Frequently Asked Questions
NY Inspires is about making sure every student graduates ready for what comes next. We鈥檙e keeping New York鈥檚 high standards, while giving students more rigorous ways to show what they know and can do, not just through exams, but through meaningful demonstrations of learning.听The direction is both ambitious and responsible. The NY Inspires initiative is a recognition that:听
- Students are capable of demonstrating learning in deeper and more meaningful ways than one measure alone; and听
- We can raise the value of learning together through stronger instruction, deeper learning, real-world application, and clear evidence of what students know and can do.听
New York is not abandoning rigor. It is building a more rigorous, relevant, and equitable definition of readiness in collaboration with educators and communities. At its core, this is about better teaching, deeper learning, and making sure opportunity is available to every student.听
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Questions about New York Inspires
General FAQs
NY Inspires is the Department's plan to transform education in response to extensive feedback from New York State parents, educators, students, educators, colleges, businesses, and communities that overwhelmingly indicated a need for a shift from our current system to one that truly focuses on the knowledge, skills, and dispositions students need most for success after high school.听 Backed by research and supported by national experts, NY Inspires will not only align high school graduation requirements to听readiness for college, careers, civic life, and the world beyond, it will support more meaningful instruction, more opportunities to apply knowledge across disciplines and contexts, more student engagement, and more ways for students to demonstrate learning.
- Focused on the Future
- New York will move to a competency-based system that allows students to demonstrate knowledge and skills in multiple ways, at their own pace.
- Personalized and Focus on the Whole Child
- Learning will be more personalized to the needs, strengths, and interests of students, and support students鈥 mental, social, emotional, and physical well-being.
- Rigorous and Culturally Responsive
- All students will have access to rigorous, high-quality learning experiences and environments grounded in New York鈥檚 CR-SE Framework.
- Meaningful and Connected
- The educational program will focus on depth of learning interdisciplinary, real-world connections, rather than on siloed content or checking boxes.
- Multiple Ways to Learn and Demonstrate Learning
- Students will graduate high school with a body of evidence demonstrating they have achieved readiness in the competencies necessary for postsecondary success, reflected on a clear, multi-dimensional statewide transcript.
See The Vision webpage to learn about the history of NY Inspires, including the work of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Graduation Measures, the four transformations, and the New York State Portrait of a Graduate.
Because opportunity shouldn鈥檛 be rationed.听
Some students already have access to internships, advanced coursework, research projects, capstones, early college, career credentials, apprenticeships, and other powerful learning experiences. NY Inspires is about making those kinds of opportunities part of the expectation, not a privilege available only in certain schools or communities. Talent is everywhere but, in our current system, opportunity is not. NY Inspires aims to change that.
The Portrait is the guiding framework for the state鈥檚 education system. It creates a shared understanding of the skills and knowledge students are expected to demonstrate upon high school graduation. This shared vision of student success anchors communities in common priorities that can guide instructional decisions, assessment strategies, continuous improvement, and more, helping educators design learning experiences that will prepare students for success in high school and beyond.
No, New York is not eliminating the Regents Examinations. The Board of Regents has directed NYSED to end diploma assessment requirements by Fall 2027 (NY Inspires Transformation #3). This change would separate Regents Exams from high school graduation requirements. If approved, students graduating in January 2028 and later would not need to pass Regents Exams to earn a diploma.听
Please Note: The Board of Regents must approve any changes to the New York State graduation requirements. Until such time, the existing requirements remain in effect for all students.听听
Understanding the Change
鈥Ending diploma assessment requirements, sometimes called "decoupling Regents Exams", comes from New York State鈥檚 糖心少女al Assessment Strategy. It does not eliminate the Regents Exams. They will remain as one way students may demonstrate achievement, similar to other rigorous assessments and demonstrations of learning, and continue to serve as New York's statewide secondary assessments for federal accountability purposes in the near term.
