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  The state's Independent Regulatory Review Commission voted to approve the Keystone Exams proposal that the State Board of Education has been pushing to strengthen the state's graduation requirements. It now goes to the attorney general for final review and then will be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, which is the final step needed for this initiative to take effect.   Read more

Dr. Arlene Ackerman, Superintendent of the Philadelphia School District, writes the following in her letter to members of the Philadelphia delegation:

"As the superintendent of our state's largest public school system, and urban district where most of our students are minorities, I am writing to reaffirm my strong support for the proposed strengthened high school graduation requirements as approved by the State Board of Education on August 13, 2009."

Read the full letter

I am pleased that this tide is about to change.

After several months of an arduous process and much debate and deliberation, our commonwealth is finally on its way to implementing new statewide end-of-course testing requirements and voluntary Keystone Exams for all high school students, thus assuring they are better prepared to compete in this ever-changing global economy.

The State Board of Education's recent vote of 14-2 marked a significant and historic milestone for Pennsylvania and the real stakeholders in this entire debate -- our students, parents and the taxpayers.

Under the leadership of Chairman Joe Torsella, the State Board is to be commended for adopting this regulation and moving the process forward. It had moved a compromise that encompasses the concerns of the Legislature and the various educational interest groups representing teachers, administrators and school boards.

Additionally, a number of superintendents from large and small districts statewide have shared their enthusiasm and endorsement for the Keystone Exams.

These tests will ultimately replace the 11th-grade Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, which is fast outliving its usefulness, in assessing our students' skills and mastery levels. The PSSA never was intended to assess individual student mastery levels.

Additionally, the Keystone Exams will now be used as an end-of-course test that will count 33 percent toward the final grade -- if school districts wish to use the exam. Their use will be strictly voluntary.

If a school district wishes to use a local assessment, it might do so as long as that assessment is aligned to state standards and meets the test of rigor that taxpayers are demanding.

Before the state board's vote and consideration of the regulation, Chairman Torsella made an extraordinary pledge recognizing the Legislature's need for legislative buy-in, which is what helped all parties forge a sound compromise.

For the first time in the history of the General Assembly, members of the Senate Education Committee also supported a "Sense of the Senate Resolution" that I sponsored along with Sen. Andrew Dinniman, Democratic Chair of this Committee, to show our strong bipartisan support for the exams and the regulatory process.

We have held numerous discussions and public hearings to bring parties together, educate everyone on the various proposals and ensure the issue was appropriately vetted.

Although critics of the Keystone Exams continue to raise concerns regarding the merit of the tests, they need to realize that these exams represent the best possibility of achieving common ground while also maintaining their original intent.

It's no surprise that many students in the state are graduating today from high schools with little or no basic competency in some core subjects, which is costing Pennsylvania taxpayers $24 million a year just for basic remediation in our State System of Higher Education universities and community colleges.

Our employers in the state also have substantial costs in providing remedial skills to ensure basic competencies for their work force.

The Keystone Exams are a natural progression in bringing accountability to our educational system. They not only ensure accountability but also preserve local control -- two principles that led me to proudly help champion this cause.

For that reason, it's time we finally move forward and provide the tools that are necessary to accelerate each student's progress, documents his or her gains and ensure success for every graduate.

Jeffrey E. Piccola, R-Dauphin, is chairman of the state Senate's Education Committee.

Source: PennLive

The board approved the plan by a 14-2 vote on Thursday. It now advances through the state's regulatory approval process that will likely take three to six months to complete. The plan calls for the incoming seventh-grade class to be the first students to meet its requirements, but schools could begin to phase in the new state tests, called Keystone Exams, beginning in 2010-11.

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Read more from the Post-Gazette

“For the first time in the General Assembly, members of this Committee supported a symbolic measure – ‘a Sense of the Senate’ resolution – that I’ve sponsored along with the Democratic Chairman of this Committee, Andrew Dinniman (D-Chester), to show our strong bipartisan support for the compromise and the regulatory process that is necessary to move this important issue forward. This compromise proposal marks a significant step because it represents the best opportunity for us to advance the public interests on behalf of the real stakeholders, the students and taxpayers of Pennsylvania,” Piccola said.

“The debate in Pennsylvania over new statewide graduation requirements began back in May of 2007 when the State Board announced its plans to consider the issue. After many hearings by the board, the Legislature, and discussions with stakeholders, Chairman Torsella has proposed a common ground plan addressing the concerns articulated throughout these deliberations. And although there may not be universal agreement, every interested party and group has had an opportunity to share their views,” he added.

In recent weeks, Chairman Torsella announced the compromise proposal as a solution to the debate to implement end-of-course exams in the Commonwealth. Under the proposal, school districts would be able to choose to use the Keystone Exams beginning with the class of 2015. Ten different tests would be made available to districts and would be phased in over six years, starting with English, literature, algebra, and biology during the 2010-2011 school year. The exams would replace the current 11th grade Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA), pending approval by the federal government. Additionally, the tests would count as one-third of a student’s final class grade and could replace final exams if a district chooses. Districts deciding not to use the Keystone Exams would be permitted to use local assessments aligned to the state standards and appropriately validated.

