Posted: Tuesday, December 10, 2013 9:00 pm | Updated: 1:30 pm, Wed Dec 11, 2013.
HARRISBURG — As Pennsylvania forges ahead with its first high school exit exams, House lawmakers squabbled Tuesday over the price tag to develop and score the new standardized assessments.A House Education Committee hearing focused on concerns over the Keystone Exams, a set of subject tests that students will have to pass to graduate starting with the Class of 2017, or this year’s ninth-graders. Last year was the first year the state administered Keystone Exams in three subjects: Algebra I, literature and biology.
Schuylkill County Rep. Mike Tobash, who is pushing a bill to prohibit the Department of Education from developing additional Keystone subject tests for another 10 years, blasted the assessments as a financial burden that cost some $200 million and have the potential to rack up “hundreds of millions more.”
Joan Benso, president of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, who supports the Keystone Exams as a way to better prepare students for jobs and higher education, told committee members she didn’t know the exact dollar figures, but that she thought the exams cost closer to just $3 million each.
So how much do the new high school exit exams really cost?
The state spent about $5 million per exam to develop the first three Keystone subject tests, and has budgeted an estimated $4 million to $5 million annually per exam to administer and score the tests, Department of Education spokesman Tim Eller said.
The administration of the Keystone Exams cost a total of $19.5 million last school year and $12.5 million this school year, Eller said. Looking ahead, the department anticipates the cost will be $14 million to $15 million annually to administer the three exams.
The $200 million figure floating around likely stems from the state’s entire five-year purchase order with Data Recognition Corporation for testing at all grade levels — not just the Keystone Exams, Eller said. That amount includes the Pennsylvania System of School Assessments administered to third- through eighth-graders.
The department is set to go out to bid for a new testing provider contract in early spring, and could choose to go with another company, Eller said. The Keystone Exams are aligned with Pennsylvania’s slightly tweaked version of the national Common Core State Standards, a framework developed by the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers adopted by 45 states.
The state Legislature has not yet appropriated funding to roll out additional subject exams, with original plans calling for up to 10 tests. The next two Keystone Exams slated for development cover composition and civics and government.
The development and implementation costs don’t include the added financial burden some schools say they’ll be facing to remediate students who don’t pass the exam on the first try. Students may take the tests an unlimited number of times, and local school officials can grant students exemptions in extenuating circumstances.
The state Independent Regulatory Review Commission gave final approval to the implementation of the Keystone Exams as a graduation requirement on Nov. 21. The exit exam rules are included in the comprehensive set of education regulations known as Chapter 4.
The state Attorney General’s office still has to sign off for the Chapter 4 regulations to get adopted officially, a procedural approval that’s expected to happen in coming weeks.
House Education Committee Chairman Paul Clymer, R-145, said that while the Keystone Exam requirement is moving forward, he wants the education community to know that lawmakers will continue to address concerns raised by educators. Among some issues brought up Tuesday: whether a focus on testing leads to narrower curriculum and strapped staff resources, the need to value vocational and technical education and the extra burden placed on high-poverty school districts to remediate students.
“The teachers and administrators know that there’s an open door there, that we are listening and their concerns and frustrations are being heard,” said Clymer. “We can continue to move the dialogue and the conversation around the table, and we can work out solutions.”
Joan Benso, president of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, who supports the Keystone Exams as a way to better prepare students for jobs and higher education, told committee members she didn’t know the exact dollar figures, but that she thought the exams cost closer to just $3 million each.
So how much do the new high school exit exams really cost?
The state spent about $5 million per exam to develop the first three Keystone subject tests, and has budgeted an estimated $4 million to $5 million annually per exam to administer and score the tests, Department of Education spokesman Tim Eller said.
The administration of the Keystone Exams cost a total of $19.5 million last school year and $12.5 million this school year, Eller said. Looking ahead, the department anticipates the cost will be $14 million to $15 million annually to administer the three exams.
The $200 million figure floating around likely stems from the state’s entire five-year purchase order with Data Recognition Corporation for testing at all grade levels — not just the Keystone Exams, Eller said. That amount includes the Pennsylvania System of School Assessments administered to third- through eighth-graders.
The department is set to go out to bid for a new testing provider contract in early spring, and could choose to go with another company, Eller said. The Keystone Exams are aligned with Pennsylvania’s slightly tweaked version of the national Common Core State Standards, a framework developed by the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers adopted by 45 states.
The state Legislature has not yet appropriated funding to roll out additional subject exams, with original plans calling for up to 10 tests. The next two Keystone Exams slated for development cover composition and civics and government.
The development and implementation costs don’t include the added financial burden some schools say they’ll be facing to remediate students who don’t pass the exam on the first try. Students may take the tests an unlimited number of times, and local school officials can grant students exemptions in extenuating circumstances.
The state Independent Regulatory Review Commission gave final approval to the implementation of the Keystone Exams as a graduation requirement on Nov. 21. The exit exam rules are included in the comprehensive set of education regulations known as Chapter 4.
The state Attorney General’s office still has to sign off for the Chapter 4 regulations to get adopted officially, a procedural approval that’s expected to happen in coming weeks.
House Education Committee Chairman Paul Clymer, R-145, said that while the Keystone Exam requirement is moving forward, he wants the education community to know that lawmakers will continue to address concerns raised by educators. Among some issues brought up Tuesday: whether a focus on testing leads to narrower curriculum and strapped staff resources, the need to value vocational and technical education and the extra burden placed on high-poverty school districts to remediate students.
“The teachers and administrators know that there’s an open door there, that we are listening and their concerns and frustrations are being heard,” said Clymer. “We can continue to move the dialogue and the conversation around the table, and we can work out solutions.”
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