Standardized Testing
Keystone and PSSA Testing Dates
English Keystone Exams:
Tuesday, December 2
Wednesday, December 3
Monday, May 11
Tuesday, May 12
Algebra Keystone Exams:
Thursday, December 4
Friday, December 5
Thursday, May 14
Friday, May 15
Biology Keystone:
Wednesday, May 20
Thursday, May 21
Exams Make Ups:
Monday, December 8
Wednesday, May 13
Monday, May 18
Friday, May 22
ELA PSSA:
Tuesday, April 21
Wednesday, April 22
Thursday, April 23
Math PSSA:
Monday, April 27
Tuesday, April 28
Science PSSA:
Wednesday, April 29
Thursday, April 30
Make Ups:
Friday, April 24
Friday, May 1
Parent/Guardian Procedure for Opting out of Standardized Assessments
Pennsylvania Chapter 4 regulations state that a parent/guardian may have their student opt-out of participating in the PSSA, Keystone Exams, and/or PASA by completing ALL of the following steps:
- At a minimum of two weeks prior to testing, parents/guardians provide written communication to the building principal with the intention of opting out of the grade-level standardized assessment.
- Two weeks prior to the planned assessment date, school administration will establish a mutually convenient date and time for parents/guardians to review the assessment.
- Upon meeting with school administration and the school assessment coordinator, parents/guardians will be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement. This agreement must be signed prior to viewing the standardized assessment, and will remain on file with the school assessment coordinator.
- Parents’/Guardians’ electronic devices will be collected prior to viewing the assessments.
- Standardized testing booklets/test ticket will be provided for review to the parents/guardians. A school administrator and the school assessment coordinator will remain in the room with the parent or guardian throughout the entirety of the viewing.
- Parents/guardians must review test booklets/test ticket for all assessments that their student is scheduled to participate in. For example, if a child is scheduled to take the Algebra 1, Literacy, and Biology Keystone, the parent/guardian must review all three assessment booklets.
- During review of the assessments, parents/guardians may not take notes or communicate any information regarding the assessment with anyone else. All booklets/test ticket must be reviewed in one session.
- The school assessment coordinator will collect the test booklets/test tickets back from the parents/guardians after they have been viewed, and lock the booklets back in the secure storage area.
- After viewing the test booklet(s)/test ticket, if parents/guardians find anything against their religious beliefs in the test content and decide to opt their student out of testing, the parents/guardians must write a letter to the superintendent explaining their intention. It is recommended that the principal be provided with a copy of the letter.
- On the day(s) of testing, the school will provide alternative instructional activities for students who opted out.