“This proposal appropriately addresses a number of the concerns raised, while ensuring two key principles significant in this process: accountability on the students and local control for the districts. I am pleased Chairman Torsella recognized these principles and the need for the Legislature to have input into this compromise,” Piccola said. “Most importantly, I am gratified by the strong bipartisan support my colleagues have demonstrated for this compromise, not to mention the passage of today’s resolution.”
Piccola also noted that a number of superintendents from large and small school districts across Pennsylvania recently endorsed the compromise proposal, emphasizing in a correspondence to the General Assembly that the options under the plan “are tools that can help us accelerate our progress, document our gains, and ensure success for every graduate.” In addition to district superintendents, broad support for the exams exists among the business community.

Following the Senate Education Committee’s approval of the resolution and hopefully the Senate to follow, the State Board will consider adoption of the final form regulation at a future meeting. The Education Committees in both chambers of the Legislature as well as the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) will then have the opportunity to approve or disapprove of the regulation under the provisions of the Regulatory Review Act.

Sen. Jeff Piccola said, “...this is a carefully calibrated compromise,” reports Tony Romeo of KYW Radio.

The Bethlehem Area School District, for example, has had only one firm requirement for high school graduation -- participation in its orgy of political correctness, the Mandatory Volunteer Program. The BASD gave diplomas to functional illiterates as long as they ''volunteered'' to provide free labor for designated causes.

In Allentown, all the eggs were placed in a ''self esteem'' basket and the school district was paying 18 football coaches at a time it refused to buy a single library book....The new Keystone Exams and the related options are a step in the right direction.

Read the full article

Gamesa is a global corporation, one of the world’s largest wind energy producers, on the cutting edge of our energy future.

We are based in Spain, but several years ago expanded to the United States.

The competition among states was keen, with Gamesa being in the vanguard of renewable energy, a segment of the economy with great growth potential. The company was immediately promising to bring hundreds of manufacturing jobs to build wind turbines, and looking to locate our North American headquarters.

One big reason Gamesa chose Pennsylvania is the state’s skilled work force. We need workers with top-notch skills and knowledge for a wide variety of positions, and we need people able to get up to speed quickly. We found that in Pennsylvania.

However, we must also be able to count on this world- class work force in the future as well. Growing our company and continuing to produce the best wind energy products in the world means constantly upgrading what we do.

For that to happen, the knowledge and skills of our employees must constantly be kept up to date.

This is true not just for Gamesa, but for all companies in Pennsylvania, including many on which we rely for supplies, and to be our customers.

Our success is tied in part to how well other companies in the state are doing.

Therefore, we want to congratulate the State Board of Education and several other key legislators and education groups for reaching an agreement on a plan to implement a set of academically rigorous statewide graduation requirements. The plan includes measuring student proficiency in key areas such as math, English and reading with meaningful end-of-course exams.

These end-of-course exams, with mandated remedial help and the opportunity for retesting for students who fail any subject area, will help make sure students coming out of all Pennsylvania high schools have the knowledge and skills to succeed in college or today’s high-tech work force.

Gamesa supports this well-thought-out compromise. We share concerns expressed by much of the state’s business community about the quality of the state’s future work force.

Two of three business leaders said in a recent statewide poll they see applicants for entry-level jobs who do not possess the skills and knowledge needed to do those jobs.

Eighty percent of these business leaders support a set of statewide requirements for high school graduation in Pennsylvania, along with a rigorous set of end-of-course exams to confirm students receiving diplomas are ready for college or the 21st-century work force.

This poll comes on the heels of a Pennsylvania Department of Education study that found one in three high school graduates enrolling in our State System of Higher Education universities or state community colleges must take at least one remedial course. This slows down the education process, and costs taxpayers and families $26 million a year.

Another Department of Education study finds two of five students who fail to score proficient in at least one major subject area on the 11th grade PSSA exams still graduate, with no evidence they’ve ever achieved the knowledge they need.

Penn State University found that only 18 of the state’s 500 school districts have acceptable assessment systems in place to measure whether students have the knowledge and skills they should have when they graduate.

Gamesa’s very presence in Pennsylvania is testimony to the global nature of today’s work force. We are pleased to be helping to build Pennsylvania’s and the nation’s clean energy future. But, that future depends on workers who are capable of competing with the best around the world.

As with our company earlier this decade, other businesses can choose to locate or expand in many places. If we are to encourage other companies to locate and expand in Pennsylvania, we must support the statewide graduation requirements proposal, and oppose any attempts to thwart this measure.

The future of our students, our businesses, our communities, and our state’s economic well-being depend on it.

BY MICHAEL PECK

Michael Peck is director of media, labor and institutional relations for Gamesa North America, which has a plant in Cambria Township.

State Board of Education Chairman Joseph Torsella's proposal calls for a more rigorous high-school curriculum and new statewide tests in 10 core subjects. The tests, to be taken in grades nine through 12, could be used as final exams in those specific courses.

These individual end-of-course exams would replace the state's high-stakes standardized Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test that is currently given to 11th graders.

Instead of the PSSA, a comprehensive test on everything learned over the course of their high-school experience, students would be tested at the end of each course they take in high school. Each exit exam would then count for a third of that course's credit.

With less pressure to pass one "make-or-break" exam, struggling students would have a better chance of success. Those who fail could get tutoring and a second chance to pass. At the end of their senior year, it should be much clearer which students are really ready to graduate.

