Teachers: [Receive Act 48 credits through the PNA Foundation.]
The Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Foundation is approved as a professional education provider with the Pennsylvania Department of Education's Division of Professional Development with the stipulation that Act 48 hours are related to professional education assignments.
Many Pennsylvania NIE coordinators hold workshops and trainings for the express purpose of training their school district's teachers and administrators about NIE programming and its many benefits for their students. These workshops or professional educational experiences may count toward meeting the Chapter 49 Teacher Certification Standards if certain guidelines are adhered to while developing and delivering your training workshops.
In the PNA Foundation's approval are guidelines that must be followed. Each professional education experience:
- Is related to attainment of the Pennsylvania academic standards and high quality instruction.
- Is planned in response to a need of the school entity and its professional employees, which has been identified for a target audience.
- Has clear and concise written content and skill-based competencies.
- Includes content and instructional methods that are appropriate for the intended competencies to be mastered.
- Is planned and conducted by personnel who have an academic degree or other education and experience appropriate to the subject matter being taught.
- Is research-based, data-driven and contributes to measurable increases in student achievement.
- Provides sufficient support and resources over time to enable individuals to master new skills.
- Contributes to building learning communities and continuous improvement.
- Requires that participants demonstrate attainment of the competencies.
- Is evaluated by the participants.
