Friday, January 17, 2025
The New York state Regents exams are a longstanding common-core assessment. For many years, passing five of the exams, ranging from English to algebra, was a requirement for graduating from high school.
New York stood out from many states in requiring these exams. But changes in educational philosophy have many people, including students, their families and educators, questioning the validity of the tests and seeking alternative pathways to graduation to accommodate all students.
A new state policy on Regents requirements for graduation will go into effect in fall 2027, and take two years to fully phase in. “The Regents exams are not being dropped,” Molly Gegerson, humanities director of West Hempstead Secondary School, said. “To my understanding, students can choose to take three Regents exams, or choose another path to graduation.”
The change will bring about new options for students who are interested in trades, are more artistically than academically oriented, or are not good testers. The new policy will offer a broader way to accommodate and differentiate curriculum for all types of students, including those with special needs.
According to a Blue Ribbon Commission’s 2023 report on graduation measures, “The intent of this initiative was never to lower standards; to the contrary, it focused on placing all New York State students on a success trajectory by providing them access to the necessary opportunities and support they need.”
Malverne Board of Education President Jeanne D’Esposito highlighted the importance of the change. District officials, she said, have received a great deal of positive feedback on the Regents amendment from students and parents alike.
“Sometimes you’re asking a kid to show proficiency in something that’s not going to be necessary for them in their life,” D’Esposito said. “They have to be proficient at certain things, obviously, and it may be different things for different kids. That’s what we’re trying to acknowledge, that it’s not just about a student who can pass the chemistry Regents. That’s not the only way.”
According to Stanford University’s Center for Teaching and Learning, differentiated instruction is fundamentally an attempt to teach different students differently, rather than maintain a one-size-fits-all approach to instruction.
Other programs, such as Universal Design for Learning, give students broad choices of curriculum in order to meet their diverse needs and interests. Differentiated instruction emphasizes methods to promote learning for students with differing preparedness for, interest in, and ways of engaging with course learning.
Malverne District Superintendent Lorna Lewis was elected to the steering committee of the Blue Ribbon Commission for this project. “We asked the community what they wanted kids to be able to do, and received over 30,000 responses in the last two years,” Lewis said. “We analyzed those responses to come up with this policy.”
“The mission of the New York State Education Department is to raise the knowledge, skill, and opportunity of all people in New York,” the Blue Ribbon Commission’s report stated. “Our vision is to provide leadership for a system that yields the best-educated people in the world. This mission and vision are only fulfilled when all are provided with the opportunity to learn and succeed.”
The report noted that a high school diploma “must represent a culminating achievement that is within the grasp of all New York students who seize that opportunity.”
It went on to say that what it called a Graduation Measures Initiative was established to tackle a deliberate and “inclusive review of the requirements students must meet to graduate.”
“The Initiative sought to explore what it means to obtain a diploma in New York State and what that diploma should signify to ensure educational excellence and equity for all students in New York State.”
With the new policy, students will have the option to focus on trades, creative endeavors, culinary-oriented curriculums and more. There will still be boxes to check and projects to be completed for each facet of the new graduation pathways. Students will be able to decide on a curriculum path as early as eighth or ninth grade.
