Education stakeholders take part in Virtual Town Hall Meeting

Downingtown, PA – On November 1, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., intermediate units across Pennsylvania – including the

Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU) – served as local host sites for the “Making the Grade Virtual Town Hall Meeting on Effective Teaching.” The CCIU site for the virtual town hall meeting was the Educational Service Center in Downingtown.

In schools across Pennsylvania, administrators and teachers are working to strengthen supports for effective teaching in our classrooms. One important emerging strategy is a new approach to teacher evaluation that is designed to improve educator practice and student achievement in all our schools.

According to Rina Vassallo, Ed.D., Director of Teaching and Learning for CCIU, the virtual town hall meeting on November 1 was a statewide videoconference event connecting superintendents, school board members, teachers, parents, business and higher education leaders, legislators and others concerned about public education in the commonwealth.

“During the meeting, educators in schools where new evaluation systems are being piloted, along with PA Education Secretary Ron Tomalis, led a discussion about the impact their efforts are having on teachers and students,” said Dr. Vassallo.

Those who attended the meeting were provided with important and useful information on elements of effective teaching and had the opportunity to have questions answered surrounding the second phase of the PDE pilot for a new teacher evaluation system and its impact on improving student achievement.

The event is part of a statewide effort sponsored by the Pennsylvania Association of Intermediate Units (PAIU) and Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children (PPC).

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