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    A Roadmap for Education Leaders

    Accelerated Learning Through An Integrated System of Support

    As we plan for the 2021-22 school year, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), PA Intermediate Units (IUs) and Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) provide this resource bank for school leaders with the goal of helping teachers, support staff, families, and students emerge from these unprecedented times and start a new school year stronger than ever and focused on accelerating learning .

    To offer support, we turn our focus to these critical needs and opportunities and offer a new phase of the Roadmap: Accelerated Learning through an Integrated System of Support.

    This new series provides a systematic process and technical support for school communities to make key decisions for the start of the new year. It introduces a Cycle of Continuous Improvement mindset that will lead to strategic vision, needs assessment, planning, implementation, monitoring, and adjusting. Most importantly, each system supports the success of the others.

    Please select the bold headers to access resources and tools specific to each topic. 

    The Accelerated Learning System

    Accelerated Learning Webinar Series Resources

    Aligned to the Accelerated Learning System, the Accelerated Learning Webinar Series offers tools, resources, and professional development activities designed to support Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in making decisions and planning for the start of the 2021-22 school year. The webinars extend the work started in the Roadmap for Educational Leaders series, and focuses on supporting districts as they honor lessons learned during the 2020-21 school year and work to accelerate student learning while continuing to navigate the pandemic. Webinar recordings and associated materials are available below.

    Watch re​corded Accelerated Learning webinars (YouTube)

    Gathering and using staff perspectives on working conditions

    Learn about approaches to better understanding educator and staff views on school climate and working conditions. These include surveys, focus groups, and one-on-one conversations. The workshop will introduce suggested tools and resources, and address how to analyze and apply the quantitative and qualitative data gathered about staff perspectives.

    Career growth opportunities

    Strategic educator retention often includes opportunities for educators to expand to leadership and/or decision-making roles. Beyond aiding with retention, these roles can support school and LEA priorities. This workshop will explore a variety of career growth opportunities and approaches to ensure that all qualified educators have access to such opportunities.

    Supporting positive relationships among colleagues and with leaders

    Large-scale surveys of teachers show that the top factors affecting decisions to stay in or leave a teaching position include the quality of collegial relationships and of relationships with school leaders. Facilitating positive and supportive relationships involves complex and long-term work. This workshop will address approaches to supporting such relationships in schools.

    Enhancing LEA Recruitment Websites

    Using an overview of effective practices, self-assessment checklist, and analysis of exemplar websites, participants will broaden their knowledge of how to enhance a school/LEA employment website. Participants will consider what information to prioritize for their audience of likely applicants and how to communicate it through a clear, engaging and easily accessible site.

    Developing/Enhancing Social Recruitment Through Social Media and Use of Current Staff

    Whether participants already have a long-term social media recruitment strategy or have never used social media for educator recruitment, this session can provide ideas and examples. Participants can learn how to leverage their current staff and various social media outlets to broaden recruitment. The session will include additional considerations for those with a budget available for social media recruitment, though most suggestions will not require a budget.

    Creating Job Descriptions to Attract Your Best-Fit General Education Teacher Candidates

    Often, the details in a posted job description present an applicant's first impression of a school or LEA. The job openings that are posted on LEA sites and/or on popular educator job search platforms vary widely in content, detail and quality. In this session, participants will consider how to apply effective practices and examples to make their posted job descriptions more likely to make a positive first impression for their target candidates.

    Creating Special Educator Job Descriptions to Attract Your Best-Fit Candidates

    Recruiting candidates for special education roles can be especially challenging. Often, the details in a posted job description present a special education applicant's first impression of a school or LEA. This session will include some of the basic practices from Session 3, but tailor the suggested practices so that job descriptions can better attract special education candidates—for example, by showing how the school will support and promote collaboration for special educators.

    Implementing/Refining a Uniform Teacher Interview Process That Aligns With District Priorities

    Participants will use a self-assessment checklist and examples to consider where they might change LEA-wide interview processes for teachers. Specifically, the session will include: selection of uniform questions; use of back-up or prompting questions; and development of an interview rubric.

    Implementing/Refining the Use of Demonstration Lessons

    LEAs that want to begin using demonstration lessons in the hiring process—or that aim to rethink their use of demonstration lessons—can use an overview of effective practices and exemplar tools in this session. Specifically, the session will focus on establishing uniform protocols for demonstration lessons and developing a rubric to evaluate demonstration lessons.

    Implementing/Refining a Uniform School Leader Interview Process That Aligns with District Priorities

    Participants will use a self-assessment checklist and examples to consider where they might change LEA-wide interview processes for school leaders. Specifically, the session will include: selection of uniform questions; use of back-up or prompting questions; and development of an interview rubric.

    Social Emotional Wellness: Data into Practice

    This session examines data usage and practices through a lens of a continuous cycle of improvement for schools. Types of data, goal setting, and action planning are discussed.

    Pa Youth Survey- Preliminary Highlights Report

    Review of the history, data use and application, and introduction to the 2021 PAYS Preliminary Report.

    Social Emotional Wellness: Social-Emotional Practices in Action

    This session highlights how social-emotional practices can be implemented into a school setting. Examples include development of trauma leadership team, SEL in physical education, and SEL and employability skills.