The new tests in New York are part of an effort to phase out the minimal standards tests, called Regents Competency Tests, and establish one bar for all. Students who do not pass the harder tests, called Regents exams, will still be able to get an equivalency diploma by taking the less-stringent exams for a general equivalency diploma. Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub.PrepScholar.com, allow you to interact with your peers and the PrepScholar staff. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process.
The English exams can be particularly hard on English learners, advocates and researchers said. Sugarman said she often hears from educators about students who have passed all of their classes, but can’t pass the English Regents exam. Results include all administrations of Regents exams in each school year and reports the highest score for each student for each Regents exam taken in each school year. The Regents Excel file contains results for all students tested, as well as results by student characteristics including disability status, English Language Learner (ELL) status, race/ethnicity, and gender. In 2014, the Board of Regents created the 4+1 option, where students must pass at least 4 regents exams—one per subject—and pass one additional Regents exam in any subject.
When you take the practice test, time each section as you would be when you take the real thing, and make sure there are no distractions in the room. Once you’re done, score it (you need at least a 65 to pass) and examine which sections you need to work on. Every year, 11th graders across New York State sit down to take the ELA Regents Exam.
Remember, our focus on high-stakes testing doesn’t stop our grade-abated work. ELA tests especially incorporate many of the skills and traits of grade abatement proper. You want to understand their interior logic and the logic of the test-makers. Apply to grades 3-K –12, explore and compare schools, and more.
In fact, all NY public high school students have to take (and pass) a certain number of these exams to graduate from high school. This part of the exam includes close reading of four or five informational texts. Students will compose an essay of argument with a claim based on the sources. Juanmy Moscoso, an English learner who graduated in 2021, took the English Regents exam five times before passing it, finally succeeding his junior year of high school, three years after he first moved to the United States from the Dominican Republic. He was part of the minority of English learners who passed the exam prior to graduating in 2021. Opponents of this idea say that creating different standards for English-language learners does them a disservice by not preparing them as well as those students who are native English-speakers.
Students enrolled in these schools do, however, take the English Language Arts Regents exam as a part of the New York State school accountability system. Currently, only those students bound for college take college-preparatory Regents examinations, and the state awards Regents diplomas to those who pass eight or more exams. Students can earn a local diploma by passing five Regents Competency Tests.
In addition to the annotated questions, you will also find the released Spring 2014 exam booklet, scoring key and rating guide, and conversion chart. The NYSED says this summer a group of teachers specialized in standardized testing will meet to talk about how students should be graded in math and English exams. Some middle schools in New York offer Honors programs that allow students to take the Algebra I, U.S. History & Government, Earth Science, and Living Environment Regents exams in June of eighth grade. Local Diplomas are offered by New York State school districts for students who did not or cannot pass the Regents Diploma requirements. Starting this fall, the board will provide funds to reduce class size to 25 students in all 11th-grade English courses, said Dr. Margaret Harrington, chief executive of school programs and student support services at the Board of Education. Currently, she said, most high school classes have 34 students.

Students may take Advanced Placement (AP) exams in order to earn the potential for college credits. The College Board administers AP exams and provides the DOE with results for NYC students. The Regents exams are scored by licensed and trained New York City teachers, and follows NY State Education Department policies on scoring of State exams. Students have the opportunity to take Regents Exams in grades 9-12 and, when appropriate, in grade eight.

Regents – English Exam (ELA Common Core)

He’d suggested everything—gold rims, the kind that curved round your ears, little pads inside the bridge.No, nothing would please her. “They’ll always be sliding down my nose!” Miss Brill had wanted to shake her. Students can receive a score from Levels 1-5 for each Regents exam. Students are deemed proficient if they receive a score of 3 and above, according to the state.
In New York State, Regents Examinations are statewide standardized examinations in core high school subjects. Students are required to pass these exams to earn a Regents Diploma. To graduate, students are required to have earned appropriate credits in a number of specific subjects by passing year-long or half-year courses, after which they must pass at least five Regents examinations in some of the subject areas. For higher-achieving students, a Regents with Advanced designation and an Honors designation are also offered. Students with disabilities or enrolled in an English as a Second Language program are able to earn a local diploma.

The (82) pates and fruit were brought to the dining-room; the bonbons were passed (83) around. And the ladies, selecting with dainty and discriminating fingers and (84) a little greedily, all declared that Mr. Pontellier was the best husband in the (85) world. Mrs. Pontellier was forced to admit that she knew of none better. (67)The following morning Mr. Pontellier was up in good time to take the (68) rockaway which was to convey him to the steamer at the wharf. He was (69) returning to the city to his business, and they would not see him again at (70) the Island till the coming Saturday. He had regained his composure, which (71) seemed to have been somewhat impaired the night before.
It’s best to not bring your phone with you at all, but most schools do designate an area where students can leave their phones while taking the test. If you bring your phone, make sure to turn it off before the test, because if it goes off during the test, you could lose points. You need a working definition, which is a little different from a dictionary definition. Look online for examples of unfamiliar writing strategies, use this page to ask questions, and share your understanding through Google+.
For your review, you will find a chapter on Reviewing Literary Elements and Techniques and detailed Glossaries of Terms that review structure and language in prose and poetry. In the Appendix, you will find the New York State Learning Standards for Reading, Writing, and Language. Actual ELA Regents Exams, all with sample essays and answers explained, are also included. Graduation rates for English learners have been historically low — 46% graduated on time in 2020 in New York City, compared with 79% of all students citywide. Advocates and policy experts have cited many reasons, including that newer immigrant students might juggle work with school and lack of enough support in classrooms as they’re still learning the language.
State education officials have also revamped the math Regents test, to be required for all public school students beginning with this year’s ninth graders, to include more advanced algebra and geometry as well as some trigonometry. Depending on the subject, Regents exams will include multiple-choice questions and short-answer questions or essay responses (including document-based questions). Based on your performance, you’ll receive a scaled score from on each test. In academic writing, an argument is usually a central idea, often called a claim or thesis statement, which is backed up with evidence that supports the idea.

