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District outlines TeachTown purchase to support PASA students in life-skills classrooms
Summary
Eastern York’s special-education supervisor told the board the district plans to buy 25 TeachTown student licenses and accompanying teacher materials to instruct students eligible for the Pennsylvania Alternate System of Assessment (PASA); the initial, budgeted cost shown was $15,660.
Rachel Rogers, the district’s supervisor of special education, presented an overview of the Pennsylvania Alternate System of Assessment and a proposed curriculum purchase aimed at students who take the PASA.
“PASA stands for the Pennsylvania Alternate System of Assessment,” Rogers said, explaining that PASA assesses students with the most significant cognitive disabilities using hands-on, one-on-one tasks rather than the standard PSSA or Keystone tests.
Rogers told the board the district plans to use TeachTown, a K–12 adapted core curriculum, in middle- and high-school life-skills classrooms the district is taking back from the intermediate unit. “Year 1 is 25 student licenses,” Rogers said, and the packet lists a first-year cost of $15,660 that covers teacher manuals, student workbooks, manipulatives and asynchronous training videos. Rogers said the purchase is already budgeted in special education funds tied to the district’s decision to resume operation of life-skills classrooms previously run by the IU.
TeachTown materials are described in the presentation as aligning to PASA standards, addressing both academic and functional life-skills (making a bed, daily routines, job skills) and providing teacher-led and technology-supported lessons, data collection and student profiles. Rogers told the board TeachTown reports a roughly 69% average academic growth from pretest to posttest in aggregate program data since 2019; Rogers described that percentage as an average reported by the vendor.
Board members asked about implementation, classroom counts and licensing. Rogers said the 25 licenses were sized to cover existing middle- and high-school life-skills students and that additional licenses can be added if enrollment increases. If the board approves purchase, Rogers said the district would aim to implement the program at the start of the school year.
Clarifying details: initial contract year one includes 25 student licenses, teacher manuals for middle and high school, student workbooks, manipulatives and training access; year-two costs are primarily license renewals (presentation listed roughly $348 per student for recurring license access). The program was presented as a replacement for curriculum previously supplied by the intermediate unit; the board did not vote on purchasing during this meeting.
