News

July 10, 2009

Board of Education plans new Pa. graduation exams

PETER JACKSON Associated Press Writer

HARRISBURG — A new generation of high-school graduation competency tests would be phased in starting next year under a plan unveiled Thursday by the chairman of the Pennsylvania Board of Education — the state’s latest attempt to navigate a political minefield of opposition to new testing requirements.

The proposal for the Keystone Exams, crafted in consultation with school boards, teachers and legislators, “reflects the best thinking of the education community and the counsel of the General Assembly,” Joe Torsella told a Capitol news conference.

“While no one will be entirely happy with every last word of this proposal, I urge all parties to see it for the careful, comprehensive and common-ground compromise that it is,” Torsella said.

The subject-specific exams would be administered in grades nine through 12 as students complete the course work, counting for about one-third of the final grade. Pending federal approval, certain scores also would be used to gauge schools’ progress in complying with the No Child Left Behind law.

The Keystone Exams would replace the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests that are currently given in the 11th grade.

School districts would not have to use the new exams to determine graduation competency. They could substitute local tests for that purpose, but only with the approval of a state panel that would comprise representatives of school boards, the state Board of Education and the state Department of Education.

All districts would have to use the Keystones to gauge students’ progress toward meeting the federal proficiency milestones in math and reading, said department spokesman Mike Race.

The board is expected to consider the proposal at its next meeting, in mid-August, setting the stage for development of regulations that would require months of review, Torsella said.

The board has tried for more than a year to introduce a new testing system intended to measure student performance more effectively. But school boards, teacher unions and some lawmakers have argued along the way that new requirements would create a burdensome mandate for local school districts.

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