State effort seeks to identify assessments as alternatives to passing Regents exams

On Board Online • September 1, 2025

By Sara Foss
Special Correspondent

Currently, students in New York State must pass four or five Regents exams to qualify for a high school diploma. But passing those exams to qualify for a diploma will become optional for students entering grade 9 in the 2029-30 school year (this fall's fifth-graders). Under a state plan, schools will begin using a wide variety of methods to measure student readiness for graduation.

What specific methods will be used? That topic, along with work-based learning and other pedagogical approaches, is being explored by 23 school districts that are participating in the State Education Department's PLAN Pilot. PLAN stands for Performance-based Learning and Assessment Networks.

"The first year was just building the plane, not trying to fly it," said Timothy Harnett, assistant principal at Port Chester High School in Westchester County. He said he is glad that his school is part of the pilot project, now entering its second year.

"Any educator in New York who works with high school kids is thinking about the pros and cons of the Regents," he said. "We're not necessarily thinking the Regents are a disaster that needs to be thrown in the trash. But when alternatives come up, we get excited."

Four transformations

The PLAN Pilot is part of a state effort, called NY Inspires, to reimagine and redefine what a high school graduate needs to know and be able to do. Released by the State Education Department (SED) in late 2024, the NY Inspires plan calls for four "transformations":

1. Adopt a state Portrait of a Graduate. (The Board of Regents did so in July 2025).
2. Sunset existing graduation requirements. (This is to be done during an "initial implementation phase" from fall 2027 to summer 2029).
3. Move to one high school diploma, phasing out the local diploma and Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation. (Fall 2027 to summer 2029; students will be able to earn yet-to-be defined state seals and endorsements on their diplomas.)
4. Redefining what can be used to earn academic credit, including giving students the opportunity to demonstrate proficiency in learning standards through "learning experiences" including (1) internships and work-based learning, (2) capstone projects, (3) portfolios, (4) community service and (5) project-based learning.

Students entering grade 9 in 2027 (this fall's seventh graders) will be the first to be required to earn one credit in career and technical education, which could include financial literacy.

Full scale implementation is scheduled for students entering ninth grade in the fall of 2029. Upon graduation, those students will be the first to receive transcripts documenting their proficiency in both the skills listed in the Portrait of a Graduate and state-prioritized learning standards. In addition, local school districts will be able to create their own graduation seals and endorsements. However, local districts cannot set graduation criteria beyond the state criteria.

West Irondequoit: 9th graders get to choose history projects

To develop alternatives to Regents exams, educators across the state must develop expertise in Project-Based Learning and Assessment (PBLA), also called performance-based assessment. Instead of relying on tests, teachers will require students to demonstrate what they know by creating artwork, building a prototype, doing a lab experiment, etc. (See an SED summary at bit.ly/3QNioMa .)

"Project-based learning and assessment isn't a new concept," said Chrissy Miga, assistant superintendent for instruction at West Irondequoit Central School District, a PLAN Pilot participant in Monroe County. "But having it as a directive from the state and knowing that this is the direction that we're all supposed to move towards - this was an opportunity for us to be at the forefront of that," she said. "We saw the PLAN Pilot as a place to jump in."

At West Irondequoit High School, officials started small, with new projects in ninth-grade world history. For example, students wrote a letter to a current or future world leader explaining lessons they should take from the rise or fall of ancient Rome.

Another project focused on the era when Europeans first arrived in Africa and the Americas. After learning about colonization and enslavement, students showed what they learned by writing opinion pieces and recording presentations, among other things.

"They had to draw some historical conclusions and craft a historical argument, but it wasn't in a Regents-style, on-demand essay," said Kim Cristal, director of humanities.

At the end of the unit, students took a final exam modeled after the Regents exam and performed almost 10 percentage points better than the previous year, Cristal said. She theorized that the projects were more creative, "which made it more interesting" to students, and that students appreciated being given choices.

Saugerties: Giving teachers agency to be creative

The Saugerties Central School District in Ulster County started doing professional development training focused on performance-based learning three years ago.