The new Keystone Exams would be phased in over seven years - starting with English literature, algebra I, and biology in 2010-11 - and cost $175 million.

But other states have moved more quickly to switch testing systems, and Pennsylvania should see if it can speed up the process.

Taking seven years to put the new exam system in place will shortchange too many students who would benefit from it.

In a major concession to local school districts, Torsella's proposal would not require them to use the new tests as their graduation exams. Local districts would instead be allowed to install their own separate graduation tests, but the local exams must receive prior approval from a state panel.

That panel, to be made up of representatives of the state board, local school boards, and the state Department of Education, must be tough on the local districts and make sure that their tests have a great degree of uniformity.

Continuing to allow a multitude of graduation exams risks continuing the current situation in which some Pennsylvania high-school diplomas are largely worthless. It's the state board's responsibility to make sure the local districts all meet the same standard in deciding who graduates.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer
 

By some measures, Pennsylvania's basic education compares favorably to that provided in other states. But there is a simple measure by which the Pennsylvania business community evaluates the quality of education in the commonwealth: upon graduation from high school, are young people ready to enter the work force with the needed math, communication and other skills necessary for success?

Survey says ...? No.

The education foundation arm of our organization paid a professional pollster to survey 400 business owners, presidents and senior managers. Only seven percent of all of the business owners and managers surveyed said they are "very confident" that high school students are graduating with the necessary knowledge and skills. A little over half are "somewhat confident" that recent graduates have job ready skills, but is "somewhat confident" all we get for $30 billion?

Employers are reteaching math and language arts skills to new hires. Pennsylvania's community colleges and four-year institutions are over-enrolled for their remedial classes. More than two-thirds of the business owners and managers surveyed said they receive applications from job-seekers who lack the skills and/or knowledge necessary for the position. About half of the managers surveyed reported their companies lose significant or moderate amounts of productivity by having to train or retrain workers on basic skills.

While more than 60 percent of those interviewed rate the current quality of Pennsylvania's work force as "good" or even "excellent," very few think it has improved in recent years, according to our survey. One-third think it has gotten worse.

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, Pennsylvania was mandated to implement new programs and periodic tests with the goal of making students proficient in math and reading by 2014. Known as the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment or PSSA exams, the tests are administered in a single, weeklong battery of exams every few years. The federal law pushes all states to make "adequate yearly progress." There are good and bad elements of No Child Left Behind, but it's the current federal law. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania still isn't getting what it needs out of our education system.

Business leaders -- and probably many Pennsylvanians -- were shocked by a study completed in the last few years showing that fewer than half of Pennsylvania's 11th graders scored at proficient levels on PSSA exams. The deeply troubling part of this is that we know the vast majority of high school students receive a diploma at the end of their 12 years.

If fewer than half of our students are proficient at math and reading, what does that diploma really mean? It gives us pause when we think about making a hiring decision. It must be chilling news to a firm thinking about expanding or relocating in Pennsylvania.

So what do we do about this? For many years, our organization and our members have been concerned about the quality of Pennsylvania's work force and the availability of qualified, skilled workers for jobs in the global, information-based economy. We've been engaged in several efforts -- spanning gubernatorial administrations -- to develop education standards.

The Pennsylvania State Board of Education has proposed a series of standardized final exams that would be administered at the end of each course of study in core subject areas, such as math, reading, writing, sciences, and social studies. The exams would not be a one-time graduate/don't graduate exit exam, but a course-by-course assessment of whether a student has achieved competency in critical subject matter.

More than 80 percent -- four out of five -- business owners and senior managers in our survey believe that statewide education standards and uniform course-by-course final exams would have an impact on improving the quality of the work force in Pennsylvania. The numbers are pretty overwhelming and are consistent in every region of the state, across all sectors of the economy, and with employers of all sizes.

The State Board of Education proposal has been politically contentious. The poll results do not diminish the legitimacy of concerns raised by lawmakers, school boards, teachers, and parents. The poll results are not an indictment of teachers or school administrators. Businesspersons are not attacking local control of school curricula or learning. But, businesspersons do feel the global economic pressures that stress knowledge.

A transparent and open political process played out in coming months with all parties is the best way to bring people together to address this issue. We spend billions of tax dollars on education. More money is not the answer. We need uniform standards and accountability. Let's work together as Pennsylvanians to serve the needs of our youth and our state.

By DAVID W. PATTI
Contributing writer
GoErie.com

 Making Pennsylvania Graduates Ready for the 21st Century Workforce

The political process in Harrisburg worked. That’s something you do not hear every day.

But it is true in the case of finding a compromise for statewide graduation requirements with meaningful and consequential assessment tests that will ensure a Pennsylvania public high school diploma means the recipient is ready for college and the 21st Century workforce.

State Board of Education Chairman Joe Torsella recently announced a compromise on the politically contentious issue with, among others, the Republican and Democrat chairs of the Senate Education Committee, and the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union.

