Needing a Regents Exams to graduate high school in New York State could soon become a thing of the past.
On July 14, 2025, the Board of Regents adopted a policy called the New York State Portrait of a Graduate, the new graduation framework, as part of the revamping of the New York State education system under NY Inspires. This plan was rumored to be the replacement of Regents Exams being a graduation requirement, but it is quite the opposite.
The goal of the framework is to cultivate students who represent the six values the Board is now stressing: academically prepared, creative innovators, critical thinkers, effective communicators, global citizens, and effective and future focused. The initiative plans to provide development through hands-on learning via projects, internships, and solid experience.
Currently, NYS is in phase one of the initiative out of three and is expected to conclude in the summer of 2027. The department plans to remove the three diplomas that can be earned, local, regents, or regents with advanced designation, and consolidate them into one diploma that can be embellished with seals and endorsements.
Regents Exams will no longer be required to graduate; however, the New York State Department of Education stated that, “State assessments will continue to be administered per federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requirements. ESSA states that all students must be assessed in mathematics and reading or language arts…at least once in grades 9 through 12. In science, assessments must be administered…once in grades 6 through 9; and once in grades 10 through 12.”
Instead of Regents Exams being fully phased out, they have become another pathway for students to gain enough credits to graduate, on top of fulfilling the New York State Portrait of a Graduate requirements. Students still need to take the tests, but no longer need to pass them for graduation. The scores retained from the tests will be used to determine the academic excellence of a student for the new framework and will continue to be used to meet federal assessment requirements imposed by ESSA.
Still, there is little information shared by the New York State Department of Education regarding which Regents Exams will be optional. Assistant Principal of Data and Testing, Ms. Rothenberg, commented, “There is some discussion that Algebra I and ELA will still be required exams, but this is still unknown.”
This framework will take into effect starting the Fall 2027 school year and will, theoretically, affect current freshmen and sophomores.
Students who entered high school in 2023 and earlier will continue to receive one of the three diplomas. Students who entered between 2024 and 2026 will still need to meet current credit requirements to receive the one diploma with advanced designation as a seal of distinction. Students who entered 2027-2028 will need to meet new credit requirements to receive the one diploma with refined seals and endorsements, and will not be required to pass certain diploma assessments, like Regents Exams, to gain one. By 2029, the full transition would have been completed.
It is unclear whether the Regents Exams will still be counted towards graduation next year for current 9th and 10th-graders.
Although many schools in the state have met the new framework with uncertainty, Cardozo has been preparing for an easy transition into the new initiative for years.
With the new requirements needing one credit in career and technical skills to graduate, students can earn the credit by taking the long-established WISE Financial Literacy Test in their senior year. It can also be gained through “agricultural education, business and marketing education, computer science education, family and consumer sciences education, health sciences education, technology education, and trade and technical education,” according to the New York State Department of Education. There is a possibility that the current programs at Cardozo, such as Biomedical, Computer Science, and Journalism, may provide the necessary classes to fulfill the credits aligned with the stated criteria.
“There are definitely plans in motion,” Ms. Rothenberg explained about the future of Portrait of a Graduate at Cardozo. “Students can pick majors within our building. This has been intentional as we move toward a pathway, or portrait, model.”
Ms. Rothenberg is supportive of the new model and its success. “Some students are not good test takers or get really bad test anxiety–and that should not be ‘make or break’ for them. I think a three-hour test doesn’t give students an opportunity to really demonstrate their whole character, their whole knowledge set, and their abilities and full potential,” she hopes.
Assistant Principal of Math, Mr. Vanella, concurs with Ms. Rothenberg and imagines the possible greater benefits that could come from the proposal.
“While Regents courses emphasize content knowledge, the Portrait broadens preparation to include transferable skills necessary for college, careers, and civic life,” he added. “Ideally, rigorous content mastery and these skills work in tandem rather than in opposition.”
Rachel, a sophomore, has high expectations for the framework. “I think this will better prepare students for real-life than tests, as they are able to have hands-on experience. Many students memorize information for tests and forget it, not even a week later.”
She remarked that the Portrait will be a great opportunity for students to learn soft-skills that are interchangeable with the students’ prospective careers. She also noted that project-based learning gives students a better fighting chance for a grade than tests, as “there is no single right or wrong answer,” she acknowledged.
With the imminent arrival of summer, the specifics of the initiative have yet to be announced. It has not been disclosed how students will be examined for graduation readiness by the New York State Department of Education.
Planning at Cardozo continues as further directions are released.
