State panel endorses Keystone high school exams

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s proposed Keystone Exams cleared another hurdle Wednesday as a state Board of Education panel urged the entire board to approve the new high school graduation competency tests.
The 7-1 vote by the board’s Council of Basic Education followed about two hours of discussion over an issue that has already received two years of debate.
Board Chairman Joseph Torsella, who secured endorsements for the plan from key legislators and education advocacy groups, said he was optimistic the full board would approve the latest version when it meets Thursday. That would clear the way for a final regulatory review of rules to use the new tests.
“It is not perfect,” but represents a compromise among divergent viewpoints, he said.
The new tests would be phased in starting in 2010, and would replace the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests now administered in the 11th grade. Students would take the Keystone Exams in grades nine through 12 as they complete their course work. Their exam scores would count toward their final grades.
Proponents said the plan would more effectively measure student progress toward meeting statewide academic standards, while allowing local districts to substitute their own tests with state approval. Critics insist the new tests are too costly and could unfairly penalize students who do poorly on them.
Several opponents objected to counting the test scores as at least one-third of the final grade, as well as a provision that would assign a zero to any student who scores below the lowest proficiency level.
Shauna D’Alessandro, speaking for two groups that represent many school districts in southeastern and southwestern Pennsylvania, said flunking the Keystone Exam could mean failing a course even for a student who has high grades.
“We’re not rewarding the hard work that’s done in the classroom,” she said.
A major goal of the new tests is to promote uniformity in the methods used to test students’ progress.
A Penn State study released earlier this year concluded that many of the graduation tests currently being used in local school districts fail to adequately measure student performance in math and reading. It also found wide variations among the tests and how they are administered and applied.
Under the proposal, exams in English literature, algebra I and biology would be introduced in the first school year. From 2011-12 to 2015-16, exams in English composition, algebra II, geometry and U.S. History would be added. Exams for chemistry, civics and world history would complete the list in 2016-17.
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