ALBANY — All but four state scholastic exams were canceled by the Board of Regents in a unanimous vote Monday, March 15.
Only four federally mandated tests in English, math, earth science and environment will be scheduled as the state awaits the U.S. Department of Education’s ruling on its request to waiver annual assessment exams. Regardless of its decision, test scores from those four tests won’t factor into whether or not a student graduates.
“As we continue to see a global pandemic impact our schools and students in every corner of the state, the Board and I are determined to complete this school year in a manner that protects the health and safety of all of New York’s children,” said Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr. “While we were disappointed by the USDE decision not to grant blanket waivers for state assessments, we are confident that the regulatory amendments acted on today and other assessment-related actions by the Department provide for the flexibility necessary to meet federal requirements while ensuring the well-being of those in our school buildings.”
The Board acted on a series of emergency regulations allowing for exemptions to diploma requirements associated with the June 2021 and August 2021 Regents Examination administrations. With the COVID-19 crisis still affecting the State of New York and students having varied levels of in-person instruction, the Board and the Department are taking necessary steps to provide essential flexibility for the State’s students, families and educators.
These include actions to cancel the August 2021 Regents Exams and, should the. Department of Education deny the state’s waiver request, only four of the June 2021 Regents Exams will be administered; only Session 1 of the Grades 3-8 English Language Arts (ELA) and Math Tests will be required; and only the one-session Written Test component of the Grades 4 and 8 Science Tests will be administered.
“The Department continues to engage with USDE in regard to finding the best path forward in offering state assessments for the children of New York,” said Commissioner Betty A. Rosa. “In order to inform these discussions, we are engaging with stakeholders across the state to gain insight on the local approaches to student assessment. The regulatory amendments advanced today provide fairness for our students; however we remain hopeful that USDE will provide the necessary waivers to allow our educators to remain engaged in the important work of fostering a safe and healthy learning environment for each child in New York state.”
The U.S. Department of Education has said it wants states to administer standardized tests to students, and New York is seeking ways to get out of doing that.
In a Feb. 22 letter to state school officials, acting Assistant Education Secretary Ian Rosenblum wrote that the Biden administration will not consider “blanket waivers of assessments” this year. President Joe Biden previously said he wants to see students return to classrooms so a comprehensive assessment can be done to quantify the pandemic’s effects on education.
Standardized testing, including state Regent exams, have been on hold since last March. Schools across the state have slowly progressed since going fully remote at the end of the previous school year. After a mandate from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, school districts presented plans to safely reopen classrooms just prior to the start of the current academic year. In those plans, districts provided a hybrid solution for parents still wary of sending their children back to school.
Federal law requires each state to facilitate standardized tests in reading, math and other subjects between third and eighth grades, and once again in high school. Results from those exams trickle down to assessing districts and individual teaching to apply improvement measures.
The New York State United Teachers released a statement soon following the board’s vote regarding the state’s plan for administration of standardized exams in grades 3–8 and high school if the U.S. Department of Education denies waivers of exam requirements.
“In a year that has been anything but standard, forcing states to administer standardized exams is just plain poor federal policy,” NYSUT President Andy Pallotta said. “The state is making the most of a bad situation by scaling back this year’s testing requirements and limiting stress on students who already have gone through so much. Commissioner Rosa, Chancellor Young and the Board of Regents are doing what’s necessary to put students’ needs first in a frustratingly backward situation.”
NYSUT previously encouraged the state to request a federal waiver of grades 3–8 and high school testing requirements. Thousands of comments were submitted to the state by educators demanding a waiver of testing requirements this year.
“Whatever ‘data’ the federal government tries to extract from this year’s tests must not be used to create a false narrative about students’ hard work in an unprecedented time,” NYSUT Executive Vice President Jolene T. DiBrango said. “We already know many students need additional academic and social-emotional supports because our educators are professionals trained in assessing their students’ needs.’