June 17, 2015
The Pennsylvania Senate unanimously approved a bill Monday that would delay for two more years the use of tests as a public school graduation requirement in the state, CBSPhilly reports.
The Keystone Exams, a series of tests that measure students' proficiency in a number of subjects, have faced sharp criticism.
NPR points out that students have struggled. Just 54 percent passed the biology exam last year.
Critics of the new requirements say they'll needlessly hamstring students whose intellectual prowess can't be captured by tests. Others say it will push schools to devote even more time to "teaching-to-the-test."
The bill passed by the Senate would delay the use of Keystone Exams as a graduation requirement from 2017 until 2019.