There is general agreement on the problem. Too many Pennsylvania high school graduates do not have the basic skills and knowledge, especially in math, reading, and writing, to compete in college or today’s global economy.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education found one in three high school grads enrolling in State System of Higher Education universities or Pennsylvania community colleges needed remedial courses, and 40 percent of students not reaching grade level proficiency on 11th PSSA tests still graduated, with no record of having ever achieved proficiency. Penn State found only 18 of the state’s 500 school districts have acceptable assessments to measure whether students are meeting the statewide requirements that are in place.

A recent statewide poll of businesses found that only seven percent are very confident that our state’s high school graduates have the knowledge and skills needed to enter the workforce. Two-thirds of business leaders see entry level applicants who lack the skills for the position they are seeking, and almost half of businesses say they spend at least some time and money giving newly hired employees the skills and knowledge they should have acquired in high school.

These are reasons that 80 percent of business leaders support a set of statewide graduation requirements measured by rigorous end-of-course exams.

The effort for stronger, consistent high school graduation requirements will achieve the goal of making sure our high school graduates have the knowledge and skills they need before they leave high school. The compromise struck after months of hard work by Mr. Torsella has addressed the reasonable concerns in the education community and earned the support of a wide array of leaders across the political spectrum.

As now proposed, the Keystone Exams will:

• Require remediation in the subject area a student failed, with opportunities to re-take the test, BEFORE graduation,
• Count for one-third of a student’s final grade in a subject, enough to be consequential, but addressing the concern this was an “all-or-nothing” test,
• Allow use of state designed exams, locally designed exams approved by a state/local board, or alternative methods to prove proficiency in a subject, such as projects, to answer the “one size doesn’t fit all” concern,
• Replace the 11th grade PSSA exams, thus REDUCING testing time by 18 hours, or three instructional days, answering the excessive testing concern,
• Be given as end-of-course exams, rather than at a specified time, to best measure mastery of the subject,
• Allow students to test out of courses by proving proficiency earlier, giving even more local flexibility, and
• Through delayed implementation and phase out of the 11th grade PSSA, cost $40 million less than the original proposal.

The State Board of Education has achieved a masterful political solution. The compromise proposal answers educators’ reasonable concerns, yet retains the essential goal of stronger, statewide standards: high school graduates will have the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in college and the work force when they leave high school.

We owe this to our businesses, which must have employees who can do the jobs available in our high-tech economy. We owe it to our communities, which must have companies that can compete globally.

Most of all, though, we owe it to our young people, to give them the best educational foundation possible to succeed in the years ahead.

By Charles E. Greenawalt II, Ph.D., Senior Fellow of The Susquehanna Valley Center.

There could be big changes coming in regards to the state's Keystone exams, the competency tests that high school seniors must complete before graduation. The Pennsylvania Board of Education announced last week it had a new proposal for the controversial statewide tests and key lawmakers have reacted favorably.

The changes are significant: tests will now be a voluntary option for local school districts and administering them will cost less. The revised plan will cost $40 million less over the next six years than the state administration's original plan. And the results will carry less weight, counting for 33 percent of a student's final grade instead of being the sole factor in determining whether or not they graduate.

It's a move that will likely be met favorably, given how little support the Keystone Exams have received from school administrators throughout the county.

School boards in Downingtown, Great Valley, Tredyffrin/Easttown and West Chester have opposed the tests, calling them unfunded mandate that usurps power at the local level.

The fact of the matter is, they're right. Mandatory testing only guarantees that teachers will deviate from their lesson plans to prepare students. When first proposed in January 2008, the tests were required in every district in Pennsylvania and students were required to pass at least six of 10 standardized tests before they could graduate.

Really?

Such policies leave students and teachers confused about what they should be preparing for. Should the emphasis be on final exams or an assessment test? Which is more important?

This new proposal seems much more favorable to us. The exams are weighted more accordingly, and districts can opt out if that is their preference. And given the unfavorable way most districts in the county view the tests, we'll be surprised if they're administered frequently.

If last week's proposal goes through, it will mean teachers can focus on teaching instead of teaching the test, which is what happens all too often in situations like these. That's a good thing for all parties.

These are changes we'd like to see enacted.

When Joe Torsella stands before the Senate Education Committee today, he's likely to feel like a substitute teacher in a classroom full of unruly students.

Mr. Torsella, chairman of the state Board of Education, has been trying for months to teach an important lesson: Pennsylvania needs rigorous, statewide graduation testing to ensure its children are prepared for college, trade schools or work when they leave high school.

Most of the time, though, his lesson has been drowned out by complaints. Criticism was so pervasive that an earlier version of the Keystone Exams was scrapped and the state Board of Education went back to the drawing board, significantly revising its plan to address many of the concerns.

First of all, students actually will take fewer tests than the earlier proposal would have required. The state will seek permission to stop requiring high school juniors to take the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests, exams that determine school districts' compliance with the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Districts had been worried about the loss of teaching time with new tests added, but eliminating the PSSAs will save about 18 hours. The Keystones also could take the place of course finals.

Second, the Keystone Exams won't represent an all-or-nothing proposition. The 10 end-of-course exams would count for no more than one-third of a student's grade. They are to be phased in and required for graduation beginning with the class of 2015.

Third, this plan will cost $40 million less than the $201 million called for originally.

School districts retain the option of using their own tests instead of the Keystones, although many balked because it's expensive to develop such tests and have them validated. The state would split those costs 50-50 with districts if that's what they choose.

