Act 158 of 2018 provides alternatives to Pennsylvania's statewide requirement of attaining proficiency on the three end-of-course Keystone Exams (Algebra I, Literature, and Biology) for a student to achieve statewide graduation requirements.
Effective with the graduating class of 2023, students can demonstrate postsecondary preparedness through one of four additional pathways that more fully illustrate college, career, and community readiness. Keystone Exams will continue as the statewide assessment Pennsylvania uses to comply with accountability requirements set forth in the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Although students will no longer be required to achieve proficiency on the Keystone Exams to meet the statewide graduation requirement, they must take them for federal accountability purposes. Failure to do so will affect a Local Education Agency (LEA) and school's participation rate.
For students graduating in 2023 and beyond, five pathways exist for meeting state high school graduation requirements.
Comprehensive details explaining these pathways can be found on the PA Department of Education website.
1. Keystone Proficiency:
To qualify for Keystone Proficiency:
• Student must score proficient or advanced on all three Keystone exams
2. Keystone Composite:
To qualify for the Keystone Composite Pathway students must:
• have taken all three Keystone Exams and must have at least one Keystone Exam scaled (numeric) score of Proficient or Advanced
• no Keystone Exam scaled (numeric) score of Below Basic
• and the composite of the three scaled (numeric) scores must be 4452 or greater.
3. Career and Technical Education (CTE) Concentrator
4. Alternative Assessment
5. Evidence-Based
• For the CTE Concentrator, Alternative Assessment, and Evidence-Based Pathways, each student must meet locally established grade-based requirements for academic content associated with every Keystone Exam on which the student does not have a numeric or non-numeric score of Proficient/Advanced. In addition to meeting the grade-based requirements, the student must provide pathway-related evidence demonstrating preparedness for postsecondary success.
Please use this graphic for more details on these pathways.
NOTE: Alternatively, a student may be granted a diploma via a waiver or special education program (IEP).
Additional information can be found below. Please contact your child’s guidance counselor or
Dr. Scioli if you have any questions.