PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 1621, 1877

PRINTER'S NO. 1894

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

No.

1095

Session of

2018

INTRODUCED BY McGARRIGLE, KILLION, TOMLINSON, WHITE, VOGEL,

SCAVELLO, MENSCH, BAKER, AUMENT, BREWSTER, BARTOLOTTA,

BOSCOLA AND STEFANO, APRIL 6, 2018

laws relating thereto," in preliminary provisions, further

providing for Keystone Exams.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1. Section 121 of the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30,

No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, amended June

21, 2017 (P.L.200, No.6) and November 6, 2017 (P.L.1142, No.55),

is amended to read:

Section 121. Keystone Exams and Graduation Requirements.--

(a) The Department of Education shall develop and implement

Keystone Exams as a graduation requirement and in any school

year in which a demonstration of proficiency on a Keystone Exam

is required for high school graduation, a student who attains a

satisfactory composite score approved under paragraph (2) on the

algebra I, biology and literature Keystone Exams shall be deemed

proficient for the purposes of the high school graduation

requirement.

(2) No later than July 30, 2019, the secretary shall

recommend, and the State Board of Education shall approve, the

satisfactory composite score a student must attain in order to

results available to the secretary.

(3) Every five years, the State Board of Education shall

review the operation of the satisfactory composite score

established under paragraph (2) and shall issue a report of its

findings to the chairman and minority chairman of the Education

Committee of the Senate and the chairman and minority chairman

of the Education Committee of the House of Representatives.

(4) The satisfactory composite score established under

paragraph (2) shall remain in effect unless the score is changed

by an act of the General Assembly.

satisfactory composite score on the department's publicly

accessible Internet website.

(b) The following shall apply:

(1) Notwithstanding section 2604-B(b)(2)(v), 22 Pa. Code §

4.24 (relating to high school graduation requirements), 4.51

(relating to State assessment system) or 4.51c (relating to

project-based assessment) or any statute or regulation to the

contrary, the use of the Keystone Exams as a graduation

requirement or as a benchmark for the need for participation in

a project-based assessment shall be delayed until the [2019-

including proposed legislation, to the chairman and minority

chairman of the Education Committee of the Senate and the

chairman and minority chairman of the Education Committee of the

House of Representatives. The report shall, at a minimum,

contain a detailed plan and timeline within which the Department

of Education shall accomplish all of the following:

(i) Implement alternative methods for students to

demonstrate proficiency for graduation in addition to the

Keystone Exams, the project-based assessments and other

alternative assessments provided for in 22 Pa. Code § 4.24.

courses or programs as a result of supplemental instruction

required in 22 Pa. Code §§ 4.24(k) and 4.51b(f) (relating to

Keystone Exams).

(b.1) Notwithstanding section 2604-B(b)(2)(v), 22 Pa. Code §

4.24, 4.51, 4.51b or 4.51c or any statute or regulation to the

contrary, in any school year in which a demonstration of

proficiency on a Keystone Exam is required for high school

graduation, the following shall apply:

(1) A student who does not demonstrate proficiency on a

Keystone Exam or on a locally validated assessment under 22 Pa.

(2) A public school entity that offers supplemental

instruction shall design its supplemental instruction programs

to ensure students who accept the public school entity's offer

of supplemental instruction are able to participate in both

supplemental instruction and instruction related to their

career , military or postsecondary education plans .

(3) An offer of supplemental instruction to a student

enrolled in an area vocational-technical school or in a career

and technical education program offered by a school district,

charter school, cyber charter school or regional charter school

student's concentration area within a career and technical

education program as well as demonstrate a high likelihood of

success on an approved industry-based competency assessment.

(4) No public school entity may be required to offer, nor

may any student be required to participate in or complete, a

project-based assessment as provided for in 22 Pa. Code § 4.51c.

