BY ALLISON PERSTON
Staff Writer

Students who did not score proficient on the Keystone exams last year were put into intervention classes this year, but only some of them are earning credits for it.

In the Keystone class, a teacher instructs the students through a customized course based on their areas of need. The class is half a year and worth half a credit, with the option of enrolling for a full year. Students in the study hall use the class to go onto a computer to work on material that they need help with. Since it is a study hall, it is not worth any credits.

Jessica Dini, who is in a biology and math study hall, said that the study hall causes lots of problems to students because it doesn’t count for any credits.

“Not only are some students having an elective taken from them, but they are being put into a class that they do not want to take. We should get at least half a credit,” Dini said.

Dini says that in the study hall, she plays academic games and takes quizzes on the Keystone material that she needs help with. She was taken out of her first choice elective, and doesn’t think that the study hall helps.

“The Keystone test itself is very hard and involved, and the study hall isn’t helping me learn,” Dini said.

Elizabeth Ragano is in a Keystone Algebra I prep class. The students are taught in a classroom and do worksheets. There are no tests and little homework, just like in the study hall, but this class is worth half a credit.

Ragano says that the prep class is worth having her elective taken away, and that she takes it seriously to do well on the test later this year.

“The classes are worth it. It’s productive and I learn what I need to learn to pass the Keystones this year,” Ragano said.

Students also said they are upset because they didn’t know how it was determined who would be put into a prep class or study hall.

Stephanie McHugh, guidance supervisor, said that the students were organized based on who could do well in a study hall and who could do well in a guided class.      

“It was not random. It was not one size fits all,” McHugh said.

They were also organized based on their Keystone scores and their previous grades in school, she said.

A problem with the Keystone system and classes is that the state has been making constant changes throughout the year. These changes make it harder on schools because it’s more difficult to create a course based on the information needed if it’s constantly changing.

“We can’t even begin to predict all of the changes to come,” McHugh said.

One of the school’s goals for next year’s Keystone intervention classes is to reduce the number of students having their electives taken away and being put in the classes. This can be achieved by making them online so that they are accessible from home, so that they can complete the remediation course with all of their electives.