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ERC Terms of Use

Terms and Conditions

Agreement with Terms and Conditions

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (“PDE”) web-based resource known as the Pennsylvania Evidence Resource Center (“PA ERC”) developed by Chester County Intermediate Unit (“CCIU”) contains copyrighted material and other proprietary information, portions of which are owned and copyrighted by PDE, and portions of which are owned and copyrighted by other parties. This agreement sets forth the terms and conditions that apply to the use of PA ERC by you (“Visitor”), an individual accessing the PA ERC. By accessing the PA ERC, you agree to the following terms and conditions. If you do not agree, you have no right or license to access the PA ERC and you should not do so.

Changes in Terms and Conditions

PDE and CCIU has the right to change or discontinue any aspect or feature of the PA ERC, including, but not limited to, content, hours of availability, and equipment needed for access or use, at any time. PDE and CCIU has the right to change or modify the terms and conditions applicable to Visitor’s use of the PA ERC, or any part thereof, or to impose new conditions, including, but not limited to, adding fees and charges for use at any time. Such changes, modifications, additions or deletions shall be effective immediately upon notice thereof, which may be given by means including, but not limited to, posting on the PA ERC, or by electronic or conventional mail, or by any other means by which Visitor obtains notice thereof. Any use of the PA ERC by Visitor subsequent to such notice shall be deemed to constitute acceptance by Visitor of such changes, modifications or additions.

Conduct of Visitor

Lawful Use

Visitor shall use the PA ERC for lawful purposes only. Any conduct by a Visitor that, in PDE or CCIU discretion, restricts or inhibits any other Visitor from using or enjoying the PA ERC is expressly prohibited.

PA ERC Content

A portion of the PA ERC content is supplied by third parties. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including information providers, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of PDE or CCIU. Neither PDE, CCIU, nor any third-party provider of information guarantees the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content, nor its merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. Neither PDE nor the CCIU endorses or is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made on the PA ERC by anyone other than employee spokespersons of PDE or CCIU while acting in their official capacities.

The COVID-19 Collection

As of October 2020, a selection of strategies have been labeled as having potential special relevance or usefulness during the COVID-19 crisis. The Pennsylvania Evidence Resource Center (ERC) provides this information to assist education leaders as they reopen schools, programs, and facilities under unprecedented circumstances. The information provided and referenced is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and is provided for general informational purposes only. The knowledge and circumstances around COVID-19 are changing constantly and, as such, the ERC, the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the Chester County Intermediate Unit, and their representatives and assigns make no representation and assume no responsibility for the accuracy, usefulness, legality, or completeness of this information, nor its merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. Further, you should seek advice from medical professionals and/or public health officials if you have specific questions about the safety of, or health risks associated with, any and all strategies, interventions, or activities suggested for implementation. Questions or concerns regarding the legality of any such strategies, interventions, or activities suggested for implementation should be directed to your legal counsel.

Downloading of Intellectual Property

The entire contents of the PA ERC are copyrighted as a collective work/compilation. No Visitor may modify, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale, create derivative works, or in any way exploit, any of the content, in whole or in part. Visitor may download one (1) single copy of the copyrighted material for Visitor’s local school improvement, non-commercial use only. Except as otherwise expressly permitted under copyright law, no copying, redistribution, retransmission, publication or commercial exploitation of downloaded material will be permitted without the express written permission of PDE (or the copyright owner(s) if other than or in addition to PDE). In the event of any permitted copying, redistribution or publication of copyrighted material, no changes in or deletion of author attribution, trademark legend, copyright or other proprietary notice shall be made. Visitor acknowledges that he/she does not acquire any ownership rights by downloading copyrighted material.

Copyrights and Copyright Agents

The PA ERC is an effort to collect publicly available information about evidence-based strategies to support LEAs and schools in making better decisions about strategies for improvement and investment of resources. PDE and CCIU respects the intellectual property of others and has made every attempt to protect others’ intellectual rights, and we ask our users to do the same. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide the PDE Copyright Agent the following information:

  • an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest;
  • a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
  • a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the site;
  • your address, telephone number, and email address;
  • a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
  • a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your Notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.

The PDE Copyright Agent for Notice of claims of copyright infringement on its site is the PA ERC Administrator who can be reached as follows:

By phone: 717-364-7492

By email: info@evidenceforpa.org

By mail: PA ERC Administrator 333 Market Street, 3rdFloor, Office of School Improvement Harrisburg, PA 17126

Trademarks

Unless otherwise indicated, trademarks that appear on this site are trademarks of PDE or its affiliates. All other trademarks not owned by PDE or its affiliates that appear on this site are the property of their respective owners, who may or may not be affiliated with, connected to, or sponsored by PDE or its affiliates.

