Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) Candidate Competencies for PK-4 Education

I. Development, Cognition, and Learning

Candidates will be able to:

  1. Curriculum: Develop, implement, assess and modify curriculum and lessons. 
  2. Social: Apply principles in social competence, social withdrawal, and social role. 
  3. Pre K – 4 education foundation, theory, and policy
  4. Child development theory: Effectively apply the principles and theories of child development. 
  5. Early childhood theory: Implement lessons based on early childhood education foundations, theory and policy.
  6. PA Early Learning Standards: Demonstrate proficiency with Pennsylvania’s early childhood learning standards, which is the framework that guides young children’s learning, and how these approaches influence curriculum in positive ways.
  7. Classroom environment: Demonstrate understanding of the way in which classroom environments influence children’s learning.
  8. Behavior: Demonstrate knowledge of how to observe children and record behavior in a variety of settings in order to understand the meaning and degree of variation and exceptionality among individuals.
  9. Diversity: Plan, implement and adapt, for all children, developmentally, culturally and linguistically appropriate instructional practices and strategies. 

II. Subject Matter Pedagogy Content

A. Language development

  1. Develop, implement, assess and modify curriculum and lessons.
  2. Develop and deliver lessons for language comprehension and expression skills directly related to early literacy.
  3. Develop spoken language skills.
  4. Develop lessons on language comprehension and expression skills as a basis for learning to read.  
  5. Develop, deliver and evaluate phonological development lessons.
  6. Address difficulties involving phonological awareness, memory, and retrieval.
  7. Build and reinforce relationships between early spoken language and early pre-literacy abilities and consider influences of parent-child interactions in early shared storybook interactions.
  8. Teach children to use tactile-kinesthetic and auditory cues in reading and writing.
  9. Analyze how the language demands of textbooks, academic talk, and curriculum may stress a student's capabilities at different age and grade levels.

B. Early literacy foundations

  1. Research
  2. Word Level Instruction
  3. Text Level Comprehension
  4. Reading-Writing Connections
  5. Instructional Approaches and Materials
  6. Assessment of Literacy

C. Early math foundations

  1. Number and Operations 
  2. Algebra
  3. Geometry
  4. Measurement
  5. Instructional Approaches and Materials
  6. Data Analysis and Probability

D. Science

  1. Develop, implement, assess and modify curriculum and lessons
  2. Standards: Apply their knowledge of established local, Pennsylvania, and national standards (e.g., those published by the National Science Education Teachers Association, the PA Academic Standards, etc.) and incorporate those standards in their teaching.
  3. PA Early standards: Understand and know Pennsylvania’s Pre K-4 learning standards for environment and ecology.
  4. Physical sciences: Demonstrate an understanding of the nature of science by specific applications to the physical sciences.
  5. Life sciences: Demonstrate an understanding the nature of science by specific applications to the life sciences.
  6. Earth and space sciences investigations: Demonstrate an understanding of the nature of science, applied to earth and space sciences.
  7. Science and Inquiry: Build science instruction that is based on strategies that involve first-hand exploration and  investigation and inquiry/process skills.

E. Social studies

  1. Develop, implement, assess and modify curriculum and lessons as evidenced by their ability to apply the standards and thematic strands of social studies as identified by the National Council for the Social Studies.
  2. Principles
  3. Citizenship
  4. Geography 
  5. History
  6. Economics
  7. Civics and Government

F. Arts and humanities

G. Motor development and health 

III. Assessment

Candidates will be able to:

  1. Identify, administer, interpret and plan instruction based on each of the assessment components in a standards aligned system.
  2. Demonstrate an understanding of the types of assessments used (e.g., screening, diagnostic, formative, summative) and the purpose of each assessment in a data-based decision making process.
  3. Effectively use systematic observations, documentation and other effective assessment strategies.
  4. Establish, develop and sustain the assessment partnerships with families and other professionals.
  5. Identify, define and interpret the types of valid and reliable education assessments and their uses including screening, diagnostic, formative, summative and authentic.
  6. Implement approaches to child assessment.
  7. Demonstrate the use of formal and informal assessment data for instructional, behavioral and possible eligibility decisions based on the type of assessment, level of the students being assessed, and the point and quality of instruction.
  8. Demonstrate an understanding of the multi-disciplinary evaluation process and an ability to articulate the findings presented in an evaluation report.
  9. Demonstrate an understanding of the components of the IEP process. 
  10. Articulate differences between achievement tests, aptitude tests, and observational data. 
  11. Create an instructional plan using assessment information related to individual student achievement.
  12. Analyze and interpret formative assessment.
  13. Demonstrate an understanding of the purpose and intent of standardized assessments and progress monitoring. 
  14. Systematically monitor student performance to best identify areas of need.
  15. Use evaluative data on an individual, class and district level to implement instructional and/or programmatic revisions.
  16. Demonstrate an understanding of legally acceptable modifications and accommodations for assessment.
  17. Demonstrate an understanding of ethical practice for assessment.
  18. Recognize the need to consult with multi-disciplinary team.

IV. Family and Community Collaboration Partnerships

  1. Early childhood education candidates know family systems and the role of families in children’s development.
  2. Early childhood candidates must know strategies for becoming cross-culturally competent.
  3. Candidates must know and understand strategies to partner with families.
  4. Candidates will articulate strategies that link families to community resources.

V. Professionalism

Candidates understand the value of and strategies for creating a community of learners. They will be able to:

  1. Establish and maintain a positive social context for learning.
  2. Set developmentally, culturally, linguistically and individually appropriate expectations for children.
  3. Relate to, communicate with, develop and sustain partnerships with families.
  4. Develop and foster understanding of values that underpin procedures, rules and expectations.
  5. Respond to children’s emotional communications.
  6. Respond to children’s cultural context for understanding their actions and intentions.
  7. Individualize behavior support including the use of prompting, environmental arrangements, scheduling, visual supports, involving families and outside resources.
  8. Help children develop self and emotional regulation.
  9. Communicate high learning expectations.
  10. Use developmentally appropriate motivational techniques.
  11. Establish and maintain fair and consistent standards for classroom behavior.
  12. Create a safe physical environment that is conducive to learning.
  13. Engage and re-engage children who are struggling.
  14. Give attention to equitable learning opportunities for students.
  15. Develop learning goals that show a recognizable sequence with curricular adaptations for individual student needs.
  16. Construct lesson and activity plans and set instructional goals and objectives guided by content, pedagogy and developmental considerations, consistent with PA learning standards.
  17. Use appropriate interactions between teacher and students and among students.
  18. Apply developmentally appropriate motivational strategies.
  19. Use a range of assessments of classroom environments.
  20. Link classroom materials to standards.