Avon Grove pauses health curriculum rewrite as district shifts to new STeELS science standards

Avon Grove School District officials said they will pause planned updates to the district'ads health curriculum after the Pennsylvania Department of Education announced a statewide review and upcoming changes to health standards. At the same meeting, Dr. Berardi, the district'as supervisor overseeing science and related curriculum work, gave a progress report on implementing the new science, technology, engineering and environmental literacy and sustainability (STeELS) standards and the district'as schedule for classroom rollout and assessments.

The district stopped short of completing local health-standard writing because PDE has started a formal review of health standards that were last updated in 2002. District staff told the committee that pausing local writing will avoid duplicative work and ensure any locally written materials align with the state'as revised expectations. Staff also said an Avon Grove teacher applied to serve on the state review team.

Dr. Berardi told the committee STeELS was published by the state in July 2022 with an implementation expectation for the 2025'ad26 school year. He described STeELS as a three'addimensional approach—disciplinary core ideas (content), engineering practices (what students do) and crosscutting concepts (how students think). He said the district began selecting resources and introducing three'addimensional strategies in 2023'ad24, integrated the new resource in 2024'ad25, and is slated for full integration and assessment in 2025'ad26. Grade'adlevel professional learning, PLCs and assessment-planning days were cited as part of this transition.

On testing, Dr. Berardi said PSSA assessments this year will use the new STeELS-aligned items, while Keystone exams administered this spring are still aligned to the prior Keystone standards; full Keystone alignment to the new standards is expected in the 2025'ad26 school year. He advised the board to expect a possible implementation dip statewide when tests switch formats, and said teachers are preparing to adjust instruction and assessment to the new three'addimensional expectations.

Board members asked about instructional materials and balance in classroom resources. One board member raised a concern after reviewing a new resource, saying it "leans heavily toward climate change is undeniable," and asked that the district maintain a balanced approach. Dr. Berardi responded that the district'as approved resource is intended to support the curriculum—and that teachers may supplement materials at their discretion (for example, with Discovery Education through the Chester County Intermediate Unit). He emphasized the classroom shift toward students exploring observable phenomena and engaging in sense-making rather than receiving content only by lecture.

What this means going forward: the health curriculum writing is on hold pending the state review; the science curriculum is in the final local phases before full implementation in 2025'ad26, including field testing in grades 5 and 8 and professional learning around three-dimensional assessment and classroom practices. Staff said they will monitor results from this spring'as field testing and adjust local instruction and materials as needed.

Provenance: The reporting above is based on the district presentation introducing Dr. Berardi's update and the concluding portion of his remarks about STeELS implementation and assessment.