Newsday

New Diploma Requirements Under Attack

 

 

 

By John Hildebrand

Staff Writer

 

August 30, 2003, 4:45 PM EDT

 

 

Staring at the prospect of tens of thousands of members of the Class of 2004 failing to graduate next June because they couldn't pass toughened Regents exams, the state is faced with an unpalatable choice: stand firm or retreat.

 

Current rules, announced amid fanfare nearly eight years ago, call for raising cutoff scores on the five Regents exams required for graduation from 55 to 65, starting with this year's seniors. But testing results so far show that this could well threaten the diplomas of several thousand teens on Long Island, and far more than that statewide.

 

As a result, the new rules have sparked parent and teacher protests, boycotts of exams and threats by schools to issue their own diplomas. Even a growing number of state policy-makers are calling for a pullback, pointing to failures on a recent math exam -- just now re-scored -- as evidence that the state is pushing too far, too fast.

 

"Look, as the results began to come through, people began to appreciate the quagmire into which we have fallen," said Saul Cohen, a former Queens College president and member of the state's Board of Regents that sets educational policy.

 

"You know, the pressures of taking that make-it-or-break-it test are very great," he said. "Then, too, we know the tests are sometimes flawed. So we're not perfect, either."

 

One option under serious consideration by the Board of Regents would leave cutoff scores at 55 on selected exams, at least temporarily. Other proposals would go further -- for example, by averaging students' scores together, rather than risking not graduating because of failing a single exam.

 

"If kids in honors classes are having trouble, you know other kids are going to be in trouble," said Jessica McCaffrey, 17, a 12th-grade honors student at Sewanhaka High School in Floral Park. She decided the current 55 cutoff scores were in order, after watching classmates struggle with a controversial new Regents exam in physics.

 

"It's very stressful, honestly," said Alison Keane, 17, a senior at Baldwin High School, who plans to retake a Regents history exam this winter. "A lot of times, parents have to hire tutors, and kids face enough pressure already."

 

Those stresses are underlined by recent test results, showing that more than 3,000 students enrolled in regular education classes on Long Island -- about 12 percent of the total -- fail to hit the 65 score target on various Regents exams each year. A disproportionate share are either black or Hispanic. Statewide failures exceed 20 percent, and this doesn't include tens of thousands of inner-city youths who drop out annually before reaching their final years of high school.

 

To be sure, the state's drive for higher academic performance has produced successes along with failures in recent years. Example: a 50 percent increase in the share of Long Island 12th-graders who earn Regents diplomas by completing college-prep courses and exams. No one wants to see those gains erased, so any pullback in New York is likely to be limited, as in other states such as Florida and Massachusetts."They've weaved a little bit, dodged a little bit," said Jack Jennings, director of the Center on Education Policy, a nonprofit Washington, D.C, group that issues annual reports on exams used by various states. "But they're not repealing requirements. And in a few years, the vast majority of students are going to find this a reality."

 

Still, the pressure now is on Albany to retool a system of student testing that is among the nation's oldest and most demanding, and to start those repairs within the next few month. Here are some key issues that have emerged:

 

Doubts are growing that the state Education Department, after a decade of staff cuts, can adequately handle the production and delivery of 70 different tests for which the agency is responsible. Subjects of those tests range from fourth-grade science to high school French. Ultimately, state officials say, they may have to drop certain tests not required by state and federal laws -- for example, those covering foreign languages.

 

State Education Commissioner Richard Mills, who heads the agency, is to report on staffing and related needs at the Regents' next meeting Sept. 11.One goal: to deal with teachers' complaints that they can't get timely help when they call the department about apparent flaws in state exams, including the physics test that was introduced two years ago.

 

"When we called up, it was like dragging feet," said Rich Yngstrom, a physics teacher at Patchogue-Medford High School. "There just wasn't anybody who could make a decision."

 

Mills and the Regents acknowledge that certain exams could require major fixes, contradicting earlier assurances from the department that those tests were technically solid. The concessions follow a department shake-up, in which an assistant commissioner in charge of student testing resigned last spring.

 

Since then, an advisory panel appointed by Mills to examine the Math A exam has raised concerns that the test may be too difficult for average students. The panel's final report is due Oct. 8. Meanwhile, the department has quietly launched its own review of the controversial physics exam.

 

While Regents look at possible changes in cutoff scores, some board members argue for far more sweeping revisions. One suggestion would allow teens enrolled in job training to take tests geared to their field -- for example, exams in applied math, rather than the more academic Math A.

