonwealth's academic standards.
These recommendations for updating the existing academic standards for CEW, ECON and FCS and for establishing new academic standards for Personal Finance were presented by the Department to the Committee at a public meeting on July 12, 2023, and were shared with the Board at its public meeting later that same day. At its meeting on July 12, 2023, the Committee also reviewed in detail unrelated draft amendments to other provisions within Chapter 4 and determined that it would consider those other draft amendments in tandem with the recommended revisions to academic standards. The other draft amendments to Chapter 4 reviewed by the Committee addressed the grade level at which the Commonwealth's elementary-level science assessment is administered, posting requirements for the various plans named in § 4.13 (relating to strategic plans) after they are adopted as final and numerous clarifying and technical amendments. An opportunity to offer public comment on these items and on the academic standards recommendations was made available before both the Committee and the Board at their meetings on July 12, 2023. A report containing the standards review committees' academic standards recommendations and an Annex presenting the other unrelated draft amendments to Chapter 4 were made publicly accessible on the Board's web site.
The Committee held public hearings in Harrisburg (September 13, 2023) and in Allegheny County (September 25, 2023) to gather feedback from stakeholders on the academic standards recommendations and on its other draft amendments to Chapter 4. A third public hearing scheduled for September 14, 2023, in Montgomery County was canceled due to lack of registrations to participate in the event. The Committee also accepted written testimony through the end of September 2023 from individuals who were unable to attend one of its hearings in person.
Testimony submitted by stakeholders was made available to all Board members and was also made available to the standards review committees that developed initial recommendations on updating the academic standards. At the request of the Committee, those standards review committees reconvened on October 24 and 25, 2023, to review this additional stakeholder input and to provide their professional judgment on whether the recommended standards should be further revised in response to the testimony received from interested stakeholders. The Department presented a report of the standards review committees' responses to stakeholder feedback at the Committee's next public meeting on November 8, 2023. An opportunity for public comment was made available at that meeting, and the standards review committees' report was made publicly accessible on the Board's web site.
As part of their continued efforts in advising the Committee on this work, the standards review committees addressed concerns expressed by stakeholders pertaining to the length and complexity of the recommended Personal Finance standards. In response to these concerns, the standards review committees sought to identify and eliminate areas of duplication across the recommended CEW, ECON and FCS standards updates and the recommended Personal Finance standards. The standards review committees noted that they recommended retaining a concept related to personal finance that may overlap with another standard if the concept was necessary for the focus lens of the discipline. The standards review committees identified the following focus lenses to guide their decision-making in this regard: Personal Finance—individual; CEW—individual planning of educational and professional choices; FCS—resource management for the family and home; and ECON—markets and societal.
The report from the standards review committees identifies additional areas where the standards review committees made refinements to their initial recommendations in response to stakeholder input and where the standards review committees disagreed that further modifications were necessary. Among the refinements, the standards review committees made edits to their initial recommendations to improve clarity, ensure the standards use straightforward language, ensure the standards are developmentally appropriate and, if necessary, to ensure the standards are provided for a more sophisticated progression of knowledge and skills.
The Board's work on these academic standards was further directed by the enactment of Act 35 of 2023. Existing language in section 1551 of the Public School Code of 1949 (24 P.S. § 15-1551) requires the Department to provide resources and curriculum materials related to economic education and personal financial literacy to public and private schools in this Commonwealth. Historically, these materials were to be aligned with the State academic standards for ECON, FCS and CEW as promulgated by the Board in Chapter 4. With the adoption of Act 35 of 2023, the General Assembly amended section 1551 of the Public School Code of 1949 to require the Department to provide model curriculum materials pertaining to economic education and personal financial literacy that are aligned to State academic standards for Personal Financial Literacy as established by the Board in Chapter 4. Act 35 of 2023 also directs the Department to review and update its existing model curriculum materials and other resources no later than the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year and within 1 year of any revision of the State academic standards for Personal Financial Literacy promulgated by the Board.
In Act 35 of 2023, the General Assembly further directed the Board to review the existing State academic standards for ECON, FCS and CEW and to revise the standards as necessary to implement the amendments set forth in Act 35 of 2023. Finally, in Act 35 of 2023, the General Assembly established a new requirement for high school students to complete a mandatory course in personal financial literacy with the course valued at least one-half credit or half of a full credit. Both public school entities and nonpublic schools must provide the required course beginning in the 2026-2027 school year.