What changes is that Regents Exams will not be the sole measure by which a student is assessed for postsecondary readiness. Statewide assessments remain an important measure of student achievement, but research tells us that a narrow reliance on high-stakes testing does not prepare students for life after high school: A single test, taken on a single day, cannot fully capture everything a student knows, can do, or needs to be ready for college, careers, civic life, and the future. A strong assessment system uses multiple measures of learning to provide a more complete picture of student progress. This helps educators make informed decisions about how to support students and when they are ready to graduate.
New York鈥檚 Assessment Shift is Informed, Inspired, and Endorsed by Leading Scholars听
NYSED has partnered and consulted with various national experts on the design of state鈥檚 educational assessment strategy and framework, including preeminent scholar Dr. Edmund W. Gordon of the Gordon Commission on the Future of Assessment in 糖心少女, a 30-member commission of educators and leaders formed to examine the relationship between assessment, teaching, and learning. In 2013, the Commission concluded: 鈥淚t is critical that the nation鈥檚 leaders recognize that there are multiple purposes of assessment and that a better balance must be struck among them. The country must invest in new types of assessments that work together in synergistic ways to effectively accomplish these different purposes 鈥 in essence, systems of assessment.鈥 New York has taken on this charge.听
The Regents Exams are a valid and reliable tool for assessing a student鈥檚 mastery of high school learning standards and will continue to be used as New York's statewide secondary assessments for federal accountability purposes.
Regents Exams may be intentionally built into a district鈥檚 local assessment strategy, may be used as a means of reflecting distinction such as through diploma seals or endorsements, and may be considered as one of multiple sources of rigorous evidence that a student has demonstrated readiness to graduate high school. What is changing is the use of Regents Exam results as the sole determination of a student鈥檚 ability to earn a high school diploma: Under the proposed vision, they will be correctly used as part of a system of multiple assessment measures that provide a holistic picture of what a student knows and can do.听
As presented at the September and November 2026 Board of Regents meetings, NYSED intends to develop a new statewide secondary assessment suite that would align with the vision of NY Inspires while continuing to fulfill our federal assessment obligations. These new assessments are currently planned for implementation in Spring 2030. Students will be required to participate in Regents Exams one time in mathematics, ELA, science and social studies in grades 9-12 until the new secondary assessments begin in Spring 2030. Grades 3-8 assessments remain unchanged.
New York is moving to a one diploma model for high school graduation to simplify the graduation system while maintaining high expectations and creating greater consistency for students across the state. This shift comes at the recommendation of the Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC) on Graduation Measures who, after years of stakeholder engagement and research, concluded that by moving to a one diploma system with optional seals and endorsements, a New York State high school diploma would reflect rigorous standards while allowing students to demonstrate their unique interests and accomplishments.听
The Board of Regents has directed NYSED to move to a one diploma model by Fall 2027 (NY Inspires Transformation #4), which would mean that beginning in 2028 all students will graduate with the New York State high school diploma. Academic accomplishments beyond the requirements will continue to be recognized through optional seals and endorsements, including for advanced designation. More information on seals and endorsements is forthcoming in the 2026-27 school year.听
Please Note: The Board of Regents must approve any changes to the New York State graduation requirements. Until such time, the existing requirements remain in effect for all students.听
As presented at the November 2026 Board of Regents meeting, New York State will maintain continuity in statewide assessment and accountability requirements while providing additional time to prepare for the changes associated with NY Inspires. As NY Inspires advances, the Department does not anticipate broad changes to existing accountability indicator methodologies.
New York State鈥檚 accountability system uses multiple measures of school performance to identify strengths, areas for improvement, and schools and student groups that may benefit from additional support. Maintaining these measures will provide stability and consistency in accountability determinations while schools and districts prepare for the broader changes associated with NY Inspires.