(5) A student with a disability who satisfactorily completes

a special education program developed by an individualized

education program team under the Individuals with Disabilities

Education Act (Public Law 91-230, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq.) and

(7) When a student transfers from an out-of-State school to

a public school entity in this Commonwealth, the student's

public school entity shall determine whether the student's

performance on out-of-State coursework and assessments that are

aligned with the State academic standards assessed by each

Keystone Exam satisfy the requirements of this section. The

public school entity's duty under this paragraph shall be

subject to guidance that the secretary shall develop and issue

within 60 days of the effective date of this subsection.

(c) Notwithstanding section 2604-B(b)(2)(v), 22 Pa. Code §

Concentrator shall meet all of the following requirements:

(1) completes locally established grade-based requirements

for academic content areas associated with each Keystone Exam on

which the CTE Concentrator did not achieve proficiency. For the

purposes of this paragraph, completion of grade-based

requirements in any science and technology and environment and

ecology course shall satisfy the requirements for the academic

content area associated with the Keystone Exam in biology; and

(2) completes one of the following:

(i) attains an industry-based competency certification

CTE Concentrator's goals and career plan[.] and determined for

the CTE Concentrator by a chief school administrator in

consultation with an area vocational-technical school director

or principal of a comprehensive high school . The determination

shall be made no later than the end of eleventh grade, or, for a

student enrolled in a one-year program, the end of the first

semester of twelfth grade.

(c.1) Notwithstanding section 2604-B(b)(2)(v), 22 Pa. Code §

4.24 or 4.51 or any statute or regulation to the contrary, in

any school year in which a demonstration of proficiency on a

associated academic content areas of the Keystone Exams. For the

purposes of this paragraph, completion of grade-based

requirements in any science and technology and environment and

ecology course shall satisfy the requirements for the academic

content area associated with the Keystone Exam in biology.

(2) Any of the following:

(i) completion of an advanced placement program exam or

international baccalaureate diploma program exam in the

associated Keystone Exam content area at a score recommended by

the secretary in consultation with the Transfer and Articulation

student for military enlistment;

(iii) receipt of a certification that the student will begin

work in a registered apprenticeship program following high

school graduation;

(iv) completion of the general SAT or ACT at a performance

level recommended by the secretary and approved by the State

Board of Education;

(v) evidence of admission to, or scholarship award from, an

accredited nonprofit institution of higher education;

(vi) achievement of a passing grade in a dual enrollment

pieces of objective evidence approved by the chief school

administrator or their designee that reflect the student's

readiness for graduation and relate to the student's career,

military or postsecondary education plans. The pieces of

evidence eligible to be presented and the minimum number of

pieces of evidence required shall be recommended by the

secretary and approved by the State Board of Education, and the

Department of Education shall issue guidance for public school

entities to follow when applying the provisions of this

subparagraph. The pieces of evidence recommended by the

Board of Education or established by an act of the General

Assembly.

(B) A guaranteed full-time employment letter in a career

field consistent with the student's career or postsecondary

education plans .

(C) Attainment of an industry-recognized credential, as

approved by the Department of Education and identified in the

industry credential resource book compiled by the department's

Bureau of Career and Technical Education.

(D) A certificate of successful completion of an internship,

approved by the State Board of Education or established by an

act of the General Assembly.

(F) Satisfactory compliance with the National Collegiate

Athletic Association's core courses for college-bound student

athletes with a minimum GPA of 2.0 or the equivalent on an

alternative grading scale.

(G) Satisfactory completion of a community service project

that received advance approval for use as a rigorous and

objective piece of evidence by a chief school administrator or

their designee. A community service project shall include in-

notwithstanding any other provision of law, a public school

entity shall not release individual student Pennsylvania System

of School Assessment or Keystone Exam scores to the Department

of Education or other Commonwealth entities.

(c.3) The performance level demonstrated in each of the

State academic standards, including the highest performance

level demonstrated by a student on the associated Keystone Exam,

may be included on a student's transcript as determined locally

by each public school entity.

(c.4) No later than the beginning of the 2020-2021 school