The state has cancelled the next round of Regents exams because of the challenges of offering the tests during the pandemic, but students will still have to pass the related course, the state Education Department said Thursday.
New York students must pass five Regents exams in order to graduate from high school. After years of criticism that the Regents were poorly designed and easy to cheat on, the Board of Regents had been reviewing the exams and other graduation requirements when the pandemic hit.
“We determined the January Regents Exams could not be safely, equitably and fairly administered across the State given where the pandemic currently stands. We will continue to monitor applicable data and make a decision on other State assessment programs as the school year progresses, being mindful of the evolving situation,” Interim State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa said in a statement Thursday.
The June and August Regents exams were also cancelled this year after the state obtained a waiver from the federal government. The state Education Department in September announced they will not offer the standardized tests, or any state assessments, online, according to Chalkbeat.
No decisions have been made yet about the state tests next spring. Approximately 300,000 students in New York usually take the January tests, while 1.6 million take the tests in June, Chalkbeat reported.
”In the interest of safety, equity and fairness, canceling the January Regents exams is the right choice," said New York State United Teachers union President Andy Pallotta in a statement Thursday, saying the decision puts "students first with changes to state exam requirements that still allow them to achieve a diploma without being penalized during this pandemic.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio also said there were no decisions yet on when the city will offer the entrance exams for the specialized high schools, which were originally scheduled for this weekend, or any updates yet on high school applications.
“Obviously with something like administering a standardized test, we're in a whole different reality now, because it's hard to do it in person,” de Blasio said during his Thursday press briefing. He added he hoped to provide families with updates within the next two weeks.
