As part of Edulink’s ongoing effort to communicate updates from the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) and subsequent updates to PAETEP, we wanted to provide LEAs with an understanding of who is required to complete a Student Performance Measure (SPM) and Individualized Education Program (IEP) Goals Progress template.

Student Performance Measure (LEA Selected Measure)

Under Act 13, all tenured teachers (Professional Employees) must complete an LEA Selected Measure. With the implementation of Act 13, most districts are using the new SPM template as their teachers’ LEA Selected Measure.

  • The SPM template has been built into PAETEP so that teachers can complete it electronically and submit it to their supervisor for review.
  • PDE is encouraging LEAs to use the SPM template in place of the SLO template. However, SLOs may still be used as part of the LEA Selected Measure requirement. It is a LEA decision.
  • The final score earned by the teacher on the LEA Selected Measure (i.e., SPM) will constitute at least 10% of a teacher’s final summative score on the 13-1 form.
  • The completion of an LEA Selected Measure (i.e., SPM) is required of all tenured teachers (Professional Employees) and is independent of the requirement to complete an IEP Goals Progress template. The requirement for a tenured teacher to complete an IEP Goals Progress template is dependent upon the LEA’s established ‘n count.’

IEP Goals Progress

Under Act 13, the IEP Goals Progress is a new template that some tenured teachers (Professional Employees) may be required to complete.

  • The IEP Goals Progress template has been built into PAETEP so that tenured teachers, if needed, can complete it electronically and submit it to their supervisor for review.
  • A teacher should consult their LEA and the established ‘n count’ to determine if they are required to complete an IEP Goals Progress at the beginning of each school year.
  • If required by a tenured teacher to complete, the final score from the IEP Goals Progress will constitute at least 2.5% of a teacher’s final summative score on the 13-1 form (that is, within the Teacher Specific Data Rating section of the 13-1 form).

Note: The completion of an IEP Goals Progress template is independent of the LEA Selected Measure (i.e., SPM). That is, teachers who are required to complete an IEP Goals Progress template are also required to complete an LEA Selected Measure (i.e., SPM).

Note: According to Act 13, Chapter 19 provides for local flexibility in establishing an ‘n count,’ below which a classroom teacher will not be evaluated on students’ progress in meeting IEP goals. Should an LEA choose to establish a minimum number (n count) for students with similar IEP Goals:

  1. The ‘n count’ may not exceed 11, the ‘n count’ used by PDE for determining growth under PVAAS.
  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% 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 a grade-level cohort or correlate to all students within a subject area rather than a single class or course taught by the teacher.

Learn More: PDE Overview and Examples of SPM / IEP

Contact us to learn more about PAETEP and the SPM/IEP Module!

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