The Committee reconvened on January 11, 2024, to consider the stakeholder feedback it gathered during the fall of 2023, along with the additional perspectives on that feedback provided by the standards review committees. The Committee also reviewed Act 35 of 2023 and discussed considerations for crafting a proposed rulemaking responsive to the directives of the General Assembly in Act 35 of 2023. In deliberating on input from stakeholders and on Act 35 of 2023, the Committee expressed support for adopting the standards review committees' recommendations for updating the CEW, ECON and FCS standards. The Committee noted that the process conducted to review and update the standards aligned with the charge made to the Board in Act 35 of 2023 to review those standards.
The Committee further expressed support for adopting the standards review committee's recommendations for standalone Personal Finance standards. Adding standalone standards for Personal Finance to Chapter 4 is responsive to provisions in Act 35 of 2023 that direct the Department to align model curriculum to the standards as set forth in Chapter 4. The Personal Finance standards also will serve as a guidepost to which the new high school level course required by Act 35 of 2023 would be aligned.
Furthermore, the Committee found that organizing the Personal Finance standards in grade bands, as recommended by the standards review committee, is consistent with expectations for the personal financial literacy course required in Act 35 of 2023. The General Assembly set forth that students must complete the course once during grade 9, grade 10, grade 11 or grade 12. The recommended Personal Finance standards are organized in grade bands for K—2, 3—5, 6—8 and 9—12. Structuring the standards to include a 9—12 grade band, rather than prescribing standards to be taught at a particular grade level, aligns with the flexibility envisioned in Act 35 of 2023 for the required course to be completed at any point during a student's high school career and provides school entities and students with latitude to determine when the coursework best fits into their schedules.
The Committee also discussed time frames for implementation of updates to the academic standards. The Committee determined that new Personal Finance standards should take effect with the 2026-2027 school year for consistency with the year that Act 35 of 2023 requires school entities to begin offering a personal financial literacy course to high school students. The Committee further determined that updates to the CEW, ECON and FCS standards also should take effect with the 2026-2027 school year to align with implementation planning efforts.
Upon conclusion of its deliberations, the Committee acted to adopt proposed amendments to Chapter 4, including updates to the academic standards for CEW, ECON and FCS, new standards for Personal Finance and other unrelated amendments to Chapter 4. The Committee's recommended amendments were considered by the Board's Council of Basic Education (Council) at a public meeting on January 11, 2024, and the Council approved the proposed amendments to Chapter 4 as recommended by the Committee. Later that same day, the proposed amendments to Chapter 4 were approved by the Board, as recommended by the Council and the Committee. Opportunities for public comment were made available at each of the public meetings held by the Committee, the Council and the Board.
Need for the Rule
Academic standards define what students should know and be able to do at specific grade levels. They establish goals for student learning. Academic standards do not represent a particular curriculum or instructional methodology. Rather, they provide a foundation for the development of local curriculum and serve as guideposts to which local curriculum should be aligned.
This proposed rulemaking is necessary to comply with the directives set forth in Act 35 of 2023. In Act 35 of 2023, the General Assembly charged the Board with reviewing and, as necessary, updating the existing standards for CEW, ECON and FCS. Act 35 of 2023 also newly refers to standards for personal financial literacy as a component of the Board's regulations in Chapter 4 and, through this proposed rulemaking, the Board is establishing standalone standards in that content area. The adoption of standalone standards will provide for greater alignment and consistency in how this content is taught, including serving as a guidepost for the high school level personal financial literacy course that all public and private schools in this Commonwealth will be required to offer under Act 35 of 2023.
This proposed rulemaking also is responsive to § 4.12(i) in which the Board calls for the academic standards in Chapter 4 to be reviewed no sooner than every 5 years and no later than every 10 years to determine if the standards are appropriate, clear, specific and challenging. This proposed rulemaking includes revisions to the academic standards for CEW, FCS and ECON stemming from the Board's periodic review of the existing academic standards under subsection (i).
This proposed rulemaking further is necessary to align administration of the Commonwealth's elementary-level science assessment with the end-of-the-grade bands in the Pennsylvania Integrated Standards for Science, Environment, Ecology, Technology, and Engineering (Grades K—5). These standards are set to take effect with the 2025-2026 school year. Through this proposed rulemaking, the Board is seeking to shift the grade level at which the elementary-level science assessment is administered in the same year that the new standards take effect.
