Who must participate in the Keystone Exams in 2012-13 — For purposes of AYP, all 11th-grade students will be counted for the high school accountability calculation. Results for every 11th-grade student will determine a district’s/school’s AYP status. If a 2012-13 11th-grade student participated in any Keystone Exam in 2010-11, that student does not have to participate in 2012-13. All scores from 2010-11 have been banked and the score attained in 2011 will be the score used for AYP if the student does not test again in 2012-13. Thus, any student who scored Proficient or Advanced in 2011 may not retest. Students who did not score Proficient or Advanced may retest in 2012-13 for the purpose of achieving a higher score to be used in the district’s/school’s AYP calculation.  

Remember that AYP calculations are based only on Algebra 1 and Literature results; therefore, a student who did not score Proficient or Advanced in 2011 on the Biology Keystone Exam may retake the exam, but the new results will have no impact on a district’s/school’s AYP. The NCLB requirement for science is only participation in the assessment, and these students will have met the participation requirement for science.