How New York State Tests & Regents work

Plain-English guide for New York parents, teachers, and students: the Grades 3-8 state assessments, the Regents diploma system, how performance levels work, and what the Next Generation Learning Standards changed.

Who runs the tests

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) administers every state assessment — from the Grades 3-8 ELA and math tests to the high-school Regents Examinations. NYSED sets the standards, designs the blueprints, and approves the cut scores; vendor partners handle printing, scanning, and scoring services. The Board of Regents (a 17-member body that also gives the Regents Exams their name) has constitutional authority over education policy in New York.

Grades 3-8 state assessments

Every spring, students in Grades 3 through 8 take the New York State Tests in ELA and Mathematics. Both are administered across a single multi-day window in April and May. Tests include a mix of multiple choice, constructed response, and (for ELA) extended written response. Each is untimed within a reasonable session cap.

New York also administers two science tests in the 3-8 band:

• Grade 4 Elementary-Level Science Test (ELST) — a written performance test plus a hands-on performance test covering living environment, physical setting, and scientific inquiry.
• Grade 8 Intermediate-Level Science Test (ILST) — same structure as Grade 4 but pitched to middle-school content and scientific reasoning.

The four performance levels

Grades 3-8 results are reported on a four-level proficiency scale:

• Level 1 — Below Standard. The student has not demonstrated the knowledge and skills expected at this grade.
• Level 2 — Partially Meeting Standard. The student is developing grade-level skills but has significant gaps.
• Level 3 — Meets Standard. The state's passing / proficiency bar. This is the level schools and districts are measured against.
• Level 4 — Exceeds Standard. The student demonstrates mastery beyond grade-level expectations.

High-school Regents Examinations

The Regents Examinations are New York's high-school exit exams — the oldest continuous standardized testing program in the United States, first administered in 1865. Each Regents exam is tied to a specific course: Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Living Environment, Earth and Space Sciences, Chemistry, Physics, ELA, U.S. History and Government, and Global History and Geography II. Regents exams are administered three times a year: January, June, and August.

Each Regents Exam is scored on a 0-100 scale, with 65 as the minimum passing mark and 85 as the "Mastery" threshold that factors into Honors-level diplomas.

Regents diploma requirements

A standard Regents diploma requires passing five Regents Examinations with a score of 65 or above:

• One Regents in English Language Arts
• One Regents in mathematics (Algebra I, Geometry, or Algebra II)
• One Regents in science (Living Environment, Earth & Space Sciences, Chemistry, or Physics)
• The Regents in U.S. History and Government
• One additional Regents (typically Global History and Geography II) or an approved +1 Pathway alternative

An Advanced Regents diploma requires two additional mathematics Regents and an additional science Regents beyond the standard requirements, plus a locally-approved world-language assessment. An Advanced Regents with Honors requires a computed average of 90 or above across all required Regents.

Next Generation Learning Standards

In 2017 New York adopted the Next Generation Learning Standards (NGLS) to replace the Common Core Learning Standards that had been in place since 2011. NGLS retains the overall Common Core structure but revises individual standards based on educator feedback, adjusts developmental progressions in early grades, and introduces explicit prekindergarten-through-2 foundations. Every Grades 3-8 ELA and math item, and both the Regents ELA and Regents Algebra I / II / Geometry exams, assess NGLS content.

Frequently asked questions