Regents English Language Arts

While I didn’t do this, I know people who did, and rushing to get to school before the deadline and then rushing through the test is not super conducive to scoring well. Spreading out your studying also means you’ll be sleeping in between studying, which will help cement your memory of all that information you’re reading and quizzing yourself on. Alternatively, you can swap out any of the Regents exams listed above for another State-approved alternative assessment.

Advocates of the alternative test counter that an alternative exam would set an appropriately high standard that reflects the background and experiences of recently-arrived students. They argue that requiring recently-arrived students to take an English Regents exam designed for native speakers who have grown up speaking, reading, and writing English unfairly sets up these students to fail and drop out. In some cases, students may be entitled to take the test in their native language or have an interpreter read them the questions in their native language. Those students whose native language is Chinese, Russian, Haitian-Creole, Spanish, or Korean, can have access to tests translated into these languages.
Those required exams include English language arts, mathematics, science, social studies and an additional Regents exam. The school superintendent, or Chancellor of the City School District of the City of New York (or his/her designee), shall make a final determination to accept or deny the appeal. Though all public schools are required to follow either the Regents Exam system or some form of alternative assessment, private schools need not. The vast majority of private schools do use Regents exams and award Regents diplomas, but some, usually academically prestigious private schools, do not.
Thinking about what to do this summer after the NYSED Regents? Read through our guides on what high school students should do over the summer (besides summer assignments), including pre-college summer programs, SAT/ACT boot camp, or getting a job. For example, as an eighth-grader I took Regents Earth Science, which was the honors science class for that grade (vs. regular Earth Science), and so had to take the Regents at the end of the year (because that’s what my school required).
The Part II essay is scored on a 6-point rubric then weighted × 4. The Part III Text Analysis is scored on a 4-point rubric and then weighted × 2. (WKBW) — The New York State Education Department and the Board of Regents are examining potential changes to lower the minimum scores in math and English exams.
It was 2020, and Toribio felt exhausted from learning years’ worth of material while balancing school with a full-time restaurant job. Before immigrating to New York City a few years earlier, he had spent much of his childhood working on a Mexican farm to support his family after his father died, missing at least six years of formal schooling. The Regents exams, as with any standardized test, have strict rules and protocols to quell attempts to cheat. Students indicate their answers by filling out scannable answer sheets with #2 pencils.
Students will acquire the academic vocabulary they need to comprehend and respond to grade-level complex texts. Students will be expected to engage in rich and rigorous evidence-based conversations/class discussions about text. Toribio, the student who graduated in 2020, went on to attend community college. But he stopped attending because he was struggling to pay for school, according to an advocate who has helped him in the past. At the same time, the data is likely fodder for advocates who have called for the state to stop requiring the Regents exams to graduate.

For example, each section 1 station may have different rocks and minerals, though the task is the same. Except for the Physics exam, which is administered only in June, the exams are given in January, June, and August. The June 2020, August 2020, and January 2021, then later, August 2021 and January 2022 exams were not administered as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. NYSED might not care if you get an A or a C as long as you pass the New York State Regents, but colleges certainly do. Learn what a good GPA is for college and how to convert your GPA to a 4.0 here. The only thing to be cautious of is overloading yourself, particularly if you have final exams in addition to the Regents in a particular subject.

The founder of Western New York Education Alliance, Tarja Parssinen, tells 7 News there’s a reading crisis among some communities. The lower proficiency level was a pandemic-era policy that now state educators are considering making permanent. The exception is the Earth Science exam, which consists of a 41-minute (approximate) laboratory component usually given up to two weeks prior to the three-hour written exam. Even if you’re someone who wakes up at the same time every day without an alarm, though, getting a good night’s rest leading up to a test will magnify the results of your studying. Personally, I’ve found that getting a good night’s sleep two days before the test is also critical, but you may find your body works differently. Remember that fun, not-at-all-something-that-happened thing I mentioned in the scheduling section about sleeping through the Regents?
Determine the central ideas of texts, including how ideas within and across texts interact and build on one another. Be confident that the reading, discussion, and writing in your high school courses have prepared you for the exam. This question complements the one above because it asks you to identify the author’s central argument of the passage as it is developed over the course of the text. He felt that his teachers had done all they could to prepare him, but it was tough to pass the exam while also juggling a challenging course load, including several Advanced Placement classes. Two young girls in red came by and two young soldiers in blue met them, and they laughed and paired and went off arm-in-arm.