SED preparing guidance on NY Inspires

On Board Online • August 10, 2026

By Carolyn Thompson
Special Correspondent

New York education officials are working on much-anticipated guidance as the state moves away from traditional high school graduation standards and toward a system that will give students multiple ways to prove they are ready for college or a job.

Officials at the State Education Department (SED) say they plan to publish key components of the new "competency-based" framework after gathering input from educators, families, employers, school board members and others over the summer.

At some point after the summer, school leaders can expect to receive:

• Competencies, which will define what students must demonstrate to show they are ready to graduate.
• Prioritized learning standards, which will serve as the foundation for those competencies.
• Rubrics, which are criteria for measuring competency, typically sorting students into four levels. SED said rubrics will ensure consistency and rigor across schools.

"I'm anxious to see the rubrics and the guidance," Binghamton Superintendent Tonia Thompson told On Board. "Like, here's an example of what a 4-3-2-1 looks like around being an effective communicator from the state, and then how they're tying that to the standards. Because that's never been done before."

Being an effective communicator is part of the Portrait of a Graduate, which was adopted by the Board of Regents last year. The portrait envisions all high school graduates being academically prepared, effective communicators, critical thinkers, creative innovators, future-focused and global citizens. It's a vision statement at the core of NY Inspires, the state's multi-year effort to transform a one-size-fits-all approach to education into a system meant to recognize that students learn and show their strengths in different ways.

Many school administrators say they can't wait to see the nuts-and-bolts elements of NY Inspires so they can begin implementing local approaches and explain the changes to staff in professional development sessions.

It's clear that the overall goal is to make "learning authentic and relevant to kids' lives," said Johnathan Hirschey, director of instructional resources at St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES.

"Schooling works for a certain group of kids right now, but this initiative really allows us to get down to the concept of each student," he said. "We've talked about every student a lot, but there's a big difference between every student and each student."

In June, SED and the Board of Regents announced plans to phase in a competency-based diploma that relies on a student's demonstrated command of material using things like capstone projects and portfolios, rather than the current system of credits, "seat time" and a universal requirement to pass at least four Regents exams. SED said the forthcoming competencies will be rooted in current academic standards, clearly defined and measurable and have guardrails that prevent inequity.

One reason that local leaders are anxious to receive the state guidance is that they want to ensure local school improvement initiatives will be aligned with the state approach.

For instance, the Binghamton City School District, whose mascot is a patriot, has been preparing for the shift to competency-based education by adopting its own "Portrait of a Patriot."

Binghamton also has been piloting Performance-Based Learning and Assessment, a project-based system which Supt. Thompson said provides students with a voice in learning and innovative ways to show what they have learned.

"For many of our students, they're able to articulate their understanding by doing rather than by answering a multiple-choice question," she said. Instead of solving algebra problems on an exam, for example, students have demonstrated their skills through algebra-based projects like designing a prom and using formulas to determine things like square footage and food quantities.

"Once we have a better understanding of expectations from the state, I think the next logical thing is to really lean into our families as well as our students, but really our families to say, it's changing," Thompson said.

The transition will occur in phases, with students entering grade 9 in the 2029-30 school year being the first required to demonstrate proficiency in both state learning standards and portrait competencies to earn a diploma. However, SED's timeline has yet to be formalized in Regulations of the Commissioner of Education.

Educators including Hirschey at St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES said receiving the competencies, prioritized learning standards and rubrics will help school districts and BOCES focus their school improvement efforts.

"The bigger thing is that it gives districts the ability to dream," he said. "To think about what it is that education is, and what it can become in the future."