Finally, this proposed rulemaking is necessary to create greater transparency surrounding the various strategic plans that are adopted by public school entities under § 4.13. During roundtable discussions on gifted education that were conducted by the Board's Committee on Special and Gifted Education in 2022, stakeholders requested that school districts be required to publicly post their gifted education plans after they are approved as final as a means of improving transparency. The Committee on Special and Gifted Education recommended to the Board's Academic Standards/Chapter 4 Committee that it consider proposing an amendment to § 4.13(e) to require school districts to post gifted education plans in their final form on the district's publicly accessible web site. The Board determined that this transparency should apply to each of the plans cited in § 4.13 and should not be limited to plans for gifted education.
Summary of this Proposed Rulemaking
This proposed rulemaking would amend the following provisions in Chapter 4:
Table of contents
Academic standards that are published as appendices to Chapter 4 are proposed to be added to the table of contents for reference. The listing of standards in the table of contents reflects how the standards would be organized if proposed amendments to § 4.12 are adopted. References to Appendix A and Appendix A-1 denote former standards that previously were reserved, and references to Appendix A-2 and Appendix B-1 denote existing standards to which no amendments are proposed. The heading of Appendix B-1 is proposed to be amended to include standards currently in the Appendix that were omitted from the heading.
The Board proposes that the academic standards for Science and Technology and Environment and Ecology in Appendix B expire July 1, 2025. Expiration of these standards is consistent with existing language in § 4.12(a)(1)(i) and (ii) that sets forth that these standards will be in effect only through June 30, 2025. Following the sunset of the academic standards in Appendix B, academic standards related to science, environment, ecology, technology and engineering will be based on the existing standards in Appendix B-1, as established in § 4.12(a)(2)(i)—(iii).
The Board proposes that the standards for Economics in Appendix C (relating to academic standards for civics and government and economics and geopraphy and history and the Pennsylvania core standards for reading in history and social studies and Pennsylvania core standards for writing in history and social studies) expire July 1, 2026, and be replaced with updated standards for Economics in Appendix C-1 (relating to academic standards for economics). The heading of Appendix C is proposed to be amended to include standards currently in the Appendix that were omitted from the heading. The Board proposes that the standards for Family and Consumer Sciences in Appendix D (relating to academic standards for arts and humanities and health, safety and physical education and family and consumer sciences) expire July 1, 2026, and be replaced with updated standards for Family and Consumer Sciences in Appendix D-1 (relating to academic standards for family and consumer sciences). The Board further proposes that the academic standards for Career Education and Work in Appendix E (relating to academic standards for career education and work) expire on July 1, 2026, and be replaced with updated standards for Career Education and Work in Appendix E-1 (relating to academic standards for career education and work). Finally, the Board proposes to add new standards for Personal Finance in Appendix F (relating to academic standards for personal finance).
§ 4.11. Purpose of public education
Provisions under § 4.11 (relating to purpose of public education) address the purpose of public education and its relationship with the standards in § 4.12. Section 4.11(g) lists the standards in which public schools must provide instruction. The Board is proposing to add a reference to Personal Finance standards to this paragraph for completeness as new standards in that content area are proposed to be added under § 4.12.
The Board also is proposing to amend § 4.11(g) to correct the title of the standards for Family and Consumer Sciences to make the term ''sciences'' plural. The title of these existing standards is published correctly using the plural noun throughout Appendix D, but is incorrectly referred to in the singular in § 4.11(g). The Board is proposing to make this same technical correction to the title of the standards in §§ 4.12(a)(7), and 4.22(c)(11) and 4.23(c)(9) (relating to middle level education; and high school education).
§ 4.12. Academic standards
The Board is proposing, in § 4.12(a), to adopt updated standards for ECON in Appendix C-1, updated standards for CEW in Appendix E-1 and updated standards for FCS in Appendix D-1. In § 4.12(a)(10), the Board further is proposing to establish standalone academic standards for Personal Finance in Appendix F. Proposed updates to the ECON, CEW and FCS standards and the proposed standards for Personal Finance would apply on and after July 1, 2026. Existing standards for ECON in Appendix C, FCS in Appendix D and CEW in Appendix E are proposed to expire on July 1, 2026.
The existing academic standards for CEW include standards for grade 3, grade 5, grade 8 and grade 11. The existing academic standards for ECON and for FCS include standards for grade 3, grade 6, grade 9 and grade 12. The Board is proposing to modify how these existing standards are organized by structuring the updated standards for CEW, ECON and FCS in grade bands covering Kindergarten—grade 2, grades 3—5, grades 6—8 and grades 9—12.
