CSC Year in Review

CSC At-a-Glance 2022-2023

Participants Served by CSC by Type of Service, 2022-2023

CSC provided meetings or trainings to 12,015 participants which was 24.8% of our services for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.

6,040 participants attended our conferences which was 12.4% of our services for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.

CSC provided technical assistance to 5,221 participants which was 10.8% of our services for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.

Please note “other” includes activities such as school assessments, ad hoc meetings, SWAN information line calls, awareness and outreach, and publications.

Professional Learning 2022-2023 Highlights

CSC develops and offers a wide range of research-based online and in-person professional learning opportunities, including workshops, multi-session courses, conferences and certifications.

Discussing trends, successes and challenges in serving schools, community and families. In 2023, CSC Director Shileste Overton Morris began hosting monthly discussions with subject experts from CSC and beyond to examine issues facing schools, communities and families and understand how CSC is transforming lives. Conversations addressed topics such as “Supporting School Resource Officers” (February), “A Strengths-based Approach to Child Well-being” (April); and “Supporting Migrant Students’ Academic Success” (June). In 2022-2023, there were more than 400 views of the Discussions with the Director videos. #ServiceToOthers

Building leadership among Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Center staff. Pennsylvania’s Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21CCLC) provide academic, artistic and cultural enrichment opportunities for children, particularly students who attend high-poverty and low-performing schools. The Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Excellence in Leadership Certification course builds leaders in 21CCLCs to effectively lead and motivate others, create and maintain a positive workplace culture, demonstrate emotional intelligence, and overcome leadership challenges. Including the nine graduates of the course in 2023, CSC has graduated 79 leaders since 2020. #PassionForExcellence

Finding common ground to support student and educator well-being. Nearly 300 educators, counselors and administrators attended the 2023 National Social and Emotional Learning Conference to explore strategies to help students practice self-awareness, self-discipline and healthy relationships to promote student academic and mental well-being. One attendee shared, “This was a fantastic workshop both for concept and big thinking to hands-on activities. Would recommend it to anyone working in schools.” #EquityInAction CPSEL.org

Successfully shifting Parent Cafes from virtual to in-person. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many Parent Cafes shifted to online. Parent Cafes are fun parent and caregiver-centered events that engage participants in important discussions about what matters most to their families and strategies that support the use of Strengthening Families Protective Factors to help their families thrive. In order to support more than 75 local Parent Cafe teams across Pennsylvania, the Family Support team delivered three in-person Cafe Crossover workshops to prepare teams to shift to delivering Parent Cafes in person. Feedback from the course was positive, with one participant noting “Interactive activities provided hands-on learning, The group dynamics was great. Trainers—awesome!” #ServiceToOthers PAStrengtheningFamilies.org

Hosting the first Pennsylvania Refugee Education Summit. Center for Schools and Communities coordinated the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s first Refugee Education Training Summit for more than 200 educators. Presenting organizations included the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants; Child Trends (one of the nation’s leading research organizations on children and youth); and organizations committed to the education of refugee children and youth such as Global Village Project and Switchboard. #EquityInAction

Custom Products and Services 2022-2023 Highlights

CSC delivers a wide range of customized products and services to schools, community-based organizations, state government departments and institutions of higher education. These products and services are designed to meet client needs and strengthen systems that support positive outcomes for children, youth, families and communities.

Managing and upgrading data systems to support services to families. Each year, schools, community organizations and families must provide information to the commonwealth to receive eligible services. Center for Schools and Communities designed and manages data systems for Pennsylvania’s home visiting programs (Parents as Teachers, Children’s Trust Fund, Strengthening Families), Education Leading to Employment and Career Training (ELECT), and Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT), housing more than 1,524,459 school, community, family and student records. In 2022-2023, CSC upgraded the ELECT data system to increase security and streamline data management. #InnovationForGrowth

Making more than 5,000 resources easily accessible to children and youth experiencing homelessness and their families. In partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, CSC’s Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness (ECYEH) team launched the “Finding Your Way in PA” app, a mobile and desktop app designed for students experiencing homelessness and their families to locate essential resources in their communities. Through outreach by regional coordinators and community leaders, there were more than 9,500 users of the app in 2022-2023.
#InnovationForGrowth

Releasing enhanced curriculum to improve children’s problem-solving skills. Research on I Can Problem Solve (ICPS) has demonstrated the effectiveness of the program in reducing impulsivity and improving students’ social skills and problem-solving skills. In partnership with the late Myrna B. Shure, CSC staff co-authored the new I Can Problem Solve Pre-kindergarten and Kindergarten curriculum. The third edition combines the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten curricula, additional activities for children and resources for teachers. #PassionForExcellence

Recognizing high school students, legislators among leaders as 2022 PSAYDN Afterschool Champions. Pennsylvania Statewide Afterschool Youth Development Network (PSAYDN) recognized its 2022 Afterschool Champions at the 2022 EMPOWER, Pennsylvania’s Out-of-School Time Conference. Eleven individuals and organizations were celebrated as champions for demonstrating outstanding work in developing, supporting and promoting high-quality afterschool and out-of-school time programs. The awards align with PSAYDN’s mission to promote sustainable, high-quality out-of-school time youth development programs through advocacy and capacity building to enhance the welfare of Pennsylvania’s children, youth and families. #ServiceToOthers

Drafting STEM Education Policy Memo for governor. Pennsylvania Statewide Afterschool Youth Development Network (PSAYDN), in partnership with the Pennsylvania Statewide STEM Ecosystem (PSSE) Grant, co-authored the first STEM Education Policy Memo for the Shapiro-Davis Administration. The memo focused on the Science, Technology and Engineering, Environmental Literacy and Sustainability (STEELS) standards implementation. The memo was distributed to the administration, Pennsylvania Department of Education officials and STEM ecosystems statewide. #PassionForExcellence

Intermediary Services 2022-2023 Highlights

CSC serves as an intermediary organization, convening, facilitating and coordinating subject-driven meetings, educational advocacy events and professional learning conferences, and symposiums and forums. These opportunities strive to raise awareness, increase knowledge, build skills and facilitate change.