No Resale of Service

Visitor agrees not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit for any commercial purposes, any portion of, use of or access to PA ERC, including, without limitation, the Software.

Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability

Use Is At Visitor’s Risk

Visitor expressly agrees that use of PA ERC is at Visitor’s own risk. Visitor shall be responsible for protecting the confidentiality of Visitor’s password(s), if any. Neither PDE, its affiliates, nor any of their respective employees, third-party content providers or licensors, warrant that PA ERC service will be uninterrupted or error free; nor do they make any warranty as to the results that may be obtained from use of the PA ERC. It is Visitor’s responsibility to evaluate the accuracy and completeness of all information, opinions and other material on the PA ERC or any sites with which it is linked. PDE and CCIU provides technology automatically producing search results that link and/or reference sites and information located worldwide throughout the Internet. Because we have no control over such sites and information, neither PDE nor the CCIU make any guarantee as to such sites and information, including the accuracy, currency, content or quality of any such sites and information and neither PDE nor the CCIU assumes any responsibility as to whether the search locates unintended or objectionable content. Furthermore, because some content on the Internet consists of material that is adult-oriented or otherwise objectionable to some people, the results of your search on our sites may automatically and unintentionally generate links or references to objectionable material. We make no claim that such surprise incidences might not occur.

No Warranties of PA ERC Service

The PA ERC is provided on an “as is” basis without warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, warranties of title, non-infringement, or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, other than those warranties which are implied by and incapable of exclusion, restriction or modification under the laws applicable to this agreement.

Disclaimer of Liability

This disclaimer of liability applies to any damages or injury caused by any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus, communication line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, alteration of, or use of record, whether for breach of contract, tortuous behavior, negligence, or under any other cause of action. Visitor specifically acknowledges that PDE and CCIU are not liable for the defamatory, offensive or illegal conduct of other Visitors or third parties and that the risk of injury from the foregoing rests entirely with Visitor.

Visitor’s Waiver of Damages

In no event will PDE, CCIU, or any person or entity involved in creating, producing or distributing the PA ERC be liable for any damages, including, without limitation, direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages arising out of the use of or inability to use the PA ERC. Visitor hereby acknowledges that the provisions of this section shall apply to all content on the PA ERC. In addition to the terms set forth above, neither PDE, the CCIU nor their affiliates, information providers or content partners shall be liable regardless of the cause or duration, for any errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or other defects in, or untimeliness or unauthenticity of, the information contained within the PA ERC, or for any delay or interruption in the transmission thereof to the Visitor, or for any claims or losses arising therefrom or occasioned thereby. None of the foregoing parties shall be liable for any third-party claims or losses of any nature, including, but not limited to, lost profits, punitive or consequential damages.

Indemnification

Visitor agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless PDE, the CCIU, and their affiliates, directors, officers, shareholders, employees, agents, and assigns from and against all claims and expenses, including attorneys’ fees, arising out of Visitor’s use of the PA ERC.

Equipment for Visitor’s Use

Visitor shall be responsible for obtaining and maintaining all telephones, computer hardware, and other equipment needed for access to and use of the PA ERC and for any/all charges related thereto.

Entire Agreement

This Agreement, and any operating rules for the PA ERC established by PDE and CCIU, constitutes the entire agreement of the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof, and supersedes all previous written or oral agreements between the parties with respect to such subject matter.

Controlling Law

This Agreement shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, without regard to its conflict of laws rules.  

Headings

The section headings used herein are for convenience only and shall not be given any legal import whatsoever.

Severability

If any provision of these Terms of Use is for any reason deemed invalid, unlawful, void, or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, then that provision will be deemed severable from these Terms of Use, and the invalidity of the provision will not affect the validity or enforceability of the remainder of these Terms of Use, which will remain in full force and effect.

Violations

Please report any violations of this Agreement to PA ERC Administrator.

By phone: 717-364-7492

By Email: info@evidenceforpa.org

By mail: PA ERC Administrator 333 Market Street, 3rdFloor, Office of School Improvement Harrisburg, PA 17126

ERC Experiences Moderation

Goals

The Evidence Resource Center (ERC) offers an “Experiences” feature with the intention of gathering and sharing use cases, overall feedback, lessons learned, and wisdom from educators and other stakeholders who have implemented a strategy that is included in the ERC database. The tool is a limited public forum and is subject to Pennsylvania Public Records and eDiscovery laws.

