Skip to agency navigation
Skip to main content

Official Website

of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

    The .gov means its official.

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 
    State Board of Education

    Regulations

    The State Board of Education works closely with the Department of Education, state policymakers, educators, and other interested stakeholders to review, develop and adopt regulations that govern significant components of both basic and higher education in the Commonwealth.

    Here you will find information about regulations currently under review by the Board.

    Chapter 4 (Academic Standards and Assessment)

    Academic Standards for Arts and Humanities and Academic Standards for Health, Safety and Physical Education

    The Board's Committee on Academic Standards/Chapter 4 (Committee) is designated by the State Board of Education (Board) to oversee issues related to academic standards and assessment that are governed by the regulations at 22 Pa. Code Chapter 4 and to recommend amendments to Chapter 4.

    The Committee has been leading periodic reviews of the academic standards that are promulgated by the Board in Chapter 4.  The next sets of standards that the Committee will open for review are the Academic Standards for Arts and Humanities and the Academic Standards for Health, Safety and Physical Education.

    At its meeting on November 13, 2024, the Committee requested that the Department of Education serve in partnership to support this effort by engaging educators and other content experts in an initial review of the standards.  Through that consultation with external stakeholders, the Committee requested that the Department develop recommendations on whether the standards should be revised and, if so, formulate draft amendments to the standards for consideration by the Committee.

    A memo that reflects the Committee's request of the Department. (PDF)

    Academic Standards for Personal Finance, Academic Standards for Career Education and Work, Academic Standards for Economics & Academic Standards for Family and Consumer Sciences

    The Board approved final-form amendments to 22 Pa. Code Chapter 4 (Academic Standards and Assessments) in September of 2024.  These final-form amendments are scheduled to be considered by the Independent Regulatory Review Commission on December 5, 2024.

    The final-form amendments to Chapter 4 establish new Academic Standards for Personal Finance and make updates to three sets of current academic standards (Career Education and Work, Economics, and Family and Consumer Sciences).  The final-form amendments also shift the administration of the state’s elementary-level Science assessment from grade 4 to grade 5, require school entities to post various strategic plans on their websites, and make other technical amendments throughout the Chapter.

    The five documents below collectively comprise the final-form rulemaking that was adopted by the Board:

    This final-form rulemaking was informed by input from interested stakeholders and from members of the General Assembly, as well as by recommendations formed by standards review content committees that were convened at the outset of the review process.

    Below are reports and recommendations developed the standards review content committees at the request of the Board:

    Pennsylvania Career Education and Work, Economics, Family and Consumer Sciences, and Personal Finance Standards Recommendations of the Content Committees (July 2023) (PDF)

    Updated Report to the Chapter 4 Committee (November 2023) (PDF)

    Chapter 16 (Gifted Education)

    In September 2022, the Board's Committee on Special and Gifted Education (Committee) announced that it would open 22 Pa. Code Chapter 16 (Gifted Education) for review. Section 16.6(c) of the regulation establishes that the Board will review the Chapter at least every four years to ensure its consistent interpretation and application.

    The Board's last review of Chapter 16 was commenced in the fall of 2018 and, at the culmination of that process, the Committee endorsed a series of recommendations to improve gifted education for students in the Commonwealth. To inform its review of Chapter 16, the Committee invited the Department of Education to make a presentation on the status of implementing recommendations previously endorsed by the Committee. The status update presented by the Department in September of 2022 can be found here: 2019 Committee Recommendations for PA Gifted Education (PDF)

    The Committee invited interested stakeholders to provide perspectives on gifted education at three public roundtables during the fall of 2022. Roundtables were held in Central Pennsylvania (October 20), Western Pennsylvania (October 25), and Eastern Pennsylvania (October 27) using a hybrid virtual and in-person format.  In addition to hearing from interested stakeholders at these public roundtables, the Committee also accepted comments on gifted education in writing through the end of October 2022.  This stakeholder input was reviewed and considered by the Committee. 

    The Committee met on July 12, 2023, and adopted recommendations that are intended to improve the delivery of gifted education services and provide greater clarity to the field on the application of the current regulations in Chapter 16.  The Committee's recommendation can be found here: Gifted Education Recommendations (PDF)