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Pelham district will replace NYS chemistry Regents with district-designed project assessment
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Champ announced at the Sept. 16 board meeting that Pelham Memorial High School will stop administering the New York State chemistry Regents exam and instead use a teacher-designed, year-end project-based assessment beginning this school year.
Superintendent Dr. Champ announced Sept. 16 that Pelham Memorial High School will replace the New York State chemistry Regents exam with a district-developed, project-based culminating assessment beginning this school year.
The announcement explained the change is intended to align chemistry assessment with the district's shift to inquiry-based science instruction and the New York INSPIRES/Portrait of a Graduate framework. Dr. Champ said the new assessment is "a more comprehensive and project based model, that is designed by our teachers and administrators" and added, "the new assessment will replace the New York State chemistry regents exam." She emphasized the change does not mean lower standards, saying it "doesn't result in less rigor" and called it an "opportunity for more rigor."
District leaders framed the move as part of a longer-term redesign of science teaching that has already included a previous transition to inquiry-based physics. The superintendent and other staff said the approach had led to higher physics enrollment and better outcomes on AP exams and that the chemistry change is intended to advance similar aims: deeper inquiry, natural-phenomenon-driven curriculum and assessments that measure higher-order skills beyond multiple-choice tests. The administration also linked the change to expanded dual-enrollment opportunities and the district's efforts to align with the state's INSPIRES graduation framework.
Board members asked clarifying questions during the meeting but did not take a formal vote recorded in the public minutes on Sept. 16; the change was presented as an administrative decision and rollout plan. The district said it will hold a work session in October to provide board members and the public with additional detail about the new chemistry assessment and broader science-standards transition.
Parents and students will see the change communicated through upcoming open houses and course materials; Dr. Champ said teachers and administrators will share details with families as the school year proceeds. The administration did not provide a published rubric or scoring guide at the Sept. 16 meeting; those materials were described as forthcoming in district communications and the October work session.
Officials said the chemistry shift is effective immediately for the 2025-26 school year and is part of a district-wide strategy to assess students with performance- and project-based measures where aligned to curriculum.
