Going fuzzy: NY drops exams for 'portrait of a graduate'
- Joanne Jacobs
- Jul 17
- 2 min read
Starting with the class of '28, New York high school students won't have to pass Regents exams in English, math, science and social studies to earn a diploma, reports Alex Zimmerman on Chalkbeat. The Class of '31 will have to meet "portrait of a graduate" requirements.
“The New York State ‘portrait of a graduate’ will serve as the North Star of our state educational system,” said Angelique Johnson-Dingle, deputy commissioner of P-12 instructional support at the state’s Education Department.
It's abstract art, so far. "Students will be required to show that they are academically prepared, creative innovators, critical thinkers, effective communicators, global citizens, and 'reflective and future focused'," writes Zimmerman. Principles of culturally responsive education are supposed to "permeate each of those categories."
For example, officials said, students "might practice critical thinking skills by participating in debates or research projects; service learning projects could show commitment to global citizenship; and students may develop career or academic goals to demonstrate they are 'future focused'."
"Students will be able to meet graduation requirements through presentations, portfolios, college coursework, and other hands-on learning opportunities," writes Alissa Clausell for MSN. They'll take exams, but won't need a passing score.
Mark Laurrie, superintendent of schools in Niagara Falls, said the "portrait" will be a better demonstration of proficiency than standardized tests. “The more we can align the world of work with the assessment to say whether you’re ready to step into that career or profession, the better you are.”
I think the "portrait" will demonstrate schools' eagerness to hand diplomas to 18-year-olds and get them out the door. When students are evaluated by subjective criteria, everyone's going to pass. And the diploma will be utterly worthless. It's like a letter of recommendation by your mom.
If colleges or employers need to know whether a young person is capable of learning, they'll want to see standardized test scores.
"Global citizens", huh? What if I don't buy into that particular philosophy? What if I want to be a good Murican?
This sounds a lot like British Columbia.
The real problem with all of this is the one-size-fits-all approach to upper secondary education. No; if you want young adults to graduate to something, whether employment or tertiary education, you need to prepare them far more specifically, rather than generically: beyond basic education, all youth should be improving their competencies in language & communication, and in the social humanities & sciences related to citizenship, but most of their time should be spent in the training that is specific to apprenticing for entry-level positions, or in becoming a qualified university student, and neither the old Regents' exams or this new portrait are sufficient for these different purposes.
So disconnected from the world of real work. Whether it's a job that requires a real college degree or a job in the trades, graduates must be able to read and write well (i.e. communicate on the job to the customer, the boss, the team, and be able to understand the manual, the presentation, etc.), and do math -- (inputs, outputs, simple statistics, measurement of outcomes/success, and for the trades, essential; dimensions, weights, angles, supports, understanding the architectural drawings, etc.). A true high school education covers both job skills and rounding out the individual with literature, thinking, critical analysis, civics, history, etc. It is mind boggling that NY and other states would do this when universities are finding that t…
Should be entitled "How to cheat your way to an "A" or a meaningless diploma...