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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | March 17, 2022 11:24 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Angel Cruz |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | School Assessments |
| In 2019, former Auditor General Eugene DePasquale called for replacing the Keystone Exams with a test that is “statistically proven to help students realize their potential for higher education, careers or other callings.” We have made great strides in Pennsylvania with the passage of Act 6 of 2017 and Act 158 of 2018, which established alternative pathways for meeting statewide graduation requirements. It is time that Pennsylvania builds on this progress by establishing a measurement of student performance that assesses academic proficiency while recognizing the differences in student needs across the Commonwealth. My legislation would do just that – by requiring the State Board of Education to work with the governing boards of each school entity to develop county-wide assessments to be administered in place of the statewide standardized tests. The legislation would also eliminate the required passage of assessments in order to graduate. By developing academic proficiency tests at the county level, teachers can use assessment results to better tailor instruction to fit real-world demands and help students build higher-level skills and processes like creative and analytical thinking, experimental inquiry and literacy, decision making, and persuasive oral communication. Virginia and New Hampshire allow local assessments. These states know that strict assessments that don’t align with real-world expectations limit the growth of both teachers and students. Please consider adding Pennsylvania to this list of pioneering states by signing on to this proposal. |
Introduced as HB2473