Assemblyman Hearings on High-Stakes Regents Exam Set
by Assemblyman Steven Sanders

As Chairman of the Assembly Education Committee, I will be chairing a set of public hearings on the subject of New York’s high-stakes Regents exams. The first hearing will be held on Wednesday October 15th, 2003 at 9:00 am, in the Assembly hearing Room, 250 Broadway, 19th floor. Other hearings are planned for later in October in Rochester and in Albany. The Albany hearing will be a joint hearing with the State Senate Education Committee.

Since its inception, I have questioned the Board of Regents’ policy of using standardized testing—which has important value as a diagnostic and measuring tool—as the sole criteria for high school students to be able to earn a diploma, regardless of a student’s entire academic record. A high-stakes testing frenzy, not just in New York but also across the country, is predicated on the confusing of meaningful standards with Do Or Die testing. High standards and high-stakes tests are not the same; nor are they intrinsically linked.

The Regents’ policy currently requires high school students to receive a passing grade on five Regents exams. Students who entered the 9th grade in 2000 are required to get a passing score of 55 on two of the Regents exams and a 65 on the three other Regents exams. Students who entered 9th grade on or after September 2001 will be required to obtain a 65 passing grade on each of the five exams in order to get a diploma, regardless of the entirety of their academic record.

Problems associated with recent Regents exams have raised concerns about the policy of high-stakes exams and have led to a broader discussion about the impacts of this policy. Furthermore, concerns about the content of the tests and their alignment to curriculum and to the Regents Learning Standards have been expressed.

I have serious concerns about the causal relationship between this policy and our escalating dropout rate. Some schools have actually been encouraging students to drop out, pushing students out by promoting their enrollment in GED programs. In so doing, these schools manipulate their statistics by getting students who are unlikely to pass five Regents exams off of their enrollment lists, and securing the additional statistical benefit of those students not being counted as dropouts. This shuffling of students is unacceptable, and a better tracking system of students is necessary.

There has also been criticism about censorship, with famous literary passages on the English language Regents having been altered, calling into question the legitimacy of that exam.

The public hearings will present a unique opportunity for parents, educators and concerned members of the public to voice their opinions on the Regents’ policy.

Persons wishing to present pertinent testimony to the Committee at the October 15th hearing should contact my office for a hearing notice and response form. The telephone number is 212-312-1464, and our e-mail is sanders@assembly.state.ny.us.#

Assemblyman Steven Sanders is Chairman of the Education Committee.

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