Submissions and Review

All submissions to the ERC Experiences feature (Submissions) will be reviewed before publication to the ERC. Review of each Submission may require 48-72 business hours before completion. Reviewers receive an email notification when a new Submission is received. The Reviewer then accesses a back-end content management system (CMS) to review and either approve or reject the Submission. Until the Reviewer marks the experience as approved, the Submission will not appear publicly. Users will not be notified if their Submission is approved or rejected; they can return to the site at any time to check if it was published. 

Individuals who choose to share Submissions via the ERC do so with the understanding that such Submissions are intended for public view and use. By sharing a Submission via the ERC, the submitter acknowledges and agrees to allow others to view, use, and share such Submission as they deem appropriate, without restriction of any sort. Submitters further acknowledge and represent that they are authorized and have obtained any necessary consents that may be required to share their Submission through the ERC for public access.

The review process outlined above is undertaken solely to ensure that the Submission does not contain prohibited categories of speech or other violations of the below Acceptable Use Standards. Individuals who choose to submit a Submission for public posting on the ERC remain fully responsible for the content of their Submission. Neither the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), the Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU), nor their respective assigns, officers, contractors or employees will be liable in any way for the content of such Submissions. This means that the individual submitting the Submission, and not PDE, the CCIU and/or their respective assigns, officers, contractors or employees, can be held personally liable for Submissions that violate the Acceptable Use Standards outlined herein or other applicable law. Individuals who submit Submissions to the ERC agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless PDE, the CCIU and their respective assigns, officers, contractors or employees from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, and expenses (including, but not limited to, attorney’s fees) arising from the submitter’s (1) violation of any term of these Operating Procedures or applicable law; (2) violation of any third-party right; or (3) Submissions or any part thereof.

Because neither PDE nor the CCIU or their respective assigns, officers, contractors or employees control the Submissions posted on or through the ERC, except for the purposes of the limited review discussed above, they cannot and do not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, truthfulness, validity, integrity, suitability, or quality of any individual Submission. 

Neither PDE nor the CCIU or their respective assigns, officers, contractors or employees shall be liable for any loss, damage, or unfavorable result or outcome of any kind incurred as a result of reliance upon a Submission posted or otherwise made available on or through the ERC. 

Submissions posted on or through the ERC express the personal opinions of the individuals who authored them, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and/or positions of the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the CCIU, or their respective assigns, officers or employees.

Acceptable Use Standards

The ERC is intended to be a safe, productive, inclusive, and professional forum where educators can connect and share information. The Experiences area is a space where users can express and share opinions and experiences (i.e. Submissions), and where they can expect to consume content that is lawful and relevant.  PDE, the CCIU and/or their respective assigns, officers, contractors or employees reserve the right to reject or remove any Submissions that contain the following:

  • Language, images or content that is unlawful, harmful, profane, vulgar, obscene, threatening, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, abusive, harassing, invasive of another’s privacy or violative of the rights of another individual or entity;
  • Hate speech;
  • Language, images or content that impersonates another individual or entity;
  • Language, images or content that promotes, fosters or perpetrates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, gender, marital status with regard to public assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, or any other class protected by federal or state law;
  • Solicitations of commerce (i.e. commercial advertisements, marketing materials, etc.);
  • Content that contains signals or indications of spam or fraud;
  • Language, images or content that encourages unlawful activity;
  • Infringements of copyrights, trademarks or other intellectual property rights;
  • Confidential or non-public information, including, but not limited to, personally identifiable information that violates FERPA or HIPAA laws.

Individuals who believe that a Submission available on the ERC for public viewing is in violation of any of the above-listed acceptable use standards or applicable law can report the Submission to info@evidenceforpa.org. All requests for Submission deletion must cite a specific violation of the Acceptable Use Standards or applicable law. While neither PDE nor the CCIU or their respective assigns, officers, contractors or employees have any obligation to remove a Submission from the ERC solely because of a removal request, the Submission will be re-reviewed to determine whether it should be removed due to a violation of these applicable acceptable use standards. Submissions that contain an opinion that is negative or conflicts with agency opinion will not be taken down simply because they are unflattering or unfavorable.

Rejected Submissions

Submissions that are rejected due to a violation of the above-listed acceptable use standards will be marked ‘Rejected’ in the software’s back-end CMS and will not be visible to public users of the ERC. The record of its content may be retained by the ERC and may be shared with the Pennsylvania Department of Education or other agencies as appropriate for analysis or follow-up action.

User Accounts

Individual ERC user accounts may be suspended, deactivated or terminated at any time, with or without prior notice, due to violations of these Operating Procedures and/or the acceptable use standards outlined herein.

Questions

If you have questions about the review policies of the ERC, please contact info@evidenceforpa.org.