CALL TO DUMP REGENTS EXAM
State parent-teacher group insists test is a counterproductive requirement for graduation
A coalition is demanding that a pandemic-era graduation policy that does not rely on “high-stakes” tests be made permanent, the Daily News has learned.
More than 1,200 families, teachers and advocates sent a petition Monday urging the state Education Department to permanently remove Regents exams as a graduation requirement — a policy signatories say can be discriminatory.
“Another way is possible: we do not have to go back to a prepandemic system that was keeping far too many students from graduating,” read the letter.
The petitioners argued that there is no evidence that exit exams increase student achievement, nor improve employment outcomes or earnings — while there are studies showing they may deter students from rigorous coursework and increase dropout rates for some children, including students of color or from low-income backgrounds.
The testing policy, signatories said, makes New York an outlier in the nation. Before the pandemic, just 11 states required students to pass exit exams to earn a diploma.
But proponents for the exams disagree and see the state tests as one way to assess if students are well prepared for college and careers.
“The fact that children cannot graduate from school is not because this test is in the way,” said Dia Bryant of Education Trust New York. “The fact is our teaching and learning within the four walls of classrooms, even without the Regents, is insufficient and not the best quality.”
Regents tests were canceled in spring 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered school buildings. The next school year, the exams were decoupled from graduation requirements, and students could earn their diplomas as long as they passed the course associated with each Regents test.
“The evidence shows that these highstakes exams are not correlated to success. They moreso serve as a barrier,” said Juliet Eisenstein, a staff attorney at Advocates for Children, which spearheaded the petition.
Eisenstein is on a 64-member state commission tasked in September with reviewing the state’s graduation measures. The commission will meet again on Tuesday. The state, which had been considering updates to its graduation policy before the pandemic, held off making any permanent changes while the virus interrupted in-person meetings.
Last month, the Board of Regents went over a 161-page report showing exit exams may increase dropout rates, “with especially large effects among Black students,” the findings read.
One study of 11,000 school districts over a decade, cited by Advocates for Children, found that dropout rates for 12th-graders increased by 23% in states that required students to pass exit exams, without offering other ways to get a diploma.
“There might be a student with disabilities who’s in classes able to demonstrate their learning,” said Eisenstein. “Even though they’re passing every one of their classes, because they can’t pass the high-stakes exam, that could be the difference between them receiving their diploma or being able to attend college.”
Currently, most students are required to pass five Regents exams — in English, social studies, math and science, plus one other exam that may be in arts or career and technical education.
Bryant, of Education Trust New York, who also sits on the commission, told the Daily News that the “real conversation” is about aligning what happens inside the classroom with what high school graduates need to go onto college or enter the workforce. She called exit exams a “safeguard” and “one part of a package” of ways to make sure students are ready.
“Assessments and tests in general are simply a tool, and they are necessary but often insufficient,” she said. “Yes, assessments — but also yes, high-quality curriculum, and better teacher preparation and supports for educators.”
The state Education Department told The News that analyzing the use of exit exams is a “key component” of its review of graduation requirements, which may include alternative pathways such as college and career and technical education opportunities.
The commission will present recommendations on updating graduation requirements to the Board of Regents in 2024 — about three years later than the state had initially planned before COVID struck, according to the education news source Chalkbeat.
“As children learn in different ways, it is clear that the current antiquated one size fits all system simply does not work for all students,” department officials said. “We are intent on building a 21st century education system that supports all students to engage in multiple pathways to meaningfully demonstrate deep content and career mastery.”