By Kevin McLaughlin
Since COVID-19 took over our lives last winter, we have had many disadvantages to our new way of living. However, not everything to come out of COVID was terrible.
State testing like the Regents and other standardized testing were cancelled. This took a lot of stress off of both students and teachers at the end of the year, as we did not have to prepare for the standardized tests. Since COVID-19 is still with us, will these exams be cancelled for a second year?
I spoke to Earth Science teacher Ms. Schilling, to get her thoughts on her course might change if the June Regents are cancelled.
“I will continue to teach all of the units in my course, but may omit some parts of the unit that are taught due to being on the Regents exam. I think it will also give me and my students more time to explore concepts and phenomenon, instead of rushing to get through all of the content.”
Cancelling the June Regents would not only relieve students and teachers of some stress, but it would also allow for more opportunities to take a deeper dive into certain parts of the curriculum.
This past week, the New York State Board of Regents announced that they have proposed a federal waiver for state assessments to be terminated for this Spring. If approved, this waiver would cancel Regents and other standardized testing for the Spring.
Board of Regents Chancellor Lester W. Young Jr. said, “In light of the ongoing pandemic, we have determined that the Spring 2021 state assessments cannot be safely, equitably and fairly administered to students in schools across the state and, therefore, are seeking these waivers.”
Similar to last year, it would be unsafe for students to be packed into a gym or auditorium so they can be monitored during the test. And allowing students to take it online could allow students to cheat on an exam that could be a deciding factor for colleges.
Ms. Schilling went on to say, “In my opinion, this seems like there is a very good chance that the June Regents may be cancelled.”
So what could this mean for the end of the school year? It would be likely that more teachers than usual give an in class final exam, that would count to your fourth quarter grade.
“But if the June Regents are cancelled, I would probably give some sort of final exam or project for my classes,” said Ms. Schilling.