The Department will continue to engage stakeholders and seek necessary approvals before implementing proposed changes.听
No. New York is raising expectations.听
NY Inspires does not eliminate standards. It does not eliminate Regents Exams. It does not eliminate statewide testing. And it does not eliminate accountability. As NYSED leads this transition, we are raising the bar not only for what counts as achievement but also for how well we prepare young people for the future they will inherit.听听
During the , NYSED described how New York is developing a broader assessment system that combines statewide measures with multiple sources of evidence of student learning, while districts develop local assessment strategies and the State modernizes its high school accountability assessments. The goal is not to measure less. It is to measure learning more meaningfully and use that information more effectively.听
Regents Exams will no longer be the sole measure of readiness for high school graduation; rather, students will be required to demonstrate their readiness to earn a high school diploma through multiple sources of rigorous evidence. Through these transformations, New York is not only raising the evidence requirements for high school graduation but also raising the expectations for what that high school diploma signifies. Currently, a high school diploma in New York State signifies that a student has completed a certain number of credits or instructional time and passed a series of one-time, standardized exams. Under NY Inspires, the high school diploma will signify that a New York State graduate has demonstrated through various learning experiences and multiple sources of evidence that they are ready to learn, grow, create, work, and contribute, consistent with the Portrait of a Graduate.听
Changing the role of Regents Exams does not mean eliminating assessment, transparency, standards, or accountability. This is about ensuring that every graduate, regardless of zip code, school, tuition or family income, leaves our schools prepared to contribute, compete, and thrive. New York will continue to measure student achievement statewide. We will continue to publicly report results. We will continue to identify schools and students that need additional support. And we will continue to hold our education system accountable for whether students are learning.听听
Learning standards articulate what all students should know and be able to do as a result of skilled instruction in subject areas and at grade levels. Districts and schools choose and/or develop curricula, curricular materials, and instruction to meet the individual needs of their students, and to support all students in gaining the skills and knowledge articulated in the NYS Learning Standards.听听
The NYS Learning Standards are not a curriculum. NYSED does not require, recommend, endorse, or advise on curriculum. All curriculum and instructional decisions are made at the local level.听
The NY Inspires transformations will allow students the flexibility to demonstrate their understanding and skills in the manner most aligned with their personal strengths and abilities. The vision does not create specific pathways for specific subgroups of students but instead creates options for ALL students to provide the necessary evidence of their proficiency in the high school learning standards and the Portrait of a Graduate, with a focus on creating a more equitable system that allows for multiple measures to be used to assess what students know and can do while maintaining rigor.
Culturally Responsive-Sustaining 糖心少女 (CR-SE) is intentionally placed at the center of the New York State Portrait of a Graduation, emphasizing that every attribute should be viewed through a culturally responsive lens. Our future system recognizes and values students鈥 diverse identities, languages, and experiences as strengths. The use of CR-SE practices promotes inclusive instruction that builds on students鈥 strengths and reflects our commitment to supporting the whole student鈥攁cademically, socially, and emotionally鈥攕o that every graduate is prepared to thrive in a diverse and dynamic world.
Questions about Diploma & Assessment Shifts
For Families & Students
Yes. Current credit and assessment requirements for graduation remain in place through the 2026-2027 school year, which means that students must still pass the required Regents Exams to earn a high school diploma. Additionally, the Regents Exams are currently used to satisfy federal assessment requirements mandated by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which means students must still take the required Regents Exams for ESSA accountability.听
At the September 2026 meeting, the New York State Board of Regents authorized NYSED to move forward with planning to sunset diploma assessment requirements by the Fall of 2027. NYSED will return to the Board to propose the regulatory amendments in early 2027, which will be followed by public comment period. The earliest the Board could adopt regulations to change diploma assessment requirements would be June 2027.听
The Board of Regents has to adopt new regulations to "decouple," or separate, the requirement to pass Regents exams to graduate high school.听 Once this change is adopted by the Board of Regents, students will no longer have to pass the Regents Exams to earn a high school diploma beginning in the 2027-2028 school year.