 

Another proposal would keep academic exams in place, but average scores and class grades together. Students whose combined numbers averaged 65 would qualify for diplomas.

 

Regents are slated to reach a final decision in November, after reviewing exam results from last spring. But failure rates recorded in previous years already have many worried.

 

"There are some kids who freak out on tests -- kids who have phobias on math, science, languages," said Harry Phillips III, a regent from Hartsdale in Westchester County.

 

Prospects seemed far sunnier in the fall of 1995. Then, Mills and some of the same Regents still on the board declared their resolve to hold students to an academic "gold standard," by requiring Regents exams for all. At the time, many teens took the state's easier competency tests, which measured minimum skills.

 

Under rules adopted the following summer, competency tests were phased out, except for students with disabilities who can continue using such tests, at least through next spring. The great majority of students wound up taking at least five Regents exams, which are written at a college-prep level.

 

Starting next spring, unless rules are revised, graduates will be required to score 65 or better in three of those subjects: English, global history and U.S. history. Graduates the following year will have to score equally high in two additional subjects, math and science.

 

Having scrapped their old system that relied on two different levels of testing, most Regents are skeptical of any new proposal that would treat some students as second-class. Board members express little interest in an approach that has caught on in some other states -- awarding "certificates of completion" or other alternative credentials to teens who finish high school without passing exams.

 

So far, 16 states provide such credentials, or plan to do so. New Jersey is considering the option. In New York, school districts say they have the authority to award completion certificates on their own, though few actually do so. Such credentials are often not recognized by colleges, military recruiters and civilian employers.

 

"I think we would be doing the students a tremendous disservice, because that sort of certificate wouldn't be worth the paper it's written on," said Bob Johnson of Huntington, a business executive and former Newsday publisher, who represents Long Island on the Regents board.

 

"The answer is not to give them an easy way out," he said. "The answer is to reform education, so everyone gets a quality education."

 

So far, reform efforts have left many educators cold. One major source of friction was the Education Department's decision last year to set higher passing standards for the physics exam than those recommended by the agency's own advisory committee of teachers.

 

In response, a half-dozen districts on the Island and upstate have begun offering teens the option of taking local physics exams in place of the state's. One of these districts, Fairport in suburban Rochester, has gone a step further -- announcing plans for a nonprofit organization that could issue diplomas starting next year, without regard to Regents exams.

 

William Cala, the Fairport superintendent, thinks the idea could catch on in other districts as well.

 

"You can't look at what happened with that physics exam and have any faith in the state," said Cala, a former superintendent of Shoreham-Wading River schools. "If the state doesn't become more flexible, I think this is going to become very popular."

Copyright ? 2003, Newsday, Inc.

I hate FCAT's you shouldnt be required to take a test in order to graduate!

I hate FCAT's you shouldnt be required to take a test in order to graduate!

I find that somewhat amusing. I had to take a test every year when I was in school......including the one that determined whether I would graduate or not. It is just part of the system, and a way to find out if you actually learned the things you were expected to.

 

JMO

The F-CAT is a joke. I ace the damn thing every year, but I believe way too much emphises is put on it. All teachers do is prepare kids for the F-CAT. They don't teach at the kids pace, they teach at the pace they need to in order to cover everything. But the funny thing is, they touch on everything, but barely cover or review any of it. The "slow" kids are always lost.

Now tell me why this on my school website mention anything about passing the FCAT?

 

I go to Braddock BTW

 

Senior Graduation Requirements

 

4 years of English

4 years of Social Studies

3 years of Math

3 years of Science

10 Elective Class Credits

2.0 GPA

1 hour of Community Service (College Requirements may differ)

Pay all fines through the School Treasurer (Lab fees, Textbook fines, and Late book return fees)

Why in God's name did you bump this thread?

Now tell me why this on my school website mention anything about passing the FCAT?

 

I go to Braddock BTW

 

Senior Graduation Requirements

 

4 years of English

4 years of Social Studies

3 years of Math

3 years of Science

10 Elective Class Credits

2.0 GPA

1 hour of Community Service (College Requirements may differ)

Pay all fines through the School Treasurer (Lab fees, Textbook fines, and Late book return fees)

 

Because this thread is from 2003?

They should just make everyone take the SAT, those who don't get at least a 1000 don't graduate.

They should just make everyone take the SAT, those who don't get at least a 1000 don't graduate.

 

How dumb you would have to be to not top 1000 out of 2400.

I think he meant out of the old 1600 scale.

 

The average score on the SAT is like 1020, so I doubt they could make 1000 the base, as it would probably leave about 35% behind.