Last week, the State Board of Education approved extensive changes to its draft revisions of the Chapter 4 regulations for academic standards and assessment that received the board’s initial approval last May. This latest version of Chapter 4 changes will now be move the second stage of the formal approval process and be transmitted to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission and the Senate and House Education Committees for consideration.

Among the highlights, the revised regulations will:

• Require proficiency in Algebra I, Biology and Literature Keystone Exams as a graduation requirement beginning with the class of 2017.
• Subject to state funding, add two additional Keystone Exam graduation requirements: a Composition exam as a requirement for the class of 2019, and a civics and government exam for the class of 2020.
• Change the use of the Keystone Exams to a stand-alone requirement for graduation; the scores will not be one-third of a final course grade.
• Require school boards to adopt the new graduation requirements within six months of the effective date of the new Chapter 4 and provide a copy to parents and students, and make them available in each school building or on its web site.
• Remove the state-prescribed strategic planning requirement; however there is a 28-day public inspection and comment period prior to school board adoption for the remaining six required plans (teacher induction, student services, gifted education, professional development, special education and pre-kindergarten if the school offers it).   
• Change the provision for parental opt-out for religious reasons to require parents to explain their objection and also to require those students who are not taking Keystone Exams to take the project-based assessment.
• Allow a student who did not score proficient on a Keystone Exam to retake the test without limit. A student who scores proficient or advanced is not permitted to retake the test. A student who does not score proficient must receive instructional remediation.
• Allow students who have two failed attempts to demonstrate proficiency on a Keystone Exam to participate in a project-based assessment. A change removes the two-year requirement to receive remediation before a student is allowed to participate in a project. Another change allows seniors to participate in a project after just one unsuccessful attempt to pass a Keystone Exam.
• Require the current highest performance level by Keystone subject area to be listed on a student’s transcript, and designate whether the level was achieved by the Keystone Exam or by the project-based assessment.
• Allow two alternate pathways for students enrolled in a career and technical education program. First, such students may demonstrate proficiency on the Keystone Exams or a Pennsylvania Skills Assessment to meet the requirement for testing in composition, and civics and government. Second, such students who did not demonstrate proficiency on the Biology Keystone Exam may participate in a project-based assessment without having to take the Keystone twice. These pathways relate to graduation requirements; students would still be required to take Keystone Exams for state accountability purposes.

Source: PSBA Legislative Report, March 15, 2013.