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Director Forbes outlines shift to NYSSLS, reports high Regents pass rates and equity gains in district science courses
Summary
The district’s director of science presented a program evaluation showing high pass rates across science Regents exams (biology 96.2%, earth and space 86%, physics 88%, chemistry ~86%) and outlined priorities to raise districtwide passing to 90%, expand access to chemistry, and close subgroup gaps through data cycles and teacher supports.
Miss Forbes, the district’s director of science, engