Continuing Education Credits (CEU's)

Professional Development Credits

Pennsylvania Department of Education ACT 45 & 48

What is ACT 45?

The Pennsylvania Inspired Leadership (PIL) Program is a statewide, standards-based continuing professional education program for school and system leaders. This comprehensive, cohort-based program is focused on developing the capacity of leaders to improve student achievement. 

Read Act 45 Guidelines >>

Act 45 Course for Members >>

This program meets the requirements of Act 45 of 2007, which directs the Department to establish a Principal Induction Program that addresses the three core PA leadership standards and a Continuing Professional Education Program that addresses the three core and six corollary PA leadership standards.

Program courses provide continuing professional education credit/hours needed by certified administrators serving in PIL-covered positions in commonwealth schools, and also offers courses that have been approved to fulfill the Act 45 Principal Induction requirement.  

How can I earn ACT 45 credits at Lehigh University? 

Only the Superintendent LOE courses are approved for Act45/PIL at Lehigh. Prospective students must hold an administrative position in Pennsylvania. The administrative positions include Principal, Assistant Principal, Vice Principal, Assistant Superintendent, Superintendent, IU Director, IU Assistant Director and Vocational Technical School Director.  

Courses that can be taken for ACT 45 are:

EdL 408 - Central Office Internship I:  Practical experiences in meeting the challenges inherent in the Superintendent and associated central office positions. Emphasis on the five basic functional office roles of the superintendent: CEO to the school board, human resource manager, instructional leader, financial manager, and director of community relations.

EdL 409 - Central Office Internship II: Practical experiences in meeting the challenges inherent in the Superintendent and associated central office positions. Emphasis on the budgeting process, state testing requirements and other priorities in the second half of a school year. Prerequisite: Central Office Internship I.

EdL 421- Instructional Leadership: Skills, competencies, and best practices of instructional leadership and student achievement. Includes framing and communicating school goals dealing with student learning, supervising and evaluating instructional practices, coordinating the curriculum to student outcomes, monitoring student progress, creating a professional learning community, and engaging in reflective practice as a school leader.

EdL 423 - Leading Inclusive Learning Systems: Issues facing school administrators as they develop and implement plans to address the needs of all students in their schools and districts. Addresses administrators’ obligations for the development and monitoring of Individualized Education Programs for children and youth with disabilities as well as other duties encumbered by administrators.

EdL 425 - Leading and Managing Change: Practices and theories about reform, change, and decision making look at who you need to communicate with and why each entity needs to be managed differently. Identify the educational stakeholders, the current trends that effect change, and what precipitates the need for change in the educational system. Addresses the process of change as it relates to individuals, the school board, teachers, students, and the administration with special emphasis on leadership, decision-making, motivation, and the dimensions of change.

EdL 426 - Introduction to Relational Leadership: Theory and Practice: Theory development relating to individuals and organizations with special emphasis on the superintendents prolonged effective working relationship with the board of education, the administration, the professional and support staffs and the community. Implementation, follow through, and maintenance are emphasized relating to the interpersonal savvy a superintendent needs to effectively establish trust, build and mend relationships, guide decision-making, instill motivation, lead stakeholders and manage change.

EdL 436 - School District Governance: Planning Policy, Ethics and Law: Examines federal and state Department of Education policies, laws, and regulations governing educational practice, policy, ethics and programming at the district level. Topics include a study of policy-making and related policies in a district, the role of the educational community in a developing a collaborative decision-making organization, equality of educational opportunity for all students, and how policy efforts are reshaped by federal, state and local systemic reform efforts.

EdL 437 - School District Resource Management: Theoretical and practical foundation in school resource allocation from the superintendent district wide perspective. Trends in revenue and expenditures, staffing, and operations, including school board issues, are explored. The economics of education and school business administration are discussed in terms of the policies they affect and create.

EdL 485 - The Superintendency: A theoretical and historical examination of superintendents’ leadership, school board/superintendent relations, and the array of duties and demands upon the superintendency.

EdL 488 - Program Evaluation: The historical background, theory, methodology, and current practices of program evaluation in the human services area. Emphasis on conducting evaluations of educational programs and gathering data to make effective program decisions. Participants are required to design a program evaluation research plan.

What is ACT 48? 

Act 48 hours are a requirement in Pennsylvania for educators to maintain an active certificate.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education requires that persons holding Pennsylvania professional educator certification to complete continuing education requirements every five years to maintain their certificates in active status. This requirement, established in July 1, 2000, is referred to as Act 48.

All educators holding Pennsylvania public school certification must earn 180 Act 48 hours (approved professional development hours) every five years to remain in active status.

The five-year period begins on the day the educator’s initial instructional certificate is issued. At least 12 months before the five-year period ends, the Pennsylvania Department of Education will notify educators and their schools of their current status, i.e. the number of hours completed and the numbers of hours needed.

How can I earn ACT 48 credits at Lehigh University? 

  1. Take credited coursework at Lehigh University. To fulfill the 180-hour Act 48 requirement, only two 3-credit courses, or other combination of 6 total credits, need to be reported. Check out our course listing here!

  2. Participate in a non-credit workshop or course at Lehigh University. We offer many workshops and events throughout the year. If you take a non-credit workshop or course at Lehigh, your hours will be automatically uploaded once the group roster has been submitted to the Office of Professional Certification. Visit our events page! When ACT 48 is offered through a non-credit program, it is always stated.

Questions?

Visit our Office of Teacher Certification which administers ACT 45 & ACT 48 for more information!

 

BCBA Certification - Continuing Education 

Initial BCBA certification indicates that an individual has met entry-level standards for practice as a behavior analyst. The purpose of the BACB’s continuing education (CE) requirement is to ensure that BCBA certificants engage in activities that will expand their behavior-analytic skills beyond the requirements for initial certification, and help them stay up-to-date on developments in the profession.

As a certified BCBA, you are required to obtain 32 continuing education units (CEUs) within each 2-year recertification cycle, including 4 CEUs in ethics and 3 CEUs in supervision (for supervisors).

AAll CEUs must occur within the recertification cycle to which it is applied. “Making up” missed CEUs after your certification expiration date is not permitted and CEUs in excess of the requirements cannot be applied to a subsequent cycle.

We typically offer opportunities to earn BCBA credits through our Annual Autism Workshop.

Pennsylvania Key - Pennsylvania Quality Assurance System (PQAS)

The Pennsylvania Key and the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) has implemented a system for approving individuals and organizations who provide professional development and technical assistance to early childhood and school-age professionals in Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Quality Assurance System (PQAS) maintains a registry of approved Professional Development Instructors and Technical Assistance Consultants/Coaches to help ensure that professional development activities and technical assistance meet quality standards.

We typically offer PQAS for the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Workshop.