Can school districts modify the administration schedule for the Keystone Exams?
The Keystone Exams will be broken down into modules. Students that do not score proficient must only be retested on those modules in which proficiency was not reached. Under the plan, test results must be returned to the student at least 10 days before graduation. Districts can modify their testing schedules under the Keystone proposal. While there is still a fall-spring-summer testing schedule under the Keystone plan, school districts may request the Department of Education to approve alternative test administration and scoring timeframes. These requests must be allowed unless such approval is contrary to the standards of test validity and scoring. PDE will publish guidelines and procedures for approving alternative test administration and scoring timeframes on its Web site. This option for districts to request alternative administration dates was another major change from the GCA proposal, which provided for a fixed, state-mandated testing schedule.