The Board is proposing to further modify how the existing CEW, ECON and FCS standards are structured by organizing the proposed updated standards under new strands. An overview of the proposed CEW standards found in Appendix E-1 explains that the proposed standards ''reflect the increasing complexity and sophistication that students experience as they progress through school, focusing on the skills and continuous learning and innovation required for students to succeed in a rapidly changing workplace.'' The proposed standards are organized under the following four strands: Career Awareness and Exploration, Employability Skills, Growth and Advancement, and Personal Interests and Career Planning.
Concepts within each of these strands are arranged in substrands with grade-banded standards identified across each substrand for grades K—2, 3—5, 6—8 and 9—12. The strand for Career Awareness and Exploration contains substrands for: educational requirements and opportunities; entrepreneurship; factors in career decisions; local, National and global labor market; resources in school and community, and rights of workers. The strand for Employability Skills contains substrands for: critical thinking and problem solving, oral and written communication, teamwork and collaboration, technology, time and project management and entrepreneurial mindset. The strand for Growth and Advancement contains competencies in substrands for: career growth, lifelong learning, strategic goals and work ethic. Finally, the CEW strand for Personal Interests and Career Planning contains competencies in substrands for: develop a personal brand, identify personal interests, research careers and understand a career path.
An overview of the ECON standards proposed in Appendix C-1 describes the field of Economics as being ''concerned with the behavior of individuals and institutions engaged in the production, exchange, and consumption of goods and services.'' The overview further emphasizes knowledge that the Board maintains all students should possess in this field—characteristics of economic systems, how markets establish prices, how scarcity and choice affect the allocation of resources, the global nature of economic interdependence and how work and earnings impact productivity. These concepts are addressed in proposed ECON standards under the following strands: Fundamentals of Economics, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and Money and Economic Institutions.
Standards within each of these strands are arranged in substrands with grade-banded standards identified across each substrand for grades K—2, 3—5, 6—8 and 9—12. The strand for Fundamentals of Economics contains substrands for: economic systems, fundamental economic questions, scarcity, economic choice, economic resources, marginal analysis, opportunity cost, incentives, specialization, trade, foreign trade, global interdependence and comparative advantage. The strand for Microeconomics contains substrands for: circular flow, competition, monopolies, supply and demand, economic patterns, wages, productivity, types of businesses, profit and loss and entrepreneurship. The strand for Macroeconomics contains substrands for: economic indicators, business cycles, fiscal policy, Federal budget, taxation, tax policy, economic role of government, externalities and public goods and services. The strand for Money and Economic Institutions contains substrands for: money, exchange rates, monetary policy, banking, the Federal Reserve System, nongovernmental organizations and interest rate policy.
The FCS standards proposed in Appendix D-1 emphasize the crucial role of families in shaping individual and community well-being. As stated in the overview of the proposed standards, ''the standards aim to prepare students not just for personal, family, and work responsibilities but also to empower them for the challenges of living and working in a diverse, global society, fostering holistic individual development and community advancement.'' The standards are organized under the following strands: Food Science and Nutrition, Resource Management, Human Development, Family and Relationships, Education and Early Childhood Development, Personal Finance and Consumer Skills and Career, Community and Family Connections.
Concepts within each of these strands are arranged in substrands with grade-banded standards identified across each substrand for grades K—2, 3—5, 6—8 and 9—12. The strand for Food Science and Nutrition contains substrands for: food supply, safety and sanitation, nutrition analysis, meal management, culinary math and measurement, culinary equipment and techniques, food science, nutrition and health, calories and energy and careers. The strand for Resource Management contains substrands for: resource sustainability, individual and family resources, housing and interior design, consumer strategies, textiles, fashion and apparel, laundering and career. The strand for Human Development, Family and Relationships contains substrands for: role of family, family life cycle, interpersonal communications, human development and well-being and careers.
Within the FCS standards, the proposed new strand for Education and Early Childhood Development contains substrands for: developmental stages, learning environments, health and safety, literacy, collaborative relationships and careers. In the act of July 8, 2022 (P.L. 620, No. 55), the General Assembly directed the Department to develop a Career and Technical Education (CTE) Program of Study in Education as an avenue for high school students who are interested in pursuing teaching as a career. The proposed addition of the strand for Education and Early Childhood Development will support instruction aligned to the Commonwealth's new CTE Program of Study in Education.
The proposed FCS standards strand for Personal Finance and Consumer Skills contains substrands for: consumer rights and responsibilities, financial planning and budgeting, financial resources and careers. The proposed strand for Career, Community and Family Connections contains substrands for: action plans, teamwork and leadership, role of technology and service providers.
