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///STATE LEGISLATION AND REGULATION\\\

Chapter 4/Keystone Exams

At its March 14th meeting, the State Board of Education approved certain revisions to its Chapter 4 regulations, largely related to the Keystone Exams. Among the changes/additions are the following:

*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 website.

* 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 Keystones 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. (Updated 3/15/13)

New Secretary of Education Appointed

Governor Corbett has appointed Dr. William Harner to be the new Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth. Dr. Harner is a retired Lt. Colonel in the United States Army, who has a varied background as a school administrator despite no prior experience as a teacher or educational specialist. He has just completed a five-year term as Superintendent of the Cumberland Valley School District near Harrisburg. Prior to that he was a Regional Superintendent in the Philadelphia School District for one year; Superintendent of the Greenville County, South Carolina, School District for four years; and Principal of the Hilton Head, South Carolina, High School for two years.He also had a brief stint in the Gainesville, Georgia, School District. He is graduate of Cheltenham High School near Philadelphia, In addition to his West Point education, Dr. Harner earned an MS in educational leadership from Troy University, an EdS and PhD from the University of South Carolina, and participated in the Broad Urban Superintendents Academy. (Updated 5/20/13)

Staff Evaluation System

As part of the State Board plan to adopt a new rubrics system for the evaluation of teachers, principals, and non-teaching professionals. For classroom teachers, such as those in special education, the system will be based 50% on student performance and 50% on the rubrics, which cover 22 components in 4 domains as established by Charlotte Danielson’s research. Four levels of performance will be available to the rater – failing, basic, proficient and distinguished.The former two will be considered unsatisfactory, while the latter two will be considered satisfactory. The PDE will develop guidelines for how to calculate the overall result from the 22 separate components. In the case of non-teaching specialists, such as counselors and nurses, the student performance component is reduced to 20% and will consist of elective measures relating to goals for student well-being. The system is expected to go into effect in 2013-14 for teachers and a year later for principals and educational specialists.A task force, which included representation from PAPSA, has met at the Harrisburg PaTTAN offices on three occasions to develop separate rubrics for counselors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, dental hygienists and the various special education categories. The draft rubrics have been circulated for final comment before being disseminated publicly. Schools have been contacted about serving as pilot sites during the second semester of the 2012-13 school year. As of this date, some 45 school districts have offered to pilot the school counselor rubrics. On June 20-21 the work groups will meet at PaTTAN in Harrisburg to review the results of the pilot and make any further adjustments to the rubrics. (Updated 5/29/13)

Special Education Funding

The final version of a bill to examine and revise the current formula for funding special education programs has been signed into law by Governor Corbett. A special committee composed of legislators from both houses and including staff from PDE has been appointed to address the issue. (Updated 5/20/13)