It stemmed from a desire for "our students to take more agency and autonomy for their learning instead of just being receptacles of what the teacher was saying," said Deputy Superintendent Gwendolyn Roraback. "We wanted them involved in the experience."

During the 2024-25 school year, seven teachers at Saugerties Senior High School teachers participated in the PLAN Pilot. They were asked to do at least one new project with their students. What resulted was creative and engaging, Roraback said, recalling an ELA teacher who asked students to write song lyrics about social issues, collaborate with musicians to produce the songs and create album covers. One algebra teacher replaced their midterm with math roundtables, where students gave presentations on non-routine problems.

With performance-based learning and assessment, "there are multiple ways to get a final product, and the final product will always surprise you," Roraback said.

Hendrick Hudson: PBLA planned for all HS classes

Some teachers in Westchester's Hendrick Hudson School District became excited about New York's efforts to reimagine education after a visit from Regent Fran Wills, who spoke with them about NY Inspires and the Blue Ribbon Commission on Graduation Measures.

At the district's superintendent conference day in March, staff attended breakout sessions on topics related to the PLAN Pilot.

"We spent a lot of time digging deeply into the 'why' and it just took off," said Lauren Scollins, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.

During the 2025-26 school year, every class at Hendrick Hudson High School will have at least one unit that culminates in a performance-based assessment or real-world experience. There will also be more interdisciplinary collaboration.

All of the district's freshmen take both global studies and studio art. This summer, teachers from those classes have been meeting to discuss ways to engage students from both classes.

Students at Hendrick Hudson have always done plenty of projects. The big shift, Scollins said, is replacing standardized tests with performance-based assessments. "It pushes people to think a little bit outside the box," she said. Maybe students will eventually build a portfolio of their different performance-based assessments, "so that when they graduate, all of those elements of the portrait of a graduate are built in at each level," she said.

Port Chester: Inspiring students to do their best effort

Diantha Barone, assistant principal in Port Chester Public Schools, called the opportunity to try out different types of assessments with students "an amazing opportunity." She said students in her school district, located in Westchester County, generally do well on Regents exams, but allowing students to "show competencies" that go beyond a multiple-choice exam might also have value.

An example of giving students the opportunity to show competency is the New York State Seal of Biliteracy, which recognizes high school graduates who have attained a high level of proficiency in English and at least one other world language and have successfully completed a culminating project. Earning this distinction gives students "a more personal connection with the school," Hartnett said.

"When done well, project-based learning is more rigorous, and the students push themselves way beyond what they would for a regular course," Hartnett said. "When done poorly, it's less rigorous."

Why is her district participating in the PLAN pilot? "In Port Chester, we like to be ahead of the curve," she said. "Project-based learning, when done well, is the best thing I've ever been a part of, and that's what we want to do more of."

PLAN Pilot includes mentor schools

Officials at each of the PLAN Pilot schools interviewed for this article praised the expertise and guidance provided by the state, including being paired with one of eight mentor schools with extensive experience in project-based learning. Those schools include the Baccalaureate School for Global Education in Queens and Tech Valley High School in Albany.

PLAN Pilot schools have also received support from one of two PLAN Technical Assistance Centers created by SED.

Notably, SED has asked the Regents to establish a process for schools participating in the PLAN Pilot program to apply for regulatory flexibility. The regulatory amendment will be presented for permanent adoption at the group's October meeting.

Asked how school districts should work with the new state Portrait of a Graduate if they have a local Portrait of a Graduate, SED spokesman JP O'Hare wrote in an email: "It is important to note that district and local portraits can enhance, but not replace, the attributes of the NYS Portrait. This allows for locally tailored seals and endorsements that complement state-developed ones. Schools and districts may create community-informed portraits reflecting local values and offer additional seals or endorsements aligned with these portraits. However, it is essential that these additions do not interfere with a student's ability to earn a diploma, which cannot be withheld from any student who meets the state's graduation requirements."