Bed-Stuy Teachers and Students React to Elimination of January Regents Exams

The budget deficit has claimed yet another casualty: The January high school Regents Exams. 

The Regents, a series of five examinations required to graduate, normally are administered three times a year in New York City-- August, January and June. On May 17, the New York State Board of Regents voted to eliminate the January Regents exams. 

News of the change has been a source of anxiety among many Bed-Stuy educators, as urban school districts are far more dependent than their suburban counterparts on the January exams. Also, educators worry about student pass rates amid a greater push to tie teacher evaluations to test scores.

Additionally, summer school is neither mandatory nor enforceable in New York City, so few students actually sit for the August exam period, leaving January as a crucial window for those who may need to make up tests.

“This will reduce the number of students who are able to graduate in a particular year,” explained a nine-year veteran math teacher from Boys and Girls High School who declined to give her name. Boys and Girls High School narrowly escaped closure earlier this year, with a graduation rate of 38.9 percent.

“If a student can’t make it in June, they can in January," said the math teacher, noting she has seen a number of students triumph over their low scores in the January mid-year exam period.

High-stakes testing already places enormous pressure on teachers, students and schools. Stroll around Boys and Girls High School in south Bed-Stuy and you’ll observe rooms dotted with students making last-minute preparations for the June Regents.

One student, Shatque Brown, stayed after school to study for the Integrated Algebra Regents. Though Brown must pass this exam if he is to enter Kingsborough College in the fall, he is not dismayed by the obstacles these test can impose.

“I think the Regents are important because they shape you up for college,” Brown explained, breaking from a computerized study program. “I learned how to study--like to use practice problems to prepare.”

Kabir Deane, a 10th grader at Foundations Academy, agreed. “It’s great because on your college application it can make you look better if you have an Advanced Regents Diploma.” Unlike the standard Regents Diploma, an Advanced Regents requires students to pass eight exams, including a foreign language.

Still, few students can get on board with the decision to eliminate January Regents. “I don’t like it at all,” said Crystal Conner, a junior at Boys and Girls. “It doesn’t give students a second chance. A lot of kids need a second chance. If they take it away, a lot kids might drop-out.”

Michael Corren, a sophmore at Foundations Academy, understands this all too well. In his freshman year, Corren was unable to pass Living Environment and Integrated Algebra. “Without January Regents, I would have been held back,” said Corren. Not only did Corren pass in January, but his scores were well above the minimal passing mark.

While some suggest that fewer exams will push students to study harder throughout the year, teachers are not so optimistic. “Students will continue to do the same thing they’ve been doing,” said an Integrated Algebra teacher at Boys and Girls. “It’s not going to be an incentive. If they are not studying now, they won’t study then.”

Both Deane and Corren of the Foundations Academy confirmed this very sentiment: “Students will not study extra,” they said matter-of-factly in between a hand of cards.

Only time will tell what sort of impact eliminating January Regents will have on local schools. Until then, the best teachers can do for now is continue to work hard and hope that students will study harder.