However, the Regents Exams will continue to be available for students to take as a way to demonstrate mastery of the learning standards in a specific course and one of the many options they could use as evidence of their proficiency in the high school learning standards. We encourage you to reach out to your local school to discuss your district鈥檚 local assessment strategy.听
Additionally, Regents Exams will continue to be used as the assessments to satisfy federal assessment requirements mandated by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) until the 2029-2030 school year (anticipated), which means students must still take the Regents Exams required for ESSA accountability until then.听
State learning standards, which set content area expectations, remain the focus of student learning.听From now until the 2029-2030 school year, these statewide learning expectations will remain the same which will be shown by students passing their classes and earning 22 credits (44 in NYC) the same way they do now.
Except for assessments required by State and Federal Law, decisions on the听assessments that students take are made by听districts, schools, and teachers. These decisions include how many assessments, what kind, how often they are given, and what they measure.听
Some students also participate in other tests, such as AP Tests, IB assessments, FLACS or other language assessments, the ASVAB, industry credential tests, and additional Regents Exams. Districts and schools are working on Local Assessment Strategies, which will help school communities understand how students are assessed and what they are assessed on.
Beginning in the school year 2029-30, students entering 9th grade will learn, and will be assessed on, not only the NYS Learning Standards, but also on new competencies and skills aligned with the Portrait of a Graduate. NYSED will release more information on the new Competencies before the end of school year 2026-2027.
An assessment strategy is an intentional plan to use a cohesive and comprehensive collection of different assessments whose results, when analyzed together, provide a complete understanding of student learning. Local strategies are important for ensuring that a variety of assessments are being intentionally used to help answer the questions schools want 鈥 and need 鈥 to be able to answer about their students. Every school needs their own intentionally created assessment strategy so that those answers are supported by multiple pieces of evidence.听
Under NY Inspires, local assessments, Regents Exams, and State assessments used for accountability serve distinct but complementary purposes within a balanced assessment system. The key distinction is that assessments used to demonstrate student learning and meet graduation requirements do not necessarily need to be the same assessments used for statewide accountability. Local assessments provide flexibility in how students demonstrate what they know and can do, while statewide assessments ensure comparability, transparency, and equity in evaluating school and district performance. Together, these assessments support a more comprehensive understanding of student learning while maintaining rigorous expectations and the State's responsibility to identify schools in need of additional support.
Current credit and assessment requirements for high school graduation remain in place this school year (2026-27).听听
Starting next school year, 2027-28, New York will sunset the diploma assessment requirements. Students will no longer be required to pass the Regents Exams to earn a high school diploma; instead, multiple sources of rigorous evidence will be required to support determinations of their readiness to graduate.听
Current credit requirements will remain in place for the next two school years: 2027-28 and 2028-29. Under the proposed vision, starting with students entering 9th grade in the 2029-30 school year, New York will shift away from credit requirements and to a competency-based education system wherein students will be required to demonstrate readiness on State competencies and the Portrait of a Graduate to earn a high school diploma. More information is forthcoming on the shift from credit requirements to the competency-based model.听
Please Note: The Board of Regents must approve any changes to the New York State graduation requirements. Until such time, the existing requirements remain in effect for all students.听听
Visit our Transformation Timeline webpage for more information on how student cohorts will be impacted by the transformations in diploma requirements.听
Their accomplishments will still be reflected in their high school diploma. Students will still be able to pursue Advanced Designation; it will just be reflected as an official Seal of Advanced Designation on their New York State diploma rather than a separate type of diploma.听听
Many other points of distinction will become available for students to pursue and reflect on their diploma, including seals and endorsements that will clearly communicate the range and depth of a student鈥檚 achievements to colleges, universities, employers, and communities in a meaningful way. NYSED is actively working with colleges and universities to prepare them for this transformation.听
No. Beginning January 2028, students who meet the state requirements to earn a high school diploma will be eligible to graduate. Once the state "decouples," or separates, the requirement to pass Regents exams separately and in addition to passing their courses to earn a high school diploma, districts may not elect to "add back in" the requirement.听听
Districts may develop local distinctions, such as seals or endorsements, that students can optionally work toward and earn based on passage of Regents Exams.听 Districts may also choose to continue to use Regents exams as one of many measurements of student learning after the student has received instruction in the set of learning standards that the Regents measures, though this will not be required.
