By Jennifer Marino
The proposed change is the revision of the curriculum for both subjects so that the two levels, Regents and advanced, would be eliminated and all students would take the same class.
One of the main thrusts behind the change is to more thoroughly prepare students for college. Dr. Carol Burris, principal of South Side, has been hearing from colleges that they want students who are critical readers and good writers.
The administration also feels that once kids choose the Regents level classes, they rarely decide to make the leap to advanced or International Baccalaureate classes despite good grades.
About a dozen parents expressed concern that struggling students would get lost in the shuffle and bogged down with extra support classes and tutors. They were also worried about the flip side, that high-performing students would be bored and not challenged. Many of them said they wanted their kids to have a choice between the Regents and advanced levels.
Statistics presented by Burris refuted these concerns. This kind of leveling up has been done in other classes at the high school with great success, according to Burris. English and global studies are offered at one level in grade nine. Biology was changed to be offered at only one level, and the passing rate for the Regents has improved from 78 to 92 percent since the change.
It's in the best interest of all the children, said Burris.
There are also other factors that make this a less drastic change than it might seem. There are currently no tests or standards students have to meet to be in the advanced level, so there is already a mix of abilities in the class. The current curriculum in Regents is very similar to that of advanced, according to Burris.
She explained that students would be graded against their own progress in the new curriculum. They wouldn't be compared with more advanced students. Students would have to present a portfolio of their writing to their teachers in the English course and talk about why some pieces were better than others.
Parents, administrators and the Board of Education all agreed that it would
have been beneficial if this new curriculum had been presented earlier, rather than in June, when everyone felt under the gun.
If having two levels was the key to success, then students in the Regents class wouldn't fail, said Superintendent of Schools Dr. William Johnson.
The board has yet to make a final decision on the change.