As a further conciliatory move, Mr. Torsella will provide the Legislature with the regulatory language that would implement the testing plan before the state board votes on it next month, instead of afterward.

This new compromise plan deserves support, because it is a step that can help increase the value of a high school diploma from Pennsylvania.

Read the full article here

Read the full article here

Read the full article at PSEA.org

“Today’s announcement represents a new consensus on how to strengthen Pennsylvania’s high school graduation requirements while preserving local control and recognizing that one size does not fit all,” State Board of Education Chairman Joe Torsella said. “This plan is the product of hard work and compromise by the State Board of Education, school boards, teachers, principals, superintendents and many other education stakeholders – conducted under the General Assembly’s clear direction to come up with a proposal that has significant support from the education community and that reflects the input of legislative leaders.” Under the plan announced today:

• Students will have less – and better – testing. The proposal will ultimately eliminate 18 hours of 11^th grade PSSA testing in reading, writing, math and science. Plus, new standard final exams can take the place of classroom tests – so they do not require more testing time, and will occur at the appropriate point in a student’s learning.
• Taxpayers will save money. This plan will cost $40 million less than the Administration’s original proposal – reducing the recently announced DRC contract by $25 million and saving $5 million annually over three years as the 11^th grade PSSAs are eliminated. 
• Students will have more options to earn a diploma. The plan keeps in place the chance for students to earn a diploma based on local assessments, while also providing new pathways to a diploma.
• First-ever statewide model curriculum and diagnostic tools. The model curriculum supports will include sample lesson plans, exemplars and resources clearly aligned with Pennsylvania standards. Diagnostic tools are on-line resources for grades 6-12 which will provide teachers and students with individual student-level reports per course identifying the student’s strengths and weaknesses in content mastery.
• No all-or-nothing high stakes test. Under the new plan, Keystone Exams, when used, would count for a significant portion of a student’s final grade, but would not be the sole factor in determining graduation. Students’ opportunities to retake all or parts of Keystones, the percentage weight given to the Keystones, and the alternative pathways all ensure that tests will not bar students who have mastered the appropriate skills from graduation.
• Pennsylvania high school graduates will have skills and tools for 21^st century.  Although the plan includes different pathways, it will give all students – and their future employers – the certainty that their diplomas represent real mastery of the knowledge needed for college and career success.  

Starting with the Class of 2015 – the students entering seventh grade in September – students will have a menu of ways to show that they are proficient in English literature, English composition, and any two of three math subjects – Algebra I, Geometry and Algebra II:

• Successful course completion where Keystone Exams count for at least one-third of a student’s final class grade; 
• Passing local assessments that are rigorous and independently validated; or
• Passing Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exams, which also help students earn college credit. 

A requirement that students show proficiency in science and social studies will be phased-in starting with the Class of 2016 and this same menu of options will apply.

“This proposal is designed to enable us all to move away from the inaction and controversy that have stalled efforts to make Pennsylvania high schools the best in the country, and towards implementing a thoughtful, considered approach that will brighten the future of every graduate. It reflects the best thinking of the education community and the counsel of the General Assembly,” Chairman Torsella said. 

“And while no one will be entirely happy with every last word of this proposal, I urge all parties to see it for the careful, comprehensive, and common-ground compromise it is.”

“We heard loud and clear the Legislature’s insistence on a plan with broad buy-in, and I am optimistic that today’s announcement meets that threshold. I want to thank the many legislators I met with over the past several months for their time and commitment to seeing this issue resolved in a manner that benefits our students, our employers and our educators. I especially want to commend Senator Jeff Piccola, Senator Andy Dinniman, Representative Jim Roebuck, and Representative Paul Clymer, as well as Jim Testerman and his colleagues at the Pennsylvania State Education Association and Tom Gentzel and the team at Pennsylvania School Boards Association. All have displayed, over the course of recent weeks and months, real statesmanship and courage.”

Today’s plan also includes the following provisions:

• Students who do not pass a Keystone Exam on the first try will get extra help and then have the chance to take the final exam again. If a student is unable to pass the final exam after two tries, he or she can complete a detailed project in the subject – an option already in place for students in Maryland.
• Special education students will have different requirements if their IEPs call for alternative high school graduation standards.
• The Pennsylvania Department of Education will continue with its development of a world-class voluntary model curriculum and diagnostic tools – which are eagerly awaited by teachers and principals across the Commonwealth.  

“This process has been unprecedented in its opportunities for public input and dialogue,” Chairman Torsella said. “I am confident that we have arrived at a result that has benefitted from that dialogue and, most importantly, will benefit Pennsylvania’s young citizens for decades to come.”

HARRISBURG - Senator Jeffrey E. Piccola (R-15), Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, reacted to the compromise announced today regarding the ongoing debate to implement graduation testing and praised the State .Board of Education for its efforts and work with various interested parties.

"I applaud Joseph Torsella, Chairman of the State Board, for producing a compromise on one of the most difficult educational issues I've witnessed in all my years of legislative service and particularly in the midst of the toughest budget climate ever experienced by our Commonwealth. He and the State Board's staff are to be commended for consulting closely with lawmakers from all four caucuses and the various educational interest groups that represent our teachers, administrators, school boards, parents, students, and special education, intently listening to the concerns of everyone."

