NY State Physics Regents exams

[Herbert H Gottlieb <herbgottlieb@JUNO.COM>]

On Fri, 25 Apr 2003 Lee Amosslee <lee@shopinberkeley.com> wrote:
"How valuable are the Regents?"

***I always found them to be extremely valuable for the following
reasons:
1. Students think twice before being absent from class because every day
counts. The class suffers when days are wasted for frivolous reasons.
2. The teacher is appreciated more as a "helper" to get the students
through
the course rather than as a "slave driver" to make reluctant students
learn.
3. For the most part, questions on the regents exams are pretested
for clarity and difficulty and only relate to topics that are known
in advance to be required for the exam. Teachers are free to add
extra topics to their course but these never appear on the exam.
4. There is less pressure from parents who feel that their child
should be given higher grades than he or she really deserves.
5. Administrators and guidance counsellors often pull students out
of "non-regents" classes for a variety of reasons. But they seldom do
that
when students are in regents classes. This is really appreciated by
conscientious physics teachers.

> In California, standardized tests, are usually sent out to some
> company who gets lots of tax dollars to score them. It looks
> to me like TEACHERS grade their own and their colleagues
> Regents tests. I like this idea.

*** Short answer questions are graded using answer keys provided by
New York State. The state may authorize an alternate answer if teachers
can show that the alternate is equally correct for a particular question.


> How do Regents fit in with teaching? Do some teachers use them as
> replacements for finals?

*** In New York State the final grades are given by the teacher before
students
sit for their regents exams. If the regents exam score is much higher, or

lower, the teacher may raise or lower the student's grade with
permission.

> Is the content (of the exams)at the level that teachers can actually
> get through in a year, or are they rushing like mad to cover
everything?

*** Some new teachers have difficulty covering all of the required
items during the year.  With experience, there is no problem.
***The "brightest" students even go far beyond the requirements and
can handle almost all of the optional topics as well.
*** The "average" students are able to cover all of the required topics
without difficuty and can also fit in an optional topic or two
*** "Below average" students have great difficulty getting through the
required topics during a year. They even more difficulty when study
habits are poor and there is little or no support from parents.

> As someone stated, it seems that the tests are moving away from
> multiple choice. Is this helping students learn science instead
> of memorizing for the test?

*** Having been out of the classroom for a while, I am not qualified
to answer such a question. But I would be very much interested
in hearing answers from others with more recent experience.

> How many students fail/drop out of high school? Is there a sense if
> Regents tests are effecting the drop out rate?

*** The above question is too difficult to answer here. This might be
a topic that can meet the requirements for an EdD or PhD degree.
Is anyone interested??

> Would NY teachers recommend something similar for all other states?

*** YES, "without qualification"!  Classes, having average teachers and
students, will find absolutely no difficulty with these examinations.
They will also find that there is ample time to cover required topics
 and still find plenty of time to add additional topics of their
choosing.

Herb Gottlieb from New York City
(Where physics regents examinations are a welcome blessing for our new
physics teachers, after the shock of the first year or two is over)