Posted by By Georgia Schultz, Co-Editor in Chief
Regents exams have been a graduation requirement in New York State for decades. It is an unavoidable and taxing set of tests for all students needed to graduate that only seems to pile on more work as the school year comes to a close. In order to pass, students must earn a 65 or better on at least 5 of these tests, and in the case of an advanced regents diploma, 7-8 in total. With only eight other states in the country that have graduation tests, many see the Regents as a waste of time, something that harms more than helps; and as a result, New York State may soon stop Regents as a graduation requirement once and for all.
There has been an increase in eliminating high stakes exams across the nation, according to the New York Times article “The Misleading SAT Debate.” More and more colleges are declaring themselves “test-optional” and dismissing SAT and ACT scores from applicants, over 1,900 schools total in 2024. Over the past 20 years, public opinion on uniform tests has been gradually decreasing, many seeing the “one size fits all” approach as harmful, and possibly even dangerous to students’ education. What NYS suggests is an alternative pathway for students that just can’t demonstrate what they learn on a bubble sheet. While they can still choose the Regents exam, there would also be the possibility of projects, essays, and research papers to best showcase the students abilities.
“Standardized testing [is difficult] because it does not give an accurate representation of a student,” comments Gabby Lutz, a senior at New Paltz High School. “Personally, my regents grades are all mid 80s, but the rest of my transcripts are great. It completely diminishes the feeling I have towards my academic achievements.”
It completely diminishes the feeling I have towards my academic achievements
Gabby Lutz, Senior
All minds work differently. Some can write an essay easily in one sitting, while others might sit there, pen in hand, ideas swirling in their mind but unable to put it to paper. Standardized tests shove all children into a rigid set of constraints that might be impossible for them to conform to, leading to a failing grade even if the student understands the content. The availability of alternatives can help change a child’s attitude towards final examinations; the incentive to work harder lies in accessibility.
“Alternative paths are extremely important,” said Mr. Joe Dolan, a teacher at the high school. “If done right, you’d be able to access a lot more of the students’ knowledge base, and their strengths.”
Not all administrators feel this way, however. New York State has always ranked high in education compared to the rest of the country, and many contribute this to such high standards. In unity of content taught, there is knowledge that all students are held to a higher caliber. Regents exams are seen as a checkpoint to make sure high schoolers are knowledgeable enough to graduate and make it in the real world. They argue that by getting rid of these checkpoints, it lowers the set of expectations, and the quality of education decreases.
“I understand the argument for accountability,” Dolan explains. “It’s so complicated to try and monitor every student in this country without some kind of mechanism in place.”
In the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic, many universities across the country have gone test optional, a decision that has been pushed for years prior to the pandemic. Originally sold as a temporary move, these test optional schools have remained so, with little to no effort to revert back. Without these test scores, however, prestigious colleges are arguing that they don’t have the information necessary to adequately determine the future success of a student.
The Dean of Admissions at M.I.T., Stuart Schmill , acknowledges the dislike for standardized testing, but reminds everyone that college isn’t easy, and there will be large exams given there despite that.
“Just getting straight A’s is not enough information for us to know whether the students are going to succeed or not,” he explains. “[Test scores] help us to feel more confident about an applicant’s preparedness, not just to survive, but to thrive, at M.I.T..”
But what about schools for a more accessible education? M.I.T isn’t exactly a safety school, and it isn’t any surprise that they have higher standards for their potential students. So what about public high schools across New York State? Is holding them to a “higher standard of excellence” really making a difference?
In 2011, the Board of Regents began implementing Common Core in schools across the state, unifying a bar of content for all teachers to teach to. This was meant, again, to set expectations high for all students, yet it is unclear if it had any real effect on success outside of k-12 education. In fact, in a recent study by the same Board of Regents on the necessity of Regents exams, it was concluded “high school exit exams did not always lead to more positive student outcomes.” More so, it tended to have a trend in increasing student dropouts. After failing a test that is built against their abilities, some students give up trying to pass, specifically lower income students.
In an analysis of graduation data from 11,000 public schools across America, it was found that dropout rates were 23% higher in states without alternative options to a regents diploma. This study was done over a 10 year period, and was unable to prove any advantages to Regents exams.
A lot of these dropouts can be attributed to lack of resources needed to excel on these standardized tests. Influences such as a student’s income, cultural differences, or homelife can all affect a student’s performance.
“They feel inadequate,” says Alprentice McCutchen, a New Rochelle social studies teacher. McCutchen was a part of the state group that made the Regents proposal, a man often critical of the state Education Department. “[These alternatives] can be transformational if they are followed through, but everybody has to be all in.”
Official plans for the future of standardized testing are expected to be released by fall of 2024. The decision to uproot decades of tradition takes time, but many students, parents, and administrators around the country feel it must be done. Making these tests equal for all student’s abilities in order to graduate should be of the utmost importance when it comes to education; all students deserve the right to showcase what they spent the last 13 years learning to the best of their abilities.
“Doing it right is hard,” Dolan says, weighing the idea to dismiss regents in his mind. “Education is very slow to change; it isn’t easy and it requires a lot of work that is different. But I think if done right, alternative pathways can raise the standard of excellence in schools.”
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