"Based on my initial review, this compromise has my support because it represents accountability that promises to ensure the taxpayers' investment is producing a high school diploma which means something and allows our students to compete in the ever-changing global economy. Under the compromise, the Keystone Exams would continue to be voluntary for school districts to use. An important point for me, however, is that the exam has a meaningful impact on a student's final course grade. At 33 percent, this is clearly the case while removing the concern that it is an 'all or nothing', high stakes test. The compromise also means the Keystone Exams will replace the PSSA which has been a consistent point for me from day one removing duplication and the ongoing state expense of supporting the PSSA."

"Additionally, 1am pleased this compromise recognizes the need for special education accommodations and
allows an 'alternative pathway' for students who do not test well, a plan similar to one implemented by the state of Maryland. Both of these concerns have been articulated clearly throughout this debate including during the Senate Education Committee's public hearing this past February."

"Early next week, I will convene a public hearing of the Senate Education Committee to give Chairman Torsella an opportunity to brief members on the compromise. Following our hearing, I will keep my commitment to my colleagues by bringing a resolution before the committee, in consultation with my Democratic colleague, Senator Andrew Dinniman (D-Chester), to ensure this issue is appropriately vetted in the Senate."

"Finally, while this compromise should give significant guidance to the budget negotiators, the Governor will
need to convince the General Assembly to fund the initial phase of the Keystone Exams."

View the release here.

Read the complete letter.

Read the complete letter

Steve Santucci tells his story:

I like college, but I am also anxious to get into the world of work, and see what I can do there. So, having to take a class that I was supposed to have finished with in high school delays my finishing college. And, trust me, my parents don't want to have to pay for any more semesters than absolutely necessary.

A little while ago I read a story about this graduation requirement idea. The story said about one-third of all Pennsylvania high school graduates have to take remedial courses in college, and it's costing taxpayers and families $26 million a year. Well, I'm one of those statistics and so are my parents.

...Lawmakers shouldn't lose sight of a worthy proposal that is in the best interest of thousands of public school students. Pennsylvania needs tougher graduation standards.

That process produces thousands of empty diplomas handed out every year. Many seniors leave high school without the basic math and reading skills needed to go to college or get a job.

As the head of three local companies involved in the hardwood business, I am writing to urge our legislators to support the state Department of Education’s proposal for statewide graduation requirements and rigorous testing to see that all students are meeting these requirements when they receive diplomas...Unfortunately, we are finding our high school graduates today are not always ready to compete in the 21^st Century workforce..

 

The editorial points out that only $8 million must be spent this year - and $21 million the next - to start preparing the tests for PA graduates.  "This subject is too important -- for students, for business, for Pennsylvania -- to become a political football," say the editors.   "It's time for Gov. Rendell and the Legislature to seek common ground on fixing the graduation competency problem that threatens the entire state."

Your May 28 editorial, "Exit exams: Testing necessary, but logjam prevails," hit the mark on the need for stronger tools to ensure graduate preparedness, but missed the point on how Pennsylvania is investing in that goal.

The recently signed contract between the Department of Education and Data Recognition Corp. is not for "graduation exit exams." Rather, it takes a critical step toward school improvement by creating high-quality curriculum aligned to Pennsylvania's academic standards, classroom diagnostic tools to help teachers identify and assist struggling students and better refine their instruction techniques.

To sum it up as a contract for "exit exams" is a gross oversimplification.

While media sound bites label this effort as a $201 million expense in the midst of a tough budget year, the commonwealth actually will spend no more than $8 million this year and an average of $28.7 million annually under this seven-year contract. In 2009-10, this amounts to just 0.2 percent of the commonwealth's investment in public education.

The tools DRC will provide will give students, parents, employers and other taxpayers peace of mind in knowing that diplomas handed out in Pennsylvania's 500 school districts truly represent the skills and knowledge our students will need to succeed.

"Having a clear, statewide benchmark ensured that my school district, more interested in sports than academics, provided a solid education that could take its students anywhere," writes Newton. "In a global economy, it no longer makes sense to argue that students in different communities need to know different things."

"Jamie Gwynn admits he wasn’t ready. He slouched through GAR High School before buckling down as a senior, wrangled a “conditional acceptance” from Wilkes University, and was unprepared for the work professors demanded. Yet this year he was the first in his family to earn a college degree, graduating summa cum laude."
 

Read the letter here.

"No wonder so many high school graduates entering college have to take remedial courses -- they have not been prepared to do college work," writes Ignozzi.  "[If} graduates...do not go on to college and don't speak proper English or know how to spell, what kind of jobs are they eligible for?"

The conference will open with a speech from state Rep. James Roebuck Jr., D-188, chairman of the House Committee on Education, and will include an open debate on the proposed Keystone Exams.

There will be panel discussions about supporting students who are lost from school prior to graduation and workshops for students on preparing for the future.

• Creation of high-quality model curricula for school districts to use on a voluntary basis;
• Diagnostic tools to help teachers better identify students who might need additional help in core subjects like math, science and English; and
• Standard final exams that school districts could use on a voluntary basis to ensure students are proficient in these content areas.

Funding for this initiative, designed to prepare PA high school students for the workforce and college, comes from the 2008-09 budget approved last July by General Assembly and Gov. Ed Rendell.