The standalone academic standards for Personal Finance proposed in Appendix F identify competencies to support students in gaining financial literacy to manage their personal finances. The proposed standards identify competencies for students in six strands: Personal Finance Fundamentals; Income; Spending; Saving and Investing; Risk and Insurance; and Credit. Consistent with the structure of proposed updates to the CEW, ECON and FCS standards, the proposed standards for Personal Finance also are arranged in grade bands for Kindergarten—grade 2, grades 3—5, grades 6—8 and grades 9—12.
The area of Personal Finance Fundamentals further delineates standards in substrands focused on: financial goal setting and decision making, financial mindset and behaviors, financial services, financial record keeping and consumer protection. Standards that pertain to the proposed strand for Income are organized in substrands that address: sources of income, factors influencing income, self-employment and supplemental income and income and payroll taxes. Concepts related to Spending are arranged under substrands for: spending decisions, developing a budget, payment methods, major life purchases, sales and property taxes and charitable giving.
The proposed Personal Finance standards further would require instruction in Saving and Investing, with standards proposed in the areas of asset building, saving, investing and investing and tolerance. The proposed standards address concepts pertaining to Risk and Insurance in substrands for: risk identification and management, insurance and financial fraud and identify theft. Finally, the proposed standards include a strand focused on helping students to better understand credit. Related competencies are centered around substrands for: credit use and benefits, types of credit, costs of credit and credit rights and responsibilities.
The Board also is proposing to make clarifying amendments to provisions within § 4.12 that affect academic standards in other content areas. In a prior final-form rulemaking adopted by the Board and published at 44 Pa.B. 1131 (March 1, 2014), the Board adopted the Pennsylvania Core Standards for English Language Arts (ELA) and the Pennsylvania Core Standards for Mathematics (Mathematics), which are published in Appendix A-2. These ELA and Mathematics standards replaced the former Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and the former Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. The Board is proposing to make technical amendments to § 4.12(a)(8) to delete language that facilitated the transition from the former Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts to the current ELA standards. The transitional language is no longer necessary as these ELA standards have been in effect since March 1, 2014. Likewise, the Board is making the same technical amendments to § 4.12(a)(9) to delete language that facilitated that transition from the former Common Core State Standards for Mathematics to the Pennsylvania Core Standards for Mathematics as that transition also took effect on March 1, 2014. No changes are proposed to the content of the existing standards for ELA or Mathematics.
§ 4.13. Strategic plans
Section 4.13 requires school entities to develop various strategic plans on a cyclical basis. At present, school entities must adopt professional education plans for educators every 3 years, induction plans for newly hired teachers every 6 years and student services plans every 6 years that address the provision of services such as guidance counseling, psychological services, social work services and nutritional services. In addition, school districts must adopt a special education plan every 3 years and a gifted education plan every 6 years.
Under the existing requirements of subsections (a)—(e), each of these plans must be made available for a public inspection and comment period prior to the plan's approval by a school entity's board of directors. However, no similar requirement exists for these plans to be made publicly accessible after they are approved as final. Therefore, for transparency, the Board is proposing to amend subsections (a)—(e) to require that school entities post their professional education, induction, student services, special education and gifted education plans on their publicly accessible web sites after they are approved by a school entity's governing board.
§ 4.21. Elementary education: primary and intermediate levels, § 4.22. Middle level education and § 4.23. High school education
Section 4.21 (relating to elementary education: primary and intermediate levels) and §§ 4.22 and 4.23 establish requirements for school entities to deliver curriculum and planned instruction to students that are based on the academic standards in § 4.12. The Board is proposing to make technical and clarifying amendments throughout these sections to align various provisions with updates to certain academic standards as previously adopted by the Board or to align provisions with the academic standards updates that are proposed in this proposed rulemaking.
Per § 4.21(a), the primary level program ordinarily is completed by children who are approximately 6 years of age and, per § 4.21(c), the intermediate level program ordinarily is completed by children who are approximately 11 years of age. Section 4.22(a) establishes that the middle level serves children who are approximately 11 years of age to 14 years of age.
The Board is proposing to make clarifying amendments to §§ 4.21(e)(1) and (f)(1), 4.22(c)(1) and 4.23(c)(1) to align language that describes the focus of ELA instruction with the structure of the ELA standards in Appendix A-2. These ELA standards took effect in 2014, but parallel technical amendments to align these paragraphs to the organization of the ELA standards in Appendix A-2 were not adopted concurrent with the adoption of the standards. As such, the Board is seeking to make clarifying amendments for consistency with the existing ELA standards to which instruction is to be aligned.
