New York will lower graduation requirements for matriculating students across the state in 2022 and 2023, citing “the continued impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Students will now be able to appeal failing scores on the Regents examinations, the statewide standardized tests required for diplomas. 

In a letter to school and district administrators, the commissioner of education, Betty Rosa, announced the new policy in response to “widely varied teaching and learning conditions caused by the continued impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The changes call into question the utility of the Regents diploma in assessing students’ mastery of basic skills and preparedness for the workforce.

“Over the pandemic, we know students’ performance has gone down, and it’s gone down dramatically,” an education scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, Nat Malkus, says, referring to what is widely known as “learning loss.” Mr. Malkus says performance dropped particularly in areas where remote instruction lasted longer, like New York.

“Academic achievement slid, but we’re seeing that graduation rates held. So for those who are concerned about the rigor behind the high school diploma, I think there’s a lot of reasons to be concerned about this contravening pattern.”

The updated guidelines are not merely a rollback, but a near 180-degree switch from the Regents’ pre-pandemic plans. In 2014, the education department aimed to raise the passing score on the exams in an attempt to align high school diploma requirements with career and college preparedness. 

The graduating class of 2022 was set to be the first class with higher standards for graduation requirements. That plan was scrapped in 2017 amid a revision of statewide curriculum objectives. 

The director of education policy at the Manhattan Institute, Ray Domanico, calls the new appeals process “absurd” but sees the desire to raise all graduation requirements as unrealistic, even beyond Covid.

“Twenty years ago, school reform efforts started pushing the notion that a high school diploma has to signify college readiness,” he says, instead of a mastery of skills adequate for entering the workforce.

“What we need to go back to is a two-tiered system,” he says. “New York State and other states should have one set of requirements for students who are clearly on their way to college … and one that signifies a student is ready to enter the workforce. But we don’t have that, so a New York State diploma is tied to college readiness.”

As a result, the state repeatedly lowers the standards for Regents examinations so students can pass, he says. 

Currently, the Board of Regents is reviewing the standards for graduation and considering “different avenues” for students to obtain diplomas, independent of Covid.

In initial focus groups, stakeholders and community members across the state were polled on what they thought the most important “knowledge, skills, and/or experiences” all students should possess upon graduation.

The leading answers were not academic skill sets, as tested by the Regents examinations: “Empathy & interconnectedness” was ranked no. 1, followed by creative and critical thinking. Problem solving/independent thinking was third.

When asked how students should be assessed for graduation, the presentation indicated a preference for the idea of a creative portfolio or project to demonstrate knowledge “in real-world contexts” to the performance assessments such as the Regents exams.

The commission will report its final recommendations in 2024.

Today, the Regents examinations are scored out of 100, and traditionally the lowest passing score is a 65. In 2014, a NYSED study found that scores above 78 were the best indicators for professional and college preparedness. 

Scores between 55 and 77 only “partially” met Common Core expectations, including passing scores. Any score below a 55 below was deemed insufficient demonstration of knowledge for even partial meeting of Common Core standards. 

The new guidelines allow students to appeal any score above a 49.