New York students raise concerns over Earth Science Regents exam

Long Island school district raises concerns over regents exam

Long Island students claim their 8th grade earth science regents exam did not match the curriculum they were taught. FOX 5 NY's Jodi Goldberg has the story.

LONG ISLAND - New York students are taking to social media to express their frustration over this year's Earth Science Regents exam – an exam that featured questions about toll payments instead of weather.

‘Am I supposed to know this?’

What we know:

Two eighth graders spoke to FOX 5 NY's Jodi Goldberg about the exam they took.

"The test felt like a reading comprehension test," one student, Andy Ryoo, told Goldberg, "One of the questions was about toll payments – weather wasn't covered, which is a huge topic, and we spent months on it."

As of right now, New York students must pass at least four of the three-hour Regents exams to earn a Regents diploma; New York is in the minority of states that require exit exams to graduate high schools. 

In the Jericho School District, students who perform well on their Regents exam can opt to use that test score to boost their final grade; after this year's exam, the test will not be counted for any student.

Local response

What they're saying:

The issue with the Regents exam was addressed at a Jericho School Board meeting – one student said at the meeting, "I didn't really believe what was happening because everything I had studied had basically gone to waste."

Jericho School District Superintendent Hank Grisham told Goldberg that the New York State (NYS) Education Department has made several mistakes over the years.

"The kids studied and mastered material that was not accurately tested. Why should we then take this test and use it to grade our kids?"

Grisham added that there are many others who, after reading through the exam, deemed the reading level "not fair."

Statement from the NYS Education Department

The other side:

The state's Education Department had this to say in response: "Because of our extensive processes involving industry-standard test development procedures and the involvement of hundreds of NYS teachers, we are very confident that the Regents Exams are well-aligned with the learning standards."

The "new assessments" in question are new Regents exams implemented when "there are new academic learning standards, a revision to the learning standards or a change in test design." 

The other new Regents exams that were implemented this school year were the Geometry Regents exam and the Life Science: Biology Regents exam.

The Education Department also released this assessment, which can be found on their website.

Hofstra University education professor Alan Singer agreed. "My understanding is that the new exam is aligned with the curriculum," he said in reference to the Earth Science Regents exam.