The ELA standards for grades PreK—5 are categorized under five strands as follows: Foundational Skills, Reading Informational Text, Reading Literature, Writing and Speaking and Listening. As such, proposed amendments to § 4.21(e)(1) and (f)(1), that govern curriculum and planned instruction in ELA for elementary education at the primary and intermediate levels, make these paragraphs consistent with the strands in the related standards. Likewise, proposed amendments to §§ 4.22(c)(1) and 4.23(c)(1) align these requirements for ELA instruction at the middle and high school levels, respectively, to the strands under which the ELA standards for grades 6—12 are organized as follows: Reading Informational Text, Reading Literature, Writing and Speaking and Listening.
The Board further is proposing to add new paragraphs to align the requirements for curriculum and planned instruction at the elementary, middle and high school levels with updates to the standards for CEW, as proposed in Appendix E-1. The proposed CEW standards are organized into grade bands that include standards for grades K—2, 3—5, 6—8 and 9—12, while the existing CEW standards include standards only for grades 3, 5, 8 and 11. The Board is proposing to add § 4.21(e)(8) to the requirements for planned instruction at the elementary level to reflect the addition of proposed CEW standards in the K—2 grade band.
The Board also is proposing to amend the requirements for middle level instruction in § 4.22(c)(9) to align with the proposed CEW standards' focus on career awareness, employability skills and work-based learning experiences. The Board is proposing to add § 4.23(c)(9) to the requirements for instruction at the high school level to reflect the expectations for instruction in the CEW standards in this section of the regulation.
The Board also is proposing to add references to personal finance to the requirements for curriculum and planned instruction at the elementary (primary and intermediate) level, middle level and high school level. The proposed addition of §§ 4.21(e)(9) and (f)(9), 4.22(c)(11) and 4.23(c)(10) will align the requirements for curriculum and planned instruction with the academic standards for Personal Finance that are proposed in this proposed rulemaking in Appendix F.
Proposed clarifying amendments to § 4.22(c)(5) and (10) and proposed amendments to § 4.23(c)(5) and (d)(4) align the requirements for planned instruction in technology and engineering at the middle and high school levels with the Pennsylvania Technology and Engineering Standards for grades 6—12 in Appendix B-1. These standards previously were adopted by the Board and published in a final-form rulemaking at 52 Pa.B. 3946 (July 16, 2022). However, amendments to align the related expectations for curriculum and planned instruction were not made at the time these standards were adopted. As such, the Board is seeking to make clarifying amendments to these paragraphs for consistency with the standards to which instruction is to be aligned.
Finally, the Board is proposing to amend the descriptions of curriculum and planned instruction at the middle level in § 4.22(c)(11) and at the high school level in § 4.23(c)(9). Amendments to these sections add a reference to the strand within the proposed FCS standards for Food Science and Nutrition. Proposed amendments to these sections also make a grammatical change to the title of the content area to refer to Family and Consumer Sciences as plural.
§ 4.51a. Pennsylvania System of School Assessment
The Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) is part of the State assessment system that is designed to provide information on student and school performance and to determine the degree to which school programs enable students to attain proficiency of the academic standards in § 4.12. PSSAs are administered in ELA and Mathematics in grades 3—8 and in Science at grades 4 and 8. The Board is proposing to amend subsection (c) to shift the administration of the State's elementary-level science PSSA from grade 4 to grade 5 beginning in the 2025-2026 school year. This shift will align the assessment with the end-of-the-grade band in the academic standards to which the assessment will be aligned.
The Pennsylvania Integrated Standards for Science, Environment, Ecology, Technology and Engineering (Grades K—5) were adopted by the Board and published in a final-form rulemaking at 52 Pa.B. 3946 (July 16, 2022). These standards are published in Appendix B-1 and will take effect in the 2025-2026 school year. The standards are organized in the K—5 grade band with individual grade-level standards for Kindergarten—grade 5 in the domains of Earth and Space Sciences, Life Science, and Physical Science and with standards for the K—2 and 3—5 grade bands in the domains of Environmental Literacy and Sustainability and for Technology and Engineering. In contrast, the former standards for Science and Technology and Environment and Ecology, published in Appendix B, included elementary-level standards at grade 4 only that described what students should know and be able to do by the end of fourth grade. As such, the current elementary-level science PSSA is administered at grade 4, consistent with the grade level at which related standards were adopted.
The proposed shift to administering a Science PSSA at grade 5 will align the assessment with the structure of the new standards. The standards provide a set of grade band endpoints for each domain that describe the developing understanding that students should acquire by the ends of grade 2 and grade 5. Further, resources developed for educators to support the implementation of these standards also are structured to align with the grade bands as organized in the standards.
