FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Statement From Commissioner Betty A. Rosa
I’m sure many of you have heard questions or concerns about the new science Regents Examinations: Life Science: Biology and Earth & Space Sciences.
Literally hundreds of science teachers from around the state were involved in developing these tests over the past four years. As with every Regents Exam, the questions were written, reviewed multiple times, and selected for inclusion on the test by NYS science teachers. They spent countless hours reviewing the learning standards and identifying the skills that students need to show to be successful in science. Many of these same teachers had been involved in developing the learning standards back in 2016 and worked on materials to support their implementation – at both the state and local levels.
Whenever we introduce a new exam, especially one aligned with new standards, we hear concerns of a lack of alignment with local instruction. Because of our extensive processes involving industry-standard test development procedures, and involvement of hundreds of NYS teachers, we are very confident that the Regents Exams are well-aligned to the learning standards.
Unfortunately, not all schools implement new standards with fidelity or at the same pace, and in some cases, they do not shift their instruction at all from prior learning standards. This has been the main source of concern we have heard this year – parents who say that their children did not learn about the topics covered on the Regents Exam, despite these topics being plainly in the learning standards.
Although these were new assessments this year, extensive information and materials have been released to support teachers and students in preparing for this content since the adoption of the new standards in December 2016. In fact, the Department has put out more information and materials for these Regents Exams than any other assessment in the past 15 years. We presented to the Board of Regents on this exact topic at your December 2023 meeting.
What is concerning about this is that local curricula are not aligning to the learning standards. The Education Department does not oversee instruction at the local level. That is left to school boards, administrators, and teachers. However, we do provide learning standards that set the foundation for instruction. Our assessments are based on those same learning standards to ensure that all students are measured on the same concepts and skills.
With the upcoming policy shifts related to the Graduation Measures initiative, it is more critical than ever that districts and schools are aligning their curricula and instruction to the learning standards. This is how we can be sure that we aren’t watering down expectations and that students earning a diploma will have rigorous preparation.
I was disappointed to hear that a number of schools did not provide instruction aligned with the new learning standards and that the results on the Regents Exams made this evident. However, I should point out that many others did so, and their students were prepared for the exams. We had tens of thousands of students scoring at the highest levels and showing their mastery of the new learning standards.
Blaming the exams, which we know ARE aligned to the learning standards, does no good and does not help students learn the skills they need to succeed in their postsecondary lives. Quality instruction is what is necessary for our students, and we will continue to provide support and resources to schools to help them implement their local curricula in alignment with the New York State Learning Standards.
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