Keystone Exams
Update:
On Oct 22, the Independent Regulatory Review Commission voted to approve the final rulemaking establishing the Keystone Exams (formerly the “Graduation Competency Assessment” proposal). This ends a several-year effort, during which PSEA strongly advocated for a testing plan that does not rely on punitive, high-stakes, gatekeeper exams that can solely prevent a student from graduating. The final regulations do not include such gatekeeper exams.
As mentioned in previous updates, PSEA’s extensive discussions with State Board of Education Chair Joe Torsella and other state education officials, resulted in improvements in the Keystone Exam proposal before the State Board voted on it. While PSEA does not support this new proposal, enough of the tenets of the Keystone Exam 2.0 proposal - developed by the Coalition for Effective and Responsible Testing of which PSEA was a key member - were incorporated so that the organization no longer stands in opposition to these tests.
OUTLINE OF PRIMARY PROVISIONS
KEYSTONE EXAMS PROPOSAL
July 9, 2009
Courses required for graduation:
Effective with the high school graduation class of 2014-15, school district graduation requirements must include demonstration of proficiency in literature (reading), English composition, math, science and social studies as determined by Keystone Exams (KEs) or validated local assessments (explained below).
Subjects: Keystone Exams will be developed now in:
o literature (reading)
o English composition
o Algebra I
o Geometry
o Algebra II
o Biology
o American history
Additional Keystone Exams will be developed and operational in 2016:
o Civics and government
o Chemistry
o World history
Keystone Exams for voluntary use:
KEs, diagnostic assessments, model curricula, and related instructional resources will be provided to districts for voluntary use. The KEs would be end-of-course exams (i.e. the final exams in their respective courses) at the grade level in which the student completes the course.
Submission to USDoE:
PDE will submit the KE system to USDoE for approval to replace the 11th grade PSSAs in reading, writing, math and science.
Math and Reading AYP:
Algebra I and Literature (reading) will be submitted to determine AYP.
Science Assessment:
Biology will be submitted as the high school level science assessment.
Elimination of the 11th Grade PSSAs:
If USDoE approves PDE’s application, then the 11th grade reading, math, science and writing PSSAs will be eliminated.
Three KEs could be mandated to meet federal requirements:
If USDoE approves PDE’s application, then the Algebra I, Literature, and Biology KEs will be mandated by the state. However, school districts will still be able to use their validated local assessments for graduation purposes; the three mandated KEs will be for AYP and federal purposes only, unless the district decides to use one or more of those KEs as their local assessment.
Use of local assessments or KEs for graduation purposes:
School districts will be able to use validated local assessments (as explained below) to determine whether a student is eligible to graduate. School districts may choose to voluntarily use one or more Keystone Exams as their local assessment(s) in the related course(s).
One-third weight of KE in the course grade, with a floor:
Where a district uses a Keystone Exam as the local assessment/final exam in a course, a student’s score on the KE will count for one-third of the final grade in that course. The KE will be scored on a zero-to-100 scale, with the proviso that students who score Below Basic on a KE will receive zero points toward their final course grade. However, such students will be given supplemental instruction in the module(s) of the exam in which they scored Below Basic, and will re-take those modules of the exam. Their score on the re-take will be added to the scores they earned on the modules of the original KE on which they scored Basic or above; if that overall score is Basic or above, it will be used in the final course grade calculation as one-third of the grade. Students who continue to score Below Basic on the KE will be able to pursue an Alternative Pathway (explained below).
Validation of local assessments:
Local assessments will have to be validated every six years, on the same cycle as each district’s strategic planning. Local assessments that are not validated will not be able to be used, with the proviso that successful completion of the required courses during the transition period before KEs or validated local assessments are available will be accepted for graduation purposes.
Oversight of local assessment validation:
A statewide committee of stakeholder and state representatives will be established to develop criteria for the local assessment validation process and for selection of firms eligible to perform validation.
The committee shall submit its recommendations for approval or disapproval by the State Board of Education. The Local Assessment Validation Advisory Committee will be comprised of:
o Two State Board representatives
o Two Department of Education representatives
o Four PSBA representatives
o Four additional members jointly selected by the Committee.
Cost of validation of local assessments:
The state will pay one-half of the cost of local assessment validation. If the state does not allocate the money to pay its one-half of this cost in a given year, the district’s local assessments will be deemed validated until the mid-point review of its strategic plan (three years), or until the next strategic plan is due, whichever is sooner.
Alternative Pathway - General:
A student who does not pass one or more of the courses required for graduation, who has taken the course and KE, retaken the KE or a module or modules of the exam, met the district’s attendance requirements for the course, taken and participated in supplemental educational services, may participate in a project-based assessment similar to Maryland’s Bridge Plan for Academic Validation. This pathway would allow students to supplement their Keystone Exam score with the results of one or more project modules. Projects would be administered at the local level and scored at a regional (IU) level by panels composed of teachers, principals and curriculum specialists.
Alternative Pathway- Special Education:
Successful completion of the alternate measure of proficiency for each course for which an alternative is described in a student’s IEP or GIEP may be used for one or more of the six courses required for graduation without, if the IEP or GIEP so states, the student being required to take the related KE. When a KE is used, the student shall be provided appropriate modifications and accommodations consistent with the test protocol and the student’s IEP or GIEP. In other words, students with IEPs must complete whatever educational objectives are set by the IEP team. That may or may not include the courses required for graduation for general education students. The IEP establishes the educational objectives and the educational objectives are what must be met for the student to earn a diploma.
Alternative Pathway - Investigation of NOTCI:
The Department and the State Assessment Validation Committee will investigate the use of a certificate based on industry approved standards and performance on a NOCTI as an alternative pathway to graduation, and will make a report and recommendation to the State Board of Education within one year of the effective date of this regulation (i.e. well before the 2014-15 graduation requirements are in effect.)
Validation of Keystone Exams:
All Keystone Exams, performance level descriptors, and cut scores will be subject to the best available forms of content, criterion, and consequential validation. Validity studies of the Keystone Exams will be performed at least every five years to determine the degree to which the Keystone Exams and performance level cut scores are valid for the purposes for which they are used, and predict college and career success. This will be the first time that Department of Education will have to pursue a factual basis for statements about the competence or fates of students who score Basic or Below Basic on statewide tests.
Oversight of Validation of Keystone Exams:
A statewide committee of stakeholder and state representatives will be established to advise the Department in its plans to conduct the validity studies of the Keystone Exams. The committee also shall review and provide feedback on the validation study’s findings. This State Assessment Validation Advisory Committee will be comprised of:
o Two State Board representatives
o Two Department of Education representatives
o Two PSEA representatives
o Two AFT PA representatives
o Four additional members jointly selected by the Committee
Setting the cut scores:
A statewide Advisory Committee will be established to assist the Department in the development of the performance level descriptors and setting of the cut scores. This Committee will be comprised of teachers, principals, school administrators, school board members, higher education officials, U.S. Armed Forces representatives, employers and others. Not less than one-half of the committee members shall be selected from nominations made by statewide teachers’ unions and other education stakeholder organizations.