Affected Parties
This proposed rulemaking would affect public school districts, ACTSs, charter schools and cyber charter schools in this Commonwealth and their employees and students. This proposed rulemaking also will affect the Department and programs that prepare new teachers.
Cost and Paperwork Estimates
This proposed rulemaking will not impose any costs on students. Further, this proposed rulemaking is not anticipated to impose new costs on programs that train new educators. The proposed updated academic standards will act as a guide for reflecting the content of the standards in some courses that educator preparation programs deliver to individuals preparing to become teachers to ensure course content is aligned to current State academic standards. This does not impose a new cost for additional coursework. Rather, the impact on programs that train new teachers may shift the content of some existing courses. The Department will provide educator preparation program faculty with access to implementation supports it will make available to support school entities in implementing the updated CEW, ECON and FCS standards and the new standards for Personal Finance to support this work.
Further, the Board recognizes that school entities typically engage in curriculum review cycles every 5 years to 6 years. Thus, the Board anticipates that efforts to implement the updated and new standards in this proposed rulemaking will be reflected in school entities' existing budgetary practices for curriculum review and updates, therefore becoming part of a traditional cycle for updating school entity resources. As such, this proposed rulemaking does not add new costs insomuch as it refines the focus of current instruction. Additionally, the Department will make numerous resources available at no cost to school entities to support implementation of the standards in this proposed rulemaking, including opportunities for educator professional development, model curriculum and other instructional resources and technical assistance.
Further, Act 35 of 2023 requires school entities to offer a half-credit course in Personal Financial Literacy aligned with personal finance standards in Chapter 4 and requires all students in this Commonwealth to complete the course during grade 9, grade 10, grade 11 or grade 12. Act 35 of 2023 further directed the Board to review and, as necessary, update the existing CEW, ECON and FCS standards, envisioned the inclusion of standards for Personal Finance in Chapter 4 and directed the Department to update its resources and model curriculum related to economic education and personal financial literacy. As such, costs related to the standards updates proposed in this proposed rulemaking also are responsive to the requirements set forth by the General Assembly in Act 35 of 2023.
At the State level, the Board anticipates that this proposed rulemaking will cost approximately $565,300 in total through fiscal year (FY) 2028-2029 to support implementation of this proposed rulemaking. These efforts will include reviewing and updating model curriculum and resources for educators on the Pennsylvania Standards Aligned System (SAS) to align with updates to the academic standards in Chapter 4 and providing technical supports for school entities. These resources will be updated as directed by the General Assembly in Act 35 of 2023. Per Act 35 of 2023, the Department must update these resources no later than the 2025-2026 school year and, in the future, within 1 year of any revisions to these standards.
To support implementation of the proposed updates to the CEW, ECON and FCS standards and the proposed new standards for Personal Finance, the Department will provide educators with access to State-developed resources through the SAS web site, professional learning and ongoing support and consultation. The Department will provide technical assistance through the expertise of its content advisors and additional professional learning through the Statewide System of Support. The Statewide System of Support is deployed through collaboration with the existing network of 29 regional Intermediate Units (I.U.). I.U.s function as regional educational service agencies that are organized geographically to provide supports to schools and to students across the entirety of this Commonwealth. Through its existing staff complement, content advisors within the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education provide support for standards implementation, including updating, aligning and designing resources for school entities and educators. The resources developed by the Department will be curated on the Department's SAS web site for voluntary use by school entities at no cost to school entities.
Below is an estimate of anticipated costs to the State on an annual basis through FY 2028-2029:
FY 2023-2024: There are no costs to State government associated with implementation of this proposed rulemaking during FY 2023-2024 as the Board anticipates that activity during the current fiscal year will involve consideration of proposed and final-form rulemakings through the procedures established in the Regulatory Review Act.
FY 2024-2025: The estimated cost to State government is $145,300. Act 35 of 2023 directs the Department to updates its existing resources and model curriculum related to economic education and personal financial literacy no later than the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year. To meet this time frame, work to develop implementation supports will be concentrated during FY 2024-2025. To support implementation of this proposed rulemaking, in FY 2024-2025 the Department anticipates investing $65,000 in the Statewide System of Support, which provides grants to this Commonwealth's 29 I.U.s to provide educator professional development and technical assistance to school entities within their regions. The Department will work with State and regional I.U. leads to design and execute a ''train-the-trainer'' model and funnel support, materials and resources to school entities at no cost to the school entities. Support for this investment is budgeted from Federal Title II-A professional development funds.