Providing strategies to support teen parents nationwide. In October, Pennsylvania’s Education Leading to Employment and Career Training (ELECT) team presented a workshop at the 32nd Annual National Dropout Prevention Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, entitled “Real Talk: Supporting Teen Parents on the Road to Educational Success.” Approximately 40 participants from across the nation attended. ELECT supports schools and school districts to provide a consistent educational experience for pregnant and parenting teens so they can stay and do well in school. #PassionForExcellence

Sharing best practices, stories of homelessness and hope. In partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, CSC’s Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness (ECYEH) team launched the “I Will Be Your Voice: Stories of Homelessness and Hope” podcast in March 2023. Hosts have conversations with practitioners and thought leaders about successes and challenges in supporting students experiencing homelessness. The goal of the podcast is to help practitioners better serve their communities in supporting students and families experiencing homelessness. In 2022-23, episodes were downloaded 423 times. #EquityInAction

Creating professional learning space for educators to engage in critical analysis to increase outcomes for multilingual learners. Approximately 800 educators, administrators and others from 30 different states and seven countries registered for the 2022 English Language Development Professional Learning Conference: Increasing Opportunities, Advancing Equity. Themes included instructional practices, education data use, educational policy and leadership, and social justice education. Keynote presenters were especially popular, including Helaine W. Marshall, Ph.D., professor of education and director of Language Education Programs, Long Island University – Hudson Campus, who discussed reframing the conversation about SLIFE: achievement gap or cultural dissonance? #EquityInAction

Bringing attention to educational stability for children experiencing foster care. In partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, CSC launched a campaign to celebrate May as Pennsylvania Foster Care Awareness Month to raise awareness of the more than 21,000 children in Pennsylvania experiencing foster care and ways that we can support their successful academic careers. More than 1,000 individuals across Pennsylvania participated in the campaign which included a webinar, “Exiting Foster Care: A Successful Transition to Adulthood,” Discussions with the Director video interview and a campaign toolkit with social posts and informational material. #PassionForExcellence

Celebrating migrant students graduating high school to pursue higher education, military and careers. More than 200 students graduated from Pennsylvania’s Migrant Education Program in May 2023, many of whom attended the graduation ceremony. More than 75% of graduates have plans to attend post-secondary education. Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) Executive Deputy Secretary Angela Fitterer shared congratulations to students, staff and partners, “PDE thanks the field staff, school districts, intermediate units, and community partners who make this program possible; we applaud the families of these students who support them; and we celebrate the graduates who worked so hard for this achievement.” HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, offered 10 scholarships of $2,000 each for graduates attending HACC in the fall. #EquityInAction

Matching children and youth with adoptive families. The Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network (SWAN) hosted a Family Matching Reception at the Winter 2023 SWAN meeting. More than 660 families and professionals from 60 agencies participated. One family specifically commented, “I got to search for kids who weren’t on the AdoptPAKids website yet.” Source: Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network #ServiceToOthers

Support Services 2022-2023 Highlights

CSC provides in-depth support for the successful implementation and operation of school- and community-based programs. This support includes subject matter technical assistance, tools and resources.

Increasing awareness and use of behavioral threat assessments in schools. Nearly 300 educators, administrators, law enforcement officials and community leaders attended the 2022 School Safety Summit and heard from “Trigger Points” author Mark Follman about the value of early intervention and the emerging field of behavioral threat assessments. In 2022-2023, Center for Safe Schools conducted 68 assessments which helped schools meet the state mandates for behavioral health and school climate and develop strategies to support school safety. Common themes resulting from the assessments included the need for teacher retention, student mental health concerns, door-locking practices, and visitor management systems. #ServiceToOthers

Celebrating a champion who helps children learn how to think. Center for the Promotion of Social and Emotional Learning and I Can Problem Solve awarded Alice Ray, co-founder and board chair of Ripple Effects, the 2023 Myrna B. Shure Lifetime Achievement Award. “All parents want their kids to feel safe, they want them to feel like they belong, and they want them to have competency skills to navigate their way in the world, a world that is changing faster than it’s ever changed before,” stated Ray when receiving the award at the 2023 National Social and Emotional Learning Conference. “[Social and emotional learning is simply] giving kids the skills and the relationship sturdiness, the frameworks to thrive, period.” #InnovationForGrowth

Ranking among best in the nation for Parents as Teachers programs. As the state office for the Pennsylvania Parents as Teachers (PAT) program, CSC develops, supports and sustains high quality PAT Affiliate programs in the commonwealth. Research by the Parents as Teachers National Center demonstrates that affiliates supported by strong state offices tend to meet more essential requirements than those without state offices. In fact, its Parents as Teachers annual Affiliate Performance Report indicated that Pennsylvania’s 55 PAT affiliates met the highest number of model essential requirements compared to other states’ programs that also have a state office. #PassionForExcellence