Change to graduation requirements reviewed

FRANCONIA » New state graduation requirements will start for members of the class of 2023, who are now high school juniors, Director of Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment and Technology Katie Kennedy-Reilly told the Souderton Area School Board Education-Personnel Committee at its Nov. 10 meeting.

Students must also meet the district’s own graduation requirements, Souderton Area High School Principal Sam Varano said.

There are three general ways to meet the state requirements, he said.

“The first that you see is the way the vast majority of our students will minimally satisfy the graduation requirements and that is by earning a proficient score on each of the three Keystone Exams,” Varano said while presenting a slide show with the information.

The three subjects tested in the state’s Keystone Exams are Biology, Algebra I and Literature. Souderton Area already had the Algebra and Literature test requirements for graduation and is adding Biology, he said.

The second way is for the student to have a combined score of at least 4,452 on the three Keystone Exams, be rated proficient on at least one and not be below the basic score on any of the three, Varano said.

In answer to a question later in the discussion, Assistant Superintendent and Director of Human Resources Christopher Hey said the maximum score on the three exams is 5,400 and the minimum is 3,600.

There is also an alternative assessment path to graduation, including two parts, Varano said.

“First, they would need to do a 20-hour unpaid mentorship, which 75 percent of our students do anyway without it being a graduation requirement,” Varano said.

“Interestingly, during the pandemic, when it was so hard for students to get out and into local businesses or regional businesses,” he said, “our numbers for students doing mentorships were about the same as prepandemic.”

The other state requirement along with the mentorship is to meet the minimum score on either a career inventory used by the military or a standardized career battery test, he said.

“Those students who don’t pass the Keystones would have to do that mentorship. That’s actually good,” Varano said.

The school will know by the beginning of a student’s senior year if the student has not passed the Keystones and will inform the student and parents that an alternative graduation path is needed, he said.

Students at the North Montco Technical Career Center will have CTE (Career & Technical Education) graduation requirements, such as industry-based competency certification or assessment, he said.

“North Montco has done a tremendous job of ensuring that there is a clear and very doable path for all of our students,” Varano said.

Board member Courtney Barbieri said the new requirements give students different ways of meeting the graduation requirements, rather than only having one way to do so.

“I like to see that because then there’s a variety of ways for people that aren’t always necessarily great test takers to show their proficiency and skills in other ways,” Barbieri said. “I think it’s a step in the right direction.”

Board member Nick Braccio agreed.

“I’m glad to see that this is made a little bit more attainable than was first proposed 10 years ago or so,” Braccio said. “Putting so much emphasis on tests, the state tests, just doesn’t sit well with me at all. This pathway may make it a little more easier to handle.”

“I’m not a big fan of these state-imposed graduation requirements, I’ll just leave it at that,” Varano said later in the meeting. The good news, though, is that some students who aren’t excellent test takers will be able to take the alternative path to graduation and becoming productive citizens, he said.

It’s also good news that some students who wouldn’t have chosen to do a mentorship will now do it for the alternative graduation requirement, he said.

“It will be good for them to do it, so that’s what I like about it. We’ll go chase them down and support them to make sure they do it,” Varano said, “but 75 percent of our students do it anyway.”

High school classes

The meeting also included a first reading of proposed changes to the high school Program of Studies for the 2022-2023 school year.

“We have some name changes and a couple cool new courses,” Varano said.

Two of the three proposed new courses are dual credit opportunities where students can get college credit from Montgomery County Community College along with the high school credits, he said. No additional teachers will be needed in order to add the classes, he said.

One of the planned new dual credit classes is Introduction to Education, he said.

For years, the school has had education internships available as a mentorship for students interested in a career in education, he said.

The class will be a prerequisite for students mentoring with a teacher, he said.

“Now they will have some professional learning before going in,” Varano said, saying it will be somewhat similar to a student teacher first having classes to prepare for that.

The other planned new dual credit course is Teaching Young Children.

“It focuses on the intellectual and physical development from birth to pre-K with emphasis on the career of teaching,” Varano said.

The class will be one of the ways students can meet the prerequisite for the nursery school for fouryear-olds two days a week run by the high school students, he said.

The other planned new course, which is not dual credit, is Finance and Investing.

“The course will delve into topics involving investing and financial modeling, and familiarize students with key investment terminology. The intent of the course is to help students expand their interest and knowledge in business with a specific focus in financial modeling, inspiring and serving potential business majors and entrepreneurs well,” according to a course description.

All district students are currently required to take a Personal Finance course, Varano said.

This course would build on that, he said.

The proposed name changes are all in the music program and are to more accurately reflect the purpose and composition of musical groups at the school, he said.

The changes are TenorBass Choir instead of the current Men’s Chorus, Souderton Singers/Concert Choir instead of the current Advanced/Concert Choir, Treble Choir instead of the current Women’s Chorus, and Rock Band instead of the current Rock Ensemble.