<p>This is interesting Being a NY residence my whole life regents was just something that went along with one's high school requirements. Recently at one of our college info sessions I asked the admission officer to explain how a kid from say anywhere other than NY and maybe Ca. who does not have such a grueling amount of exams to pass in June(regents) can possibly have the same judging if you will come application time. She said WELL for those of you that do not know what a regents is....and went on to explain what the NY kids are up against. Most or all the other kids at that session that day were from out of state. The bottom line is she had no explanation as to the fairness of this but she went on to say "that is where the SATS come in I think thats rediculous. NY kids are being tested til they can't see How is this fair. anyway this is only my opinion what is yours? Yes I my self back in the day also had to endure about eight regents just to graduate.</p>
<p>I am also a lifelong NYS resident, and it is my impression that the Regents exams these days are not as difficult as the ones I took as a high school student back in the seventies. D tells me that the Regents are much easier than her school's own exams, with maybe the exception of physics (which has been changed recently). In any case, all that is needed to pass is a 65. There are lots of review books for sale that enable any student, with a little effort, to master the subject. I'm sorry if this seems harsh, but I think that any student looking to attend college should at least be able to pass a Regents.</p>
<p>Yeah Regents are really easy... You really gotta try to fail one of those bad boys, and in the odd event of a hard one(Math A in 2002, Math B in 2005) you get a curve.</p>
<p>Regents are ridiculously easy. Most kids look forward to them as opposed to departmental finals.</p>
<p>Most of them are pretty easy, with the exception of Math A, B, and Physics (alot of kids seem to fail those). </p>
<p>I don't think its fair that NYS kids go through all that, but you have to consider, how would the colleges fix it? If they gave a leg up to NYS kids, I think that too would be wrong, since the state's educational testing requirements really shouldn't have a bearing on college admissions.</p>
<p>Like Macnyc, I am another one who thinks that the regents have gotten really really easy over the over the years (they are a real cake walk now as compared to when I was in high school and I know a lot of people who were thankful for the RCTs or the would not have a diploma) . </p>
<p>My daughter began high school in 2000 when the diploma changed to a regents based diploma across the board, Even then there was a phase in process where you could pass with a 55, I think the passing score of 65 just came in 2003/2004. I do remember a few years back (2003) when there was really made a mess of the math and physics regents and the state had to back peddle and rescore the exams (even then D got a 92 on the physics exam before rescoring) and it was at the principle's discretion to allow students to graduate.</p>
<p>With the new change in the regents I don't even think students have to pass 8 regents in order to graduate (english, global, math, gov't, and 2 sciences) unless they are looking to get an advanced regents or regents with honors diploma.</p>
<p>Most states do have some type of state exam (regents or some other name) or exit exams that students have to pass in order to obtain thier diplomas so I do not see it as just an unnecessary evil that NYer's have to go through. Depending on the school's scheduling, most students are finished with all of their regents by the end of junior year. All though D went to a high school that did not teach to any of the exams threre was still a strong correlation between the grade given in class and the grade on the exam.</p>
<p>While there are flaws in the exam just like the SATs, all NYS students take the same exam and in a way, it does level things out because you wikk question how as student got a 95 in a course and a 60 on the state exam.</p>
<p>sybbie's right - 8 Regents Exams are required for those seeking an Advanced Regents diploma (2 math exams covering 3 years of material; 1 global studies exam covering 2 years of material; 1 US History; 1 English; 1 foreign language; and 2 science exams). The Regents diploma requires only 1 math, 1 science, 1 global studies (again, the exam covers 2 years), 1 US History, and 1 English exam. </p>
<p>Until recently, the pass mark was set at 55 percent; to much wailing and moaning, it's been increased to 65 percent, with accommodations made for certain circumstances.</p>
<p>I grew up in CT and don't know how the exam compares with past testing as far as difficulty is concerned. However, the Regents tinker relentlessly with testing, including the curve assigned each year. One year, the only way to get an A in the Physics exam was to have a perfect score - anything less was a B-plus or lower. They're constantly fooling with the Math curve and curriculum breakdown as well.</p>
<p>If you take more than 2 sciences (most college-bound kids in our district do), you must take the Regents exam in each, which means that many kids take 9 such exams. And the Regents score for each sits on the kid's transcript in perpetuity.</p>
<p>Hi Frazzled,</p>
<p>My D got an advanced regents with honors diploma and even with all of the exams, they were pretty much spread out:</p>
<p>Freshman year, bio (they took the regents for earth science in 8th grade) </p>
<p>Sophmore year- chem, math A, spanish, global</p>
<p>junior year- English (january) math b, us history, physics (june)</p>
<p>I went to high school at Brookly Tech where you took a regents in everything so I did not know anything different.</p>
<p>It is not unusual for schools Tech, Stuy, bx. Science and most of the magnet high schools and many schools on LI and Westchester county to have to take a regents in everything because it seems to be pretty much a given even though you only need 5 regents to get a NYS diploma.</p>
<p>There are also a lot of resources to help prepare one for the regents exams: </p>
<p>Barons Books</p>
<p>It you go to <a href="http://www.nysedregents.org/testing/hsregents.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.nysedregents.org/testing/hsregents.html</a></p>
