Thursday, January 2, 2014

Keystone Exams, Construction Two Hot Education Issues for 2014

 

Keystone exams, construction two hot education issues for 2014

 
Pennsylvania's new Keystone Exams and ongoing construction will be two of the major issues confronting local education officials in 2014.Officials of the Bristol Township, Central Bucks, Council Rock and Pennsbury school districts are among those expressing concerns about the Keystone Exams. Starting with this year's freshman class, Pennsylvania students will be required to pass Algebra 1, literature and biology Keystone Exams to graduate from high school.
"Our superintendent, Dr. Kevin McHugh, recently joined more than 50 school leaders from Southeastern Pennsylvania in endorsing a letter to state legislators about shared concerns with regard to the Keystone Exams," said Pennsbury spokeswoman Ann Langtry.
"Primary among those concerns are the excessive costs and inordinate amount of lost instructional time associated with the Keystone implementation and the fact that these high-stakes exams could potentially preclude students from graduating, even after they pass rigorous courses and common assessments given by the local high schools," she continued. "Finally, there is the concern that the Keystones are likely to cause an increased dropout rate among a disproportionate number of low-income and at-risk students."
Paul Beltz, supervisor of reading, federal programs and elementary technology for the Central Bucks School District, expressed many of the same concerns.
"While Keystone Exams more closely align to course content than the previous grade 11 PSSA tests, we remain concerned about the overall impact of state testing," he said. "Administering the three Keystone Exams has increased the number of hours of testing time for many students. Student testing, and re-testing to demonstrate proficiency, results in additional hours taken away from classroom instruction."
"Also of concern is the overlap in the timing of Keystone Exams, AP (advanced placement) testing and College Board exams for many of our students," Beltz continued. "The state Department of Education has planned to add Keystone Exams in other subject areas. We view this as just increasing the time that would be spent away from classroom instruction."
Joan Benso, president of a group called Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, praised the approval of Keystone Exams as a graduation requirement as a positive move that will boost student education levels statewide.
"For too long, Pennsylvania has been graduating tens of thousands of students each year who received their diplomas despite failing to demonstrate proficiency in reading and math," she said.
That reasoning is not alleviating concerns among many school district officials.
Council Rock Superintendent Mark Klein said the Keystone Exams will cost the school district well over $200,000 this school year and said the new requirement is another unfunded mandate from the state.
"It's unreasonable to connect the results of one single exam to the award of a Council Rock diploma," Klein said at a recent school board meeting. "We don't want to teach to the test. There is no clear line between what we're teaching and what the state is testing for. The Keystone Exams, along with a lot of other things coming from the state, treat all 501 school districts the same, and that is not the right way to do things. We don't have confidence that these exams are viable and reliable."
In addition to the three Keystone Exams members of the Class of 2017 will be required to pass, tests may be added in areas such as composition, civics and government in future years.
"I'm OK with the transparency and accountability concepts of the Keystones and glad these high-stakes exams are tied to course content," said Bristol Township School District Superintendent Samuel Lee. "However, we have been challenged by the transition process from PSSA to Keystones and concerned that the remediation process connected with the Keystones requires significant resources, both financial and human. I am fairly sure that these resources would better serve our students elsewhere."
He continued: "On a more global level, I am concerned that the high-stakes testing culture borne by the No Child Left Behind Act and continued through Race To The Top has not improved student outcomes and opportunities and diminishes and minimizes the possibility of a more holistic, rounded educational experience for our students."
While continuing to grapple with Keystone issues, Superintendents Lee and Klein said they're also keeping track of major construction in their school districts.
After finishing major renovation/addition projects at Churchville and Holland Elementary schools, Council Rock is in the middle of another one at Goodnoe Elementary. Council Rock officials are also taking some initial steps toward major work at Newtown Middle School.
Bristol Township is well on the way to building three new elementary schools estimated to cost about $41 million each. Other construction work planned in the school district adds up to a total estimated package of about $150 million, officials said.
Both Lee and Klein said they hope the state loosens up its moratorium on reimbursements for school construction. Lee said he hopes the state will reimburse Bristol Township about 13 percent of construction costs there.
"We're fortunate in that our Southeastern Pennsylvania legislative delegation seems to be proponents of getting the PlanCon (state construction reimbursement) pipeline flowing again," said Lee. "It's confusing to me why Pennsylvania would disincentivize such economically feasible and responsible construction programs."

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