In the proposed system, the Regents Exams will be one way for students to demonstrate achievement and may be used as one of multiple sources of rigorous evidence in determinations of a student鈥檚 readiness for graduation, but not as a sole measure of graduation readiness.听
Questions about Implementation Planning
For Schools & Districts
Visit our Transformation Timeline webpage for information on the implementation timeline, including how student cohorts will be impacted and what changes have been adopted by the Board of Regents.
Districts and schools should begin work immediately on drafting high-level local assessment strategies with an intent to discuss their initial strategies and post them publicly during the 2027-2028 school year.听
Assessments are essential for supporting students by offering information that guides districts, schools, and educators in improving teaching and learning. To be effective, a district assessment system must be carefully designed so that the selected tools and practices provide a complete and coherent picture of students鈥 performance and progress. New York鈥檚 糖心少女al Assessment Strategy is guided by a theory of action that prioritizes gathering reliable data on student learning from multiple sources throughout the academic year. Schools and districts are encouraged to choose the tools that best meet the needs of their teachers and students.听
On NYSED鈥檚 Assessment Strategy website, there are templates to guide school leaders through the process of documenting their local assessment strategy as well as a guidance webinar and other supporting materials. NYSED will continue to update this site and provide additional materials over time. Implementation will occur thoughtfully, in phases, with guidance, professional learning, examples, and technical support as well as partnership with the critical stakeholders.听
A well-designed assessment strategy ensures that the teacher, school and/or district is gathering information that is directly relevant to the questions that need to be answered, and yield confidence that those answers are supported by evidence specific to students and their community. In developing their local assessment strategy, districts should begin by identifying the assessments they already have in place as well as the purpose of each of those assessments. Districts should also identify how the results of those assessments are used. In other words, what questions can be answered by the results?
Information about the process of developing, refining, and maintaining a local assessment strategy can be found on NYSED's Evidence-Based Assessment Strategies webpage.
Statewide and local assessments serve complementary purposes:听
- Statewide assessments provide consistent, comparable evidence of student achievement across schools and districts and help identify patterns of performance, opportunity gaps, and areas where additional support may be needed.听
- Local assessments provide more frequent and detailed evidence of student learning that can inform instruction, evaluate educational programming, and monitor student progress.听
Together, these sources of evidence can help educators and school leaders develop a more comprehensive understanding of what students know and are able to do, identify strengths and learning needs, and make informed decisions about programming, instruction, and student supports. In developing their local assessment strategies, districts should identify the assessment tools they have available as well as the questions these tools help to answer (i.e., the use). Different assessments will work together to provide evidence of student learning. When multiple measures are used, educators can have greater confidence in the educational decisions they make to support their students.
