The rollout of the exams this year is the first step in a sweeping overhaul of the state's testing system, which aims to raise the standards and stakes for students graduating from high school. 
 
The more course-specific keystone exams in literature and algebra will be the gauge for 11th-graders. The state is also requiring students in grades 8-10 who have taken those courses or who are taking those classes this year to take the exams, which will be given in December, January, May or July. Those scores would be "banked," so come 11th grade, the students would not have to retake the tests.
 
For more than a decade, students in certain grades have taken the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, or PSSA, which serves as the state's primary tool to measure the requirements in the federal No Child Left Behind law. Students in grades 3-8 will continue taking the PSSA tests to measure Adequate Yearly Progress.