<p>you can get the back regents with the answers as recent as Jan. 2006</p>
<p>Regents review live comes on public televison (I do remember taping a physics review session for D because it came on at 3 am)</p>
<p><a href="http://www.regentsreviewlive.net/%5B/url%5D">http://www.regentsreviewlive.net/</a></p>
<p>My kids have found the Barron's series to be very helpful. Their teachers usually assign several past Regents exams for review purposes, too. Thanks for the link to the TV review - I never heard of it before!</p>
<p>What our hs students object to is that, if they're enrolled in honors-level classes, they're still required to take the Regents exam in addition to the subject final exam in each class. An honors-level exam is lots more challenging than the state test, but the Regents exam sometimes covers different material (I seem to recall this is true in physics), so additional study is required. Add in stuff like the National Latin Exam or other language equivalent, AP exams, SAT prep, etc., and it's no wonder they're bubble-averse.</p>
<p>Wow great response from everyone I never said they were too difficult , the thought was that after bringing up at a college info session even the college said "it's just something NY state kids have to deal with" she then replied how other state exit exams really do not compare That's all I'm saying and as far so easy well I can tell you from my D HS alone, which happens to be very large and quite demanding that alot of kids do struggle with them. As far as math B goes, unless you are really good at math, that regents has been getting harder each year. My d's math teacher said upon marking it last June the teachers were outraged. So let us for one minute know that not everyone thinks they are easy passing is 65 I guess all who reponded are A students or kids are. My D is a B+ kid who through the years found chemistry and math difficult but excelled in all other areas. Again I still feel NY has more requirements to graduate than many other states.</p>
<p>Don't worry about seeming harsh. My D also has taken and passed 8. She never once said othe than Eng and Spanish how really easy they were.</p>
<p>"Perpetuity" is in the mind of the Board of Regents (Frazzled l). My s. took the Regents Physics exam in June 2003, graduated with a very decent score and went off to college. I happened to read the following winter that there was such a hue and cry about kids failing that the Board of R. 'rescored' the exam. I looked up son's old score, found the new equivalent, and called his school (because the old exam was recorded on his transcript). I asked how this affected kids who'd graduated and was told that if he ever requested a copy of his transcript, the new score would be on the official transcript. (This has never come up and probably never will). </p>
<p>NY State has done this with English and I think with last spring's Math B exam. </p>
<p>For me, the tragedy of this is that my kids score very well on the exams (without tinkering after the fact). When my 8th grade d. got a 99 on the Biology exam, I looked at the Regents website to see what her raw score was (1 wrong), then noticed that in order to pass with a 65, you needed to get around one-third of the answers correct. In what universe is that passing? The tragic part is that teachers bring the review stuff into the class (the good teachers anyway) on the first day and the year is spent catering to the exam. Maybe it does cover the basics of the course, but because so many kids are doing badly, they're beating everyone over the head, repeating the information instead of expanding on the topic. </p>
<p>When the 'new' English exam was first introduced, I remember reading that a mom in Brooklyn raised a ruckus because they were "quoting" from literature but were actually changing words - sometimes using easier synonyms, and at least once actually changing an author's example because they were afraid h.s. students would find it disturbing (it may have been an example of prejudice) - I'm just going on old memory here, but that's the jist of it. They did change the exam, but why would they ever think that was all right to begin with? And why did it take a super-vigilant parent to notice? Teachers didn't seem to mind.</p>
<p>I've heard anecdotally that in the old days, when NY state kids applied to colleges out of state, the colleges just ignored the regents scores. But a public school in NY state lives and dies by its regents scores. I'm afraid NCLB has spread the disease to other states. In the old days, it was possible to graduate with a local diploma (no regents scores or not enough) so there was a place for everyone - I think perhaps then no child was left behind. Now they're repeating grades or dropping out because they can't make it through all the hoops. </p>
<p>Yes, I do see the other side of the argument. I just think if you're going to set a standard, it should be just that - set. Tinkering with it after the fact because not enough kids are 'above average' (as they say in Lake Woebegone) says it's not working.</p>
<p>As a person who grew up in NY and taken Regents, I can respond to this issue. My kids are in Maryland, which does not have a lot of state-wide tests. </p>
<p>Yes, I believe that overall the NY kids have a more rigorous curriculum and tougher standards with state-wide tests than that found in other states. However, the operative word is "overall."</p>
<p>In Maryland, some schools are very tough. My daughter was in an internal magnet program requring almost all honors and AP courses, not to mention graduating with 4 actual college classes. She even had a research paper that had to be presented and defended before several faculty members. She had a much tougher program that I believe I had in NY.</p>
<p>Also, as noted above, Regents are fairly easy tests. There are lots of review books for test preparation. They also somewhat follow each other in format and provide similar test questions. In fact, if regents were given here in Maryland with the same amount of test preparation books, my daughter's average GPA would have been much higher.
There isn't the same level of test preparation available to Maryland kids and to kids from other states.</p>
<p>Finally, although I am not a fan of the SAT, they are a great leveler. Everyone takes the same tests under roughly the same conditions.</p>