This initiative, said Jerry Zahorchak, Chief Schools Officer at the PDE, "Does not replace or negate the need to implement stronger high school graduation requirements starting with the Class of 2015, which is the responsibility of the State Board of Education. The board expects to resume the regulatory review process, which includes extensive input from the public and the General Assembly, later this year."

In the past, schools were given the option of deciding how to measure each student's graduation readiness and criteria students were to meet before leaving the state education system.

But Leah Harris, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Education, said there lacks a universal set of requirements for graduates, which means a student from Blackhawk is graduating based on a different set of requirements than a Center Area student. And that shouldn't be so, she said.

"We will now know that students graduating are able to do basic algebra, can read at a higher level, and have a basic knowledge of chemistry and biology, so it's going to be substance that is linked to the diplomas themselves, a list of standards we know that those students holding those diplomas met. Currently we can't say that across the board."

In less than three months, the moratorium on changing state graduation requirements will be over, leaving the state board of education open to take the next step toward state-required exams for graduation.

The idea of graduation competency exams once was so controversial that more than 20 statewide organizations opposed it, about 200 school boards passed resolutions against it and state legislators blocked the state Board of Education from acting on changing graduation requirements.

Now even groups that opposed a graduation competency exam are lining up in favor of variations on the theme of state-created, end-of-course tests for high school students.

Joan Benso of PA Partnerships for Children is worried that the second proposal - "Keystone 2.0" - wouldn't count enough towards graduation "to have young people take them seriously."

"We support a balance between state and local assessments with an emphasis on the importance of locally developed assessment protocols and procedures. Teaching and learning take place at the community level. Local teachers need to be involved heavily in the decisions regarding who graduates from high school. They need to develop and administer a variety of assessment measures that meet the state standards as school districts assure parents and taxpayers that the diploma has been earned."

Click to read Shucker and Yarnell's entire piece on Keystone Exams. 
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Dan Rooney, Chairman of the Pittsburgh Steelers, outlines his support for graduation exams in an editorial which ran in the Harrisburg Patriot News on April 1.

Our goal for the Pittsburgh Steelers is to compete at the highest level. We expect nothing less from our players and coaches, and believe they can achieve this if we provide the resources and support necessary. Our track record bears out the wisdom of this approach.

I write today about a subject infinitely more important than a football game, but one for which we as a state must make the same commitment the Steelers do on the gridiron. The subject is the education of our children, and specifically, the need to raise the standards required for students to successfully complete high school.

This is a personal passion of mine, as well as a deep concern as a businessperson. My daughter, Mary Duffy, teaches young children in Allegheny County's Woodland Hills School District. Each year, she has several students labeled "difficult or challenging." My daughter gives these students all the attention she can, while also teaching the rest of the class — itself a difficult and challenging task.

But Mary often tells the story of the payoff for her hard work when one of these difficult students walked into the room, put his arms around her, and said, "Miss Rooney, we love you."

No one has greater respect for our teachers than I. So, knowing many don't agree with Governor Rendell's plan for strengthening graduation assessments is not something I take lightly. I share teachers' concern that the six to eight hours a day they have with children isn't enough to ensure academic success and fully agree parents' responsibility and accountability for their child's education, is greater than the teachers'.

However, to teachers, parents and anyone else who feels we should not bolster our graduation standards in Pennsylvania, I say: We are not changing the standards for high school graduates; they have already been -changed for us.

When my father founded the Steelers, professional football wasn't much more than a hobby. Players suited up during the fall, and held other jobs the rest of the year. Training camp was a time to get in shape and learn the playbook. Back then, an education at the local school, with a diploma that satisfied the needs of local businesses, was sufficient to find a job and provide for your family. Today, anybody showing up at camp not in tip-top shape with a thorough understanding of what is expected of him won't be on the roster for long. These standards weren't changed by the colleges sending their best players to the NFL, but by the ever increasing competition among the professional teams themselves, competing for ever greater stakes.

So it is with education. The modern world and job market require a high school diploma that says the holder is in tip-top academic shape, ready right now to compete with the best not just in his or her community, Pennsylvania, or the United States, but to compete with the best in the world.

We all see how our children today communicate, interact and engage one another with little regard to national boundaries or political maps. We are truly in a worldwide community, and this will expand only in regard to the economy.

Given this reality, our children who continue their education beyond high school must go into those classrooms prepared to gain the knowledge and training necessary for them to be the innovators that have always been the biggest part of the American spirit.

Our children who go directly into jobs must be immediately ready to compete within a global marketplace by possessing the skills, work ethic and determination that has made the American work force the pride of the world.

We must never shortchange our children with shallow expectations. Our children can and will meet any challenge if we give them the resources and support necessary.

This requires that we have strong, consistent graduation assessments throughout Pennsylvania, so colleges and employers know a student coming to them from a Pennsylvania high school is ready for what's next. Our students need this confidence, too.

That young boy, the difficult student who said, "Miss Rooney, we love you," didn't come to love my daughter as a teacher because she let him just get by, but because she believed in him and demanded he become the best he could be.

Our students will always bring the greatness of our nation to the world. We must always believe in them and their ability to be the best. Consistent, rigorous graduation assessments are a great way to start.