In FY 2024-2025, the Department also anticipates a $42,500 cost to maintain a contract with The Pennsylvania State University for collecting and reporting data relative to financial literacy. The Department intends to expand and repurpose the existing contract to include consultation in the development of materials and resources aligned to the standards in this proposed rulemaking. Support for this investment is budgeted from the Teacher Professional Development line item allocated to the Department of Education in the General Fund.
Finally, in FY 2024-2025, the Department anticipates a $21,000 cost to develop a professional development course for educators to support implementation of the standards in this proposed rulemaking and a $16,800 cost to develop related resources that will be made available to educators on the SAS portal. The professional development course will be delivered online through the Department's professional development center at no cost to educators. The course will be coupled with additional downloadable resources on SAS, such as a curriculum framework, instructional toolkit, lessons and assessments. Support for these investments is budgeted from State assessment funds.
FY 2025-2026: The estimated cost to State government is $112,500, which represents a sustained effort to support State-level resources to assist school entities and educators with implementation of the academic standards in this proposed rulemaking. This includes a $60,000 investment in the Statewide System of Support, a $42,500 investment to maintain the Department's contract with The Pennsylvania State University and a $10,000 investment in the maintenance of SAS resources. These investments will support the delivery of professional learning and technical assistance aligned with the standards in this proposed rulemaking at no cost to educators.
FY 2026-2027: The estimated cost to State government is $107,500, which represents a sustained effort to support State-level resources to assist school entities and educators with implementation of the academic standards in this proposed rulemaking. This includes a $55,000 investment in the Statewide System of Support, a $42,500 investment to maintain the Department's contract with The Pennsylvania State University and a $10,000 investment in the maintenance of SAS resources.
FY 2027-2028: The estimated cost to State government is $102,500, which represents a sustained effort to support State-level resources to assist school entities and educators with implementation of the academic standards in this proposed rulemaking. This includes a $50,000 investment in the Statewide System of Support, a $42,500 investment to maintain the Department's contract with The Pennsylvania State University and a $10,000 investment in the maintenance of SAS resources.
FY 2028-2029: The estimated cost to State government is $97,500, which represents a sustained effort to support State-level resources to assist school entities and educators with implementation of the academic standards in this proposed rulemaking. This includes a $45,000 investment in the Statewide System of Support, a $42,500 investment to maintain the Department's contract with The Pennsylvania State University and a $10,000 investment in the maintenance of SAS resources.
Effective Date
This proposed rulemaking will become effective upon final-form publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
Sunset Date
The Board will review the effectiveness of Chapter 4 periodically in accordance with the Board's policy and practice respecting all of its regulations and in accordance with the expectations for the periodic review of academic standards set forth in § 4.12(i). Thus, no sunset date is necessary, other than sunset dates previously described for certain provisions of Appendix C and Appendix D and the entirety of Appendix B and Appendix E.
Regulatory Review
Under section 5(a) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P.S. § 745.5(a)), on May 21, 2024, the Board submitted a copy of this proposed rulemaking and a copy of a Regulatory Analysis Form to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) and to the chairperson of the Committee on Education of the Senate and the chairperson of the Committee on Education of the House of Representatives. A copy of this material is available to the public upon request.
Under section 5(g) of the Regulatory Review Act, IRRC may convey any comments, recommendations or objections to this proposed rulemaking within 30 days of the close of the public comment period. The comments, recommendations or objections must specify the regulatory review criteria in section 5.2 of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P.S. § 745.5b) which have not been met. The Regulatory Review Act specifies detailed procedures for review, prior to final publication of the rulemaking, by the Board, the General Assembly and the Governor.
Public Comments and Contact Person
Interested persons and individuals affiliated with small businesses are invited to submit written comments, questions, suggestions, recommendations, concerns or objections regarding this proposed rulemaking to Karen Molchanow, Executive Director, State Board of Education, 333 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17126, ra-stateboardofed@pa.gov. Comments must be submitted to the Board within 30 days of publication of this notice of proposed rulemaking in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
Persons with disabilities needing an alternative means of providing public comment may make arrangements by calling the Board at (717) 787-3787 or through the Pennsylvania Hamilton Relay Service at (800) 654-5984 (TDD) or (800) 654-5988 (voice users) to discuss how the Board may accommodate their needs.
KAREN MOLCHANOW,
Executive DirectorFiscal Note: 6-354. No fiscal impact; recommends adoption.
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