Regents fucking exams.........................And I have to pass a foregin language one.......................I'm so screwed.

Every state is going to have state mandated exams now. The regents exams have a purpose to them- yes, they suck to take, I've been through the NY schools, you just need to study and try to do the best you can. The situation is worse down here in Delaware, the kids have to take a state test in grade 10 that pretty much determines what diploma level they get. You can literally take 4 years of bullshit classes, score great on the exam and get a top diploma. Hopefully they will do away with this soon.

i think alot of school already have state mandated tests. I had to take them in IN when I went through their system. i dont think I studied though. I dont know if we;re talking about the same thing.

I think any test you have to pass for graduation is stupid. I watched AZ's education system go way downhill after they started requiring a test for graduation. Now they don't teach a curriculum; they teach what the students need to know to "pass the test." It totally defeats the purpose of the test. And NY's education system is certainly nothing to praise from what I've seen of it.

New York's regents tests are literally individualized to each course- their essentially a final exam given by the state that the teacher sees the same time the student does. They have 4 science tests, 3 math tests, 1 English test, 1 foreign language test and 2 social studies tests that you have to take by the time you graduate. These are subject tests, other states have tests that are skill tests. The problem, like someone just mentioned, is teaching to the test- thats exactly what my whole high school career was about. Here in Delaware, we just have to teach to the standards, but there are no content standards and we don't see the state test.

gotchya. they're different.

I went to high school in both Texas and Iowa.

In Texas, we had the TAAS tests. All year, the classes that you had in the TAAS subjects (English, math, science) just taught the test. Teachers had copies of tests from previous years, and would photocopy them and give to students, knowing that the tests changed very little from year to year. Some teachers at my school were known to have let students cheat on the tests, by letting them use dictionaries on the English portion or graphing calculators in the math sections. My school was also caught forging TAAS scores to keep the state funding, since if a school didn't score within a certain range, they lost their funding.

In Iowa, we have the ITEDs. My teachers did not teach the ITEDs, and as far as I know, state funding is not based on your school's scores. Instead, schools get awards. My former high school has been a blue ribbon school for as long as I can remember. The tests are taken more seriously here. There aren't bags allowed in the classrooms. You get your pencils, and a teacher supplied calculator, and maybe a ruler if you need it.

My school also instituted another round of testing. You must pass a series of tests before you're allowed to graduate. They test your English and math skills. I believe there are two tests in each level, and if you don't pass them by graduation, you simply don't graduate. There are remedial classes that you can take if you need to brush up on your skills.

well, nice to know deleware sucks more than us.................................



And they switched the math Regents around...........don't even get me started on the new way...............

Oh my god, you mean...students are actually required to prove that they've been awake in class?

They don't exactly make the Regents exams very challenging - all you have to do is pass.

We have the MCAS tests that the kids gotta pass now to graduate. I think most kids say it's easy. But then again, some kids take standardized tests very badly, even if they are smart. Unless they standardize the curriculum throughout the whole state (which would make school boring and horrible IMO), you can't really fairly give every kid the same test.

If it were only that simple......................I've seen other states testing system for HS........................NYS is the only one using this system, all the other states went to an easier system.


This isn't a simple aptitude test, its intense, 6 hours long, and take years to prepare for.....................

ever taken one?

Yes, I went through the NYS school system, so I took all of them.

Wait, 6 hours long ? From what I remember it was 3, which was certainly a pain in the ass as well. I feel you on the foreign language exam though. That one sucked.

yeah. regents suck, i have a regents degree, and I still have a shitty job