New York's Board of Regents has voted to remove the state's long-standing requirement for students to pass a series of Regents exams to graduate high school, a change set to take effect for the graduating class of 2028.
Under the new policy, current 12th graders will be the last cohort obligated to pass at least four Regents exams in core subjects such as math, English, science, and Global Studies to receive their diplomas. While students entering their senior year in 2028 will still take the exams, passing them will no longer be a prerequisite for graduation.
The Board of Regents has directed the state Department of Education to develop alternative graduation requirements, which may include portfolios that emphasize long-term projects, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills over traditional multiple-choice assessments. These new requirements are being branded as "NY Inspires."
State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa stated that "NY Inspires is fundamentally about strengthening teaching and learning and creating deeper, more meaningful educational experiences for every student." She added that by maintaining rigorous standards while offering more opportunities for students to apply knowledge and demonstrate skills, the state aims to better prepare them for college, careers, and civic life.
Some education policy observers have noted that the effectiveness and rigor of the Regents exams have been questioned in recent decades. Ray Domanico, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, suggested that the exams had become less meaningful due to factors like exam "scrubbing" and instances of cheating, intended to maintain or inflate graduation rates. The development of the new "NY Inspires" requirements aims to establish a meaningful measure of student preparedness for post-secondary endeavors.