{"id":6511,"date":"2014-07-01T08:57:22","date_gmt":"2014-07-01T12:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=6511"},"modified":"2014-07-01T09:01:51","modified_gmt":"2014-07-01T13:01:51","slug":"oped-keystones-not-ready-to-graduate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=6511","title":{"rendered":"Op\/Ed.: Keystones not ready to graduate"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rep. Duane D. Milne<\/strong>, State Representative, 167th<\/sup> Legislative District<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Milne\"<\/a>

State Rep. Duane D. Milne<\/p><\/div>\n

As the 2013-14 school year ends, and we look forward to 2014-15, I am calling on my fellow citizens to join me in demanding a halt to the implementation of the Keystone Exams as proposed.<\/p>\n

In short: the Keystone Exams, if adopted as is, will require Pennsylvania high school students in general to take and pass state-based standardized tests in certain subjects in order to graduate from their local high school.\u00a0 That is, these state tests can effectively override the graduation standards and student evaluations (i.e., \u201cgrades\u201d) as set, monitored and implemented by local communities via their locally-elected school boards and local teachers and administrators.\u00a0 To put it bluntly: the general rule will be that your children or grandchildren are not going to receive their high school diploma without passing these state tests.<\/p>\n

My objection to this \u201creform\u201d of education is based on several considerations.\u00a0 This approach to education is an unrealistic and unfair evaluation of students\u2019 overall academic career. Single tests should not be the determinant as to whether a high school diploma has been earned.\u00a0 I say that as someone who thinks there is a time and place for so-called \u201chigh stakes\u201d exams, for various further educational and\/or career opportunities individuals might pursue in their lives, but ascertaining \u201cworthiness\u201d for a high school diploma is not such circumstances.<\/p>\n

The negative and unnecessary impacts on school curricula and thriving local schools are real and profound.\u00a0 The reality is that the official and unofficial ways that schools respond (understandably from a \u201crational actor\u201d perspective) in their efforts to \u201cpass\u201d standardized tests subverts too much of the overall education process to test preparation. \u00a0Districts in our area report that upwards of one-half of classroom time is effectively about activities related to test preparation at some level.<\/p>\n

A full-scale implementation of Keystone Exams will serve as yet another nail in the coffin of the liberal arts model of education.\u00a0 The logistical and pedagogical outcome of more standardized testing atop of the already-existing ones is an education model in which the range of topics taught, how they are taught, and what is the \u201cright\u201d answers become much more narrow and prescriptive.\u00a0 This dulls the critical thinking, the creativity and the talents of students and teachers alike. Let\u2019s remember too, the students of today are, among other life roles, the employees and leaders of society for tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Exacerbating the costs to education per se because of the Keystone Exams, there also would be direct dollar costs to the state and local school districts.\u00a0 Districts and their local taxpayers will be confronted with a need to hire additional teachers and staff to deal with operational realities in several manners because of the imposition of these exams upon local districts.\u00a0 These exams as is will end up triggering millions of dollars in spending to put in place and to operate\u2026for dubious education value and outcomes.<\/p>\n

Please, join me in sending back the proposed Keystone Exams for a rewrite.\u00a0 As your state House representative, you know how I stand based on all of the foregoing.\u00a0 The matter is currently with the state Senate, which will approve or disapprove the measure before the bill might be sent over to the state House, where I can vote on it.\u00a0 Contact the state Senators and urge them to \u201cflunk\u201d the proposed Keystone Exams.\u00a0 The time to act is now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rep. Duane D. Milne, State Representative, 167th Legislative District As the 2013-14 school year ends, and we look forward to 2014-15, I am calling on my fellow citizens to join me in demanding a halt to the implementation of the Keystone Exams as proposed. In short: the Keystone Exams, if adopted as is, will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,7],"tags":[3885,4083,1473],"class_list":["post-6511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","category-featured","tag-graduation","tag-keystone-exams","tag-pennsylvania-department-of-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}