Academic Planning

Senate Bill 1095, which was signed into law by Governor Tom Wolf on October 24, 2018, shifts Pennsylvania’s reliance on high stakes testing as a graduation requirement to provide alternatives for high school students to demonstrate readiness for postsecondary success.

Formerly, Pennsylvania’s graduation requirement was more restrictive, requiring most students to pass the Keystone Exams — end of course exams in Algebra I, Literature, and Biology.

Senate Bill 1095 expands the options for students to demonstrate postsecondary readiness using four additional pathways that more fully illustrate college, career, and community readiness.

The statewide graduation requirement will apply, as will any other locally-established policies and requirements.
Additionally, Keystone Exams are the statewide assessment that Pennsylvania uses to comply with accountability requirements in the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

Each state is expected to achieve 95 percent participation on its statewide exams.

Students can meet the statewide graduation requirement by:

• Scoring proficient or advanced on each Keystone Exam - Algebra I, Literature, and Biology.
• Earning a satisfactory composite score on the Algebra I, Literature, and Biology Keystone Exams.
• Earning a passing grade on the courses associated with each Keystone Exam, and satisfactorily complete one of the following:
  • an alternative assessment (SAT, PSAT, ACT, ASVAB, Gold Level ACT WorkKeys)
  •  advanced coursework (AP, IB, dual enrollment courses),
  • pre-apprenticeship, or acceptance in a 4-year nonprofit institution of higher education for college-level coursework.
• Earning a passing grade on the courses associated with each Keystone Exam, and pass the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute (NOCTI) or the National Institute of Metalworking Skills (NIMS) assessment in an approved Career and Technical Education concentration.
• Earning a passing grade on the courses associated with each Keystone Exam, and demonstrate readiness for postsecondary engagement through three pieces of evidence from the student’s career portfolio aligned to student goals and career plan. Examples of evidence will include ACT WorkKeys, SAT Subject tests, AP, IB and dual enrollment on current coursework, higher education acceptance, community learning project, completion of an internship, externship or co-op or full-time employment.

College admissions requirements and high school graduation requirements, such as course and examination requirements, may be very different.

Students planning to attend college should work with their counselor to schedule appropriate courses and to gain an understanding of admission test requirements.
 
Common college entrance exams include the ACT and the SAT. Information and registration for these assessments is available online.

ACT

SAT

The PSAT, the practice SAT, will be administered at KHS. Results on the PSAT allow 11th grade students to compare themselves with other college bound students across the country, and to predict their estimated SAT score.

In addition, the 11th grade PSAT serves as the qualification examination for the National Merit Scholarship. PSAT registration information will be sent home to sophomores and juniors in the summer.