Just when we thought we had this resolved...

Earlier this month, State Board of Education Chairman Joseph Torsella brought forward a new "compromise" proposal concerning the Keystone Exams (known in its previous incarnation as the Graduation Competency Assessments).

Under this plan, a Keystone exam in Algebra I would replace the current math PSSA exam that is given to all 11th grade students. The 11th grade PSSA writing assessment would be replaced by a “literature” Keystone Exam; and a newly developed Biology Keystone Exam will become the high school science assessment that will soon be required under NCLB.

This appears to be a significant step backwards from the agreement that was worked out between PSBA and PDE in April.

A number of objections have been raised about this proposal, including the usual concerns about costs, the excessive use of standardized testing, and the fact that teachers and other school leaders were not part of the discussions (!), but I think there’s another issue that has not be given enough attention.

There has yet to be a meaningful, public conversation about what every high school graduate ought to know, and be able to do.  It seems to me that this debate ought to happen before we try to standardize state-wide or nationwide graduation requirements.

For example, from my perspective, using an Algebra exam as the state math assessment is far too narrowly focused. Certainly, every high school graduate ought to have a basic understanding of algebraic concepts. But honestly, how many people in the real world need to know how to factor an equation?

On the other hand, shouldn’t students understand the core principles of geometry, trigonometry and calculus, as well? Further, the argument could be made that statistics, probability and personal finance are of greater use to the average citizen. The current recession might have been avoided if more high school graduates had understood the implications of variable interest rates.

Even worse is the proposal that a Biology Keystone Exam become the science assessment. How was it determined that Biology is more important than Chemistry, Physics, Earth Science, or Astronomy?  (In fact, in order to understand the science of global warming, you probably need to have a basic understanding of all those subjects.)  What happened to an appreciation of a well-rounded education?

I think it’s important to say that “accountability” is not the issue. By now, nobody should be opposed to accountability. But accountable for what? So far, I’ve only talked about what students need to “know”; I haven’t addressed the complex set of skills that today’s students will need in order to be successful, such as the ability to process and use all this information. (More on that soon.)

The problem is that few politicians have a deep enough understanding of educational issues to know what should be done to improve the educational system - but they need to look like they’re doing something. So we’re left with simplistic solutions that appear to hold (someone else) accountable.

Some states, however, are heading in the right direction.  West Virginia is one.