Regents exams are prepared by a conference of selected New York teachers of each test's specific discipline who assemble a test map that highlights the skills and knowledge required from the specific discipline's learning standards.
[3] From the original five exams (algebra, Latin, American History, natural philosophy [science], natural geography), the State Education Department expanded the Regents Exams offerings to forty-two tests in 1879; tests were administered in November, February, and June.
In 1901, Regents Exams were given in rhetoric, civics, economics, Caesar, Virgil, Xenophon, and physiology.
In 2000, New York State Alternative Assessments (NYSAA) program was first administered allowing students with severe cognitive disabilities to complete a datafolio-style assessment to demonstrate their performance toward achieving the New York State learning standards.
Currently, local school districts can develop their own exams to assess foreign language competency and allow for students to meet the Advanced Designation requirement.
However, all of the exams will soon be renamed and modified in realignment to the NYS Next Generation Learning Standards (NGLS).
Examination scores can be appealed to the local Superintendent or leader of the school district and regraded at a new location.
[16] On May 16, 2011, in the face of an $8 million budget gap, the remaining foreign language exams (French, Italian, and Spanish) were eliminated, although districts may administer locally developed foreign language exams to let students attain a Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation.
Test security procedures were heightened in response to the Stuyvesant High School cheating scandal.
The Regents exams in English Language Arts and Algebra I were changed to incorporate the Common Core Standards starting in June 2014.
[22] High school students will be allowed to continue graduating with minimum scores of 65 on state exams until 2022.
[23] At that point, required scores would rise to 75 for the English Language Arts exam and 80 in algebra—levels deemed evidence of readiness for college.
[3][dead link] In August 2017, the Board of Regents approved changes to the Global History and Geography exam.
They also voted to administer only four of the ten Regents examinations in June; Algebra I, Earth Science, English Language Arts, and Living Environment; as well as cancelling the August exams altogether.
The board of regents also voted for a plan to allow scores of at least 50 become passing starting 2021 and ending 2023.
[27] Beginning in January 2023, schools in New York City were no longer required to send their students' Regents examinations to another location for scoring; instead, they could be graded in-house.
The Department of Education cited the previous policy on sending Regents exams to other schools as burdensome.
[37] Students with disabilities utilizing the low pass (55 or higher) and other safety net options graduate with a local diploma.
Students with severe disabilities who meet the eligibility requirements do not take Regents Exams and participate in alternate assessment, a computer based tested program individualized to their needs.
Usually, the substitute graduation assessment consisted of a review and grading, by a panel of teachers, of an academic portfolio – a collection of the student's best work from all his or her years at the school.
Schools run by the Society of Jesus, such as Canisius High School, Fordham Prep, McQuaid Jesuit, Regis and Xavier, and by the Society of Mary (Marianists), such as Chaminade and Kellenberg, have not used Regents exams for decades.
Some middle schools in New York offer accelerated Honors programs that allow students to take the Algebra I, U.S. History & Government, Earth Science, and/or Living Environment Regents exams in a June examination of seventh or eighth grade.