There is no requirement to 鈥渞eplace鈥 the Regents Exam with any single local measure. In fact, if the Regents Exam provides information that helps to answer one or more questions about student learning, it would not make sense to replace it since it is a useful tool. As schools and districts develop and refine their local assessment strategies, they are encouraged to consider how Regents Examination results can be used alongside classroom-based assessments and other evidence of student learning to support continuous improvement.听
In September 2026, the Department outlined plans to develop a new suite of statewide secondary assessments aligned with NY Inspires and federal assessment requirements.听In response to stakeholder feedback emphasizing the importance of adequate preparation time, NYSED has extended the anticipated implementation timeline for the new secondary assessment suite to Spring 2030. This extended timeline will support:听
- Alignment: Ensuring that new assessments reflect the learning expectations established through NY Inspires and prioritized learning standards.听
- Readiness: Providing schools, districts, and educators with sufficient time to prepare for new assessments while implementing broader instructional changes.听
- Continuity: Maintaining consistent statewide assessment measures throughout the transition.听
Until the new assessment suite is implemented, Regents Exams will continue to fulfill statewide secondary assessment requirements.听
During this transition, students must continue to participate in one Regents Exam or Approved Alternative in each of the following subject areas within their first four years of entering grade 9: English Language Arts (ELA), Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies.听听
Schools and districts will retain flexibility regarding when students participate in these assessments and which applicable examinations they take. These statewide assessments remain essential to meeting federal requirements, maintaining comparable measures of student achievement, and identifying where additional resources and supports may be needed.听
The transition to one New York State diploma creates a need to revisit the College, Career, and Civic Readiness (CCCR) indicator, which currently recognizes different levels of student achievement in part through distinctions among diploma types. As presented at the November Board of Regents meeting, the CCCR indicator will be redesigned to reflect how schools provide access to meaningful opportunities for students to demonstrate readiness. Students who demonstrate additional achievement through qualifying seals, endorsements, or other recognized outcomes would receive higher weightings.
The purpose is not simply to recognize credentials but to ensure that students are successfully demonstrating the knowledge and skills associated with different pathways to postsecondary readiness. This allows the accountability system to continue recognizing excellence while aligning with our transition to one diploma.鈥
NYSED will:
- Prioritize Learning Standards
- Develop New York State Competencies
- Develop Rubrics for the Competencies
- Develop the Universal Transcript
- Update the Data Ecosystem to Support this Work
NYSED will also develop accompanying guidance, tools, and other resources for districts. Materials will be posted to our Resources webpage as they become available.
Entering the 2026-2027 school year, districts could:
- Pilot Innovative Ideas
- Authentic, student-centered learning experiences
- Diverse assessment strategies beyond traditional exams
- Demonstrations and celebrations of learning
- Evidence-based, performance-driven instructional changes
- Increase Opportunities for Career-Connected Learning
- Recruit and train work-based learning coordinators
- Identify local opportunities and connections
- Begin to identify possible school-based career-connected learning experiences for students
- Focus on Creating Conditions to Support Change
- Strong MTSS-I structures
- Aligned to the CR-SE Framework
- SEL Benchmarks and health supports
- Tiered, job-embedded, and supported professional development for educators
- Learning communities and regional collaboratives
Visit our Resources webpage for links to relevant information and resources.
NYSED has added a Resources page to the NY Inspires website which includes links to guidance on developing local assessment strategies, MTSS-I, the CR-SE Framework, and SEL Benchmarks, as well as insights and examples from the Department鈥檚 Performance-Based Learning and Assessment Networks (PLAN) Pilot. The purpose of the PLAN Pilot was to improve instructional practices by increasing the use of performance-driven approaches to teaching and assessment, including project-based learning, work-based learning, and performance-based assessment tasks. PLAN Pilot Schools shared reflections on their process of change and examples from their school building and classrooms, which are posted on the NYSED website as resources for all schools.听听
The Department is working closely with our regional partners at the BOCES and Big 5 to advance NY Inspires. Through the regionalization initiative, districts several BOCES regions are beginning to implement shared activities with their neighboring districts to expand learning opportunities for students, including CTE, work-based learning, and out-of-school experiences; collaborate to strategize and implement the NY Inspires transformations through regional or cross-district PD days and regional committees; among other collaborative approaches to increasing opportunities and supports for their students. Additionally, the NY Transformation Coalition was formed by the field to create an ongoing structure that connects the field, supports shared learning, and strengthens feedback loops between practice and policy. The Coalition is composed of all BOCES regions and the Big 5+3 and has organized its current body of work around NY Inspires.听
Last Updated: Nov 2026