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New York’s Board of Regents voted Monday to press ahead with sweeping changes to graduation requirements, even as state officials acknowledged that key questions about the transition remain unresolved.
Under the state’s timeline, current high school seniors will be the last graduating class subject to the state’s current Regents exam requirements. But state education officials have yet to spell out what assessments current freshmen, sophomores, and juniors will have to complete, raising concerns that educators will have limited time to thoughtfully roll out new graduation measures by next school year.
The state is transitioning to a graduation system centered on six high-level attributes, including critical thinking and effective communication, with students demonstrating their learning through a wider range of experiences and assessments. That system is expected to be fully phased in for students entering high school in September 2029, including new credit requirements. The state would also issue a single diploma instead of the current three-tiered system.
The state’s Board of Regents must approve any changes to the state’s graduation standards. The state is expected to present its official regulations removing the Regents exams as a graduation requirement to the Board of Regents in February. A final vote is expected in June, and changes are slated to take effect by the 2027-28 school year.
The board has largely supported the transition away from standardized exit exams, but members raised fresh concerns on Monday. Hours after the meeting, one major advocacy group called on the state to pause its plans entirely. “Schools still do not know how they will measure proficiency in core subjects for current high school students, even though the proposed changes will affect students currently in grades 9-11 in less than a year,” EdTrust-New York said in a statement.
Here are some of the outstanding question marks that came up at Monday’s meeting.
When will families know what the new graduation standards will be?
Unlike the current system — where students across the state must pass standardized exams in subjects including English, math, science, and social studies — the new system will give school districts more flexibility to choose how they will determine if a student is ready to graduate.
Current ninth, 10th, and 11th graders will graduate high school “according to local assessment strategies” rather than strictly by Regents exams, according to a presentation from state officials on Monday.
Regent Hasoni Pratts, the mother of a 10th grader in a New York City public school, wondered what information was available for parents who want to learn more about the changes.
“What I did not hear was what resources [and] what tools do we have for parents and students who are in this purgatory period of full implementation?” Pratts asked state officials during Monday’s presentation.
Officials did not offer a clear timeline. A spokesperson said the state Education Department shared some guidance with local districts to help craft their assessments, and officials have indicated that “high-level local assessment strategies” should be released publicly sometime next school year.
A spokesperson for New York City’s Education Department did not respond to questions about how the city is planning to assess students.
If districts can choose their own measures, how will state officials ensure they are rigorous?
State officials have repeatedly argued that the new system will not result in lower graduation standards, even as the new system remains murky.
Regent Judith Chin, who represents Queens, pressed state officials on how they would ensure locally designed assessment systems are consistent, rigorous, and reliable.
Zach Warner, an assistant commissioner who oversees assessment, said the state is still figuring out how to walk the “tightrope” of giving districts local control without creating uneven quality between districts.
“That’s not something we obviously have a full answer on to yet,” he said.
Students will still take statewide assessments. Under federal law, high school students must take assessments in English, math, and science. New York also includes social studies. Those tests would be used for accountability purposes to measure how well students are meeting state standards, but students would not be required to pass them to graduate.
State officials said Monday that they are planning to create new standardized assessments to satisfy those requirements.
Can schools still use the Regents exams as their graduation assessment?
State officials confirmed Monday that districts will not be allowed to require students to pass Regents exams in order to earn a diploma once the new rules take effect.
They noted students will be evaluated using multiple pieces of evidence, including classwork, performance-based assessments, teacher observations, or other state assessments.
What did the Board of Regents actually approve on Monday?
That question confused observers — and even some members of the board.
The Regents did not vote on the regulations that will change graduation requirements on Monday. Instead, they gave the green light to the Education Department to move ahead with drafting those regulations and advance other implementation measures.
“I was trying to understand what the action was we were voting on,” Board of Regents Chancellor Lester Young said shortly before the vote. “I’m a literate person, and I didn’t get it.”
Moments later, the proposal passed unanimously.
Alex Zimmerman is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org.
