by pennsylvania school board regulations, beginning with the class of 2017, public school students must demonstrate successful completion of secondary level course work in algebra i, biology, and english literature by passing the keystone exams. for the class of 2019, a composition exam will be added. for the class of 2020, passing a civics and government exam will be added to the graduation requirements. in 2011, pennsylvania high school students field tested the algebra 1, biology and english literature exams. the statewide results were: algebra 1 - 38% on grade level, biology - 35% on grade level and english lit - 49% on grade level. individual student, school or district reports were not made public, although they were reported to district officials by the pennsylvania department of education. students identified as having special needs and qualifying for an individual educational program (iep) may graduate by meeting the requirements of their iep.