ADAMS TWP — The Mars School Board unanimously approved the administration’s recommendations on the Keystone Exams transition plan.

High school principal Todd Kolson at a board meeting last month outlined the requirements for the new Keystone Exams, which will be given to all juniors in the current school year in algebra I, English literature and biology in place of the current Pennsylvania System of Schools Assessments.

Kolson said the state Department of Education will use only the algebra and English literature tests this year to determine adequate yearly progress, which is the measurement required by the federal No Child Left Behind law.

Students must score at least “proficient” on each test to earn AYP, which translates to a score of 1,500 out of 1,800 on the Keystone Exams. According to the NCLB requirements, all school districts must show that 100 percent of students have reached at least a score of proficient in reading and math by 2014.

In the Mars plan to transition from the current PSSA tests to the Keystones, all non-11th grade students except seniors who have completed a Keystone Exam-related district course must take the corresponding Keystone Exam in the 2012-13 school year.

Non-11th grade students’ scores will be banked until they are in 11th grade. Students who fail any of the tests will be required to retake them.

The tests will be given in December, May and late July/early August. Students who fail may retake the examinations during any of these test times through the May tests in their junior year.

Graduation requirements also are attached to the exams for the Class of 2016 and later.

Kolson said that in addition to the current district graduation requirements of scoring a 60 percent or higher in math, English and science courses, a requirement to pass the algebra I and English literature Keystone Exams with a proficient or advanced score will be added.

Students enrolled in algebra I and/or English literature must pass the corresponding Keystone exam, and those who pass their classes but fail the Keystone in May will be enrolled in a mandatory remediation course for the fall semester of the next school year.

Students who fail the test again will be enrolled in that class for the spring semester, and will repeat the remediation courses until they pass the Keystones in that subject.

Kolson said that students who pass algebra or English literature but fail the corresponding Keystone Exam can still move up to the next course level while enrolled in remediation.

School board President Dayle Ferguson lamented the necessity to implement the new tests and graduation requirements. She said the matter is complicated by the state Department of Education’s refusal to request a waiver to NCLB requirements; being forced to change from the PSSA tests to the Keystone Exams while attempting to reach the rising AYP requirements; confusion on new and pending legislation that ties standardized test scores to superintendent, principal and teacher evaluations; and ensuring Mars curriculum remains rigorous.

“We are facing all these drastic changes at a time when the stakes and expectations are higher, the financial support is lower, the rules for competition are unfair, and government mandates continue to be unpredictable, undefined, and unfunded,” Ferguson said.

She also is concerned that the current juniors must take tests in subjects they may have taken in eighth or ninth grades.

She told the board that Mars may be forced to choose between a rigorous education aimed at student success and achieving AYP.

“That said, this transitional plan puts our district at greater risk for substandard AYP performance,” Ferguson said. “Though our consistently high-achieving district may suffer a temporary black eye as a result, we will not allow our students to be sucker punched by abrupt changes to high-stakes measurement and unrealistic targets of perfection.

“We will not derail our curriculum and our students’ academic journey by forcing reverse remediation and instituting sudden and unfair graduation requirement changes.”

As her fellow board members nodded in agreement, Ferguson summed up their feelings of frustration at the ever-changing government mandates on school districts.

“In Mars, student achievement is not solely defined by a test score,” she said.