Per Act 39 of 2018, the use of the Keystone Exams as a graduation requirement or as a benchmark for the need for participation in a project-based assessment has been delayed:

Notwithstanding Section 2604-b(b)(2)(v), 22 Pa. Code §4.24 (relating to high school graduation requirements), 4.51 (relating to state assessment system) or 4.51c (relating to project-based assessment) or any statute or regulation to the contrary, the use of the Keystone Exams as a graduation requirement or as a benchmark for the need for participation in a project-based assessment shall be delayed until the 2020-2021 school year.

For schools that previously submitted project-based assessments for evaluation, note that the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) employed evaluators through June 30, 2018, to evaluate all projects submitted through May 31, 2018.  Projects scored as unsatisfactory have been returned to tutors and may be resubmitted once corrections have been made.

While a timeline for ongoing evaluation of projects has not been determined, projects submitted will be evaluated as follows:

• Projects submitted for students graduating in 2019 or 2020 will be evaluated by a single evaluator.
• Projects submitted for students graduating in 2021 and beyond will be evaluated by at least two evaluators; a third evaluator will be engaged if the two evaluators are not in agreement.

Questions may be directed to c-jdyszel@pa.gov.