BY DAN ROONEY

The Patriot News,
March 29, 2009
 

Walker hires high school graduates, and needs them to have some basic skills. One secretarial hire did not know state abbreviations, other hires don't understand how to multiply or divide using fractions and some  aven't been able to comprehend between English or metric measurements (for instance - inches vs. millimeters.) 

His firm spends much more time and money on remedial training for high school graduates than they did 20 years ago.

Below is commentary of Walker's that first appeared in theLeader-Vindicator.

Clearfield County coal has helped power America and the world for generations. As president and CEO of Bradford Energy Co. Inc., I have marketed metallurgical coal mined in Clearfield County in 25 different countries. This broad experience in 21st century international business has me concerned about our community's and our country's future, and has led me to support the proposal for standardized, statewide, rigorous high school graduation requirements in Pennsylvania.

Our family wholeheartedly supports education in general and public schools in particular, having four generations of graduates from Clearfield Area High School, dating to my 97-year-old father, class of 1931. We have established scholarships which have helped hundreds of deserving area high school students go to college, professional or trade schools.

It is from this background of support for our public schools that I find myself concerned about the value, or rather lack thereof, for a Pennsylvania high school diploma today.

As an employer who still has room for good quality high school graduates, and I believe I speak for other employers as well, I no longer have any idea what a high school diploma really means. But I do know what I need in terms of basic skills in the high school graduates I hire, and I know what I'm not always getting.

For example, a secretary we hired, based in part on good recommendations from her high school teachers, did not know state abbreviations used by the Postal Service. She also had never learned the proper use of synonyms such as their/ there/they're, or to/too/two. Every letter she wrote had to be proofread by someone else in the office, a tremendous waste of time and resources.

We also need students who can multiply and divide by fractions, something we very rarely find among today's high school graduates. Yet this is the most basic math we use. Our employees must also understand the difference between metric and English weights and measures. Unfortunately, this is something we must spend time and money teaching most of our new hires.

In fact, we must spend much more time and money on remedial training for high school graduates compared with 20 years ago. At the same time, my travels to other countries, especially those once considered third world, increasingly alarm me when I see how much these nations have closed the gap in the education and training of their young people - the young people staffing my competitors.

We must return to the days when a high school diploma meant the holder was heading to college or to the workplace with a grasp of the basic skills needed to succeed at the next level. No doubt those basic skills have changed significantly over the past couple of decades, but our schools have not all kept up.

This is why we must have rigorous graduation requirements at all of our Pennsylvania high schools, and we must have consistent assessments to assure all of our high schools meet these requirements.

The proposed Keystone Exams would provide a meaningful assessment of graduating students' mastery of the basics in English, math and science at the conclusion of their high school courses in these subjects. Students not passing these tests would need to take remedial courses at school before receiving a diploma. This plan would allow local districts to develop their own graduation assessments, as long as they met the state requirements, helping preserve local control.

In 2007, roughly two of five Pennsylvania high school graduates did not meet state standards in reading, writing, or math, yet still received diplomas. Fully one-third of Pennsylvania high school graduates enrolling at community college or state-owned universities must now take at least one remedial course, at a cost to taxpayers of $26 million a year. What it is costing industries such as Bradford Energy to provide on the job remediation is beyond calculation.

What is clear is the need for solid, statewide graduation requirements. I believe we have a moral obligation to make sure our students are ready for post secondary education or the workforce. How can we as parents and community leaders of today do anything less? The future of our young people, our businesses, our communities, and our state depends on it.


C. Alan Walker is president/CEO of Bradford Energy Co. of Bigler and associated coal and contracting firms. He was previously employed by E.I. DuPont. Born in 1944, he is a 1962 graduate of Clearfield High School and holds degrees from Penn State and Bucknell universities. He is a past chairman of the board of the Pennsylvania Coal Association. He has won numerous awards for service to Boy Scouts, business, education, the community. He is married to Judith Huffman Walker. They have two children, Derek Alan and Courtney Judith.

Robert Pangborn, V.P. and Dean for Undergraduate Education at PSU, testified at a PA Board of Education public hearing on high school reform in Lock Haven on May 6.  He and his colleagues at Penn State believe that initiatives to ensure that high school students learn and an demonstrate basic competencies in core areas prior to graduation represent sound public policy. 

Pangborn says that students without such a base will face a steep climb to success in college and in the workforce. Up to 10% of Penn State students typically require some attention to pre-college math, and nearly a quarter need a course in pre-college English competition.

Read his full testimony.

He believes that our current model of secondary schools is antiquated and that we should move toward a system that is in sync with the demands of todays' world and fits the learning styles of today's students. Students today are being tought in much the same way as when he started teaching in 1964.

Click here for testimony.

State Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak stood with the association's executive director Tom Gentzel and State Board of Education Joe Torsella today at a Capitol news conference to say they have reached an agreement that addressed school boards' concerns about local control and too much testing.

The revised plan allows districts to continue to use local assessments to measure students' proficiency in math, English, social studies and science, provided it has been validated by a panel of state and local officials. The cost of that validation will be shared by the state and local district. The local exams could take many forms, such as a portfolio, student project, or scientific experiment, instead of a paper-and-pencil test.

The PSBA issued a news release which details their support for graduation testing.