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REQUIRED EXAMS Students in New York State must pass five Regents Exams (Math A, Global History and Geography, U.S. History and Government, Comprehensive English, and any science subject) with a score of 65 or better in order to receive a Regents school diploma. If a student scores 85 or better on a Regents examination, they are judged to have achieved mastery level. If a student has an average of 90 or higher on all regents exams taken, a Regents diploma with distinction is awarded. Most Regents examinations are offered every January, June, and August, except as otherwise indicated below. All Regents are three hours long except the Comprehensive English exam, which consists of two separate three-hour exam periods over two consecutive days. Also several of the language regents have oral exams which are administered before the written test and are not part of the three hour time limit. Most Regents exams are structured in a two-part format: A ''multiple-choice section'' (Part I), which is usually between 30-50 questions, and a ''long-answer/essay'' section (Part II), which consists of either a selection of detailed questions for which the work must be shown (for math and physical sciences), or a set of essay topics, of which one or two must be written about in detail (for the social sciences). For both social science exams, two essays are now required and students do not get a choice over which essay to answer. In 2005 , the Board of Regents began modifying the Mathematics curriculum. An integrated approach that taught geometry and algebra in all three years with concepts being taught at higher levels in later years was replaced by a more traditional sequence of Algebra I, Geometry , and Algebra II. Accordingly the "Math A" and "Math B" exams will be eliminated and be replaced by three new exams, "Integrated Algebra", "Integrated Geometry", and "Integrated Algebra and Trigonometry". These changes have not yet taken effect and may still be changed. GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS In order to graduate with a regents diploma, students are required to have earned appropriate credits in each category. Students are also required to pass(achieving a score of 65 or above) on all required Regents Examinations . Below is a chart that displays graduation requirements in New York State . Grade level "notations" are listed as a regular grade level, not as advanced. EXEMPTIONS FROM THE REGENTS EXAMS During the 1990s, some Alternative Assessment schools, similar in character to Charter Schools , were founded in parts of New York in an attempt to provide a way for students to graduate High School without taking any Regents Exams. Usually, the substitute Graduation assessement involved would consist of the review and grading, by a panel of teachers, of an Academic Portfolio , or collection of the student's best work from all his or her years at the school. From such a "portfolio examination" would be issued a "Regents equivalency" grade for the areas of Math, English, History, and Science, and a "Regents Equivalency" diploma would be awarded to the student at commencement. However, by the end of the 1990s most if not all of these self-labeled "alternative schools" have been forced to adopt some or all of the standard Regents Exam, and can no longer use portfolio examination criteria as the sole basis for graduation from the school. A notable example of this progression from full portfolio-based assessment to nearly-total Regents Exam based assessment is The Beacon School . Regents Competency Test (RCT) RCT tests are for identified special education students (with IEP's) or students with a 504 plan specifying RCT options for Regents tests: RCT's can be taken BEFORE a student fails the corresponding Regents exam if this will help them be less stressed when taking the Regents, so they know that graduation does not hinge on a Regents exam. They are available for students until they graduate or when they turn 21. OVERALL REGENTS EXAM METHODOLOGIES List of Exams The following New York State Regents Exams are administered:
Regular Regents Diploma Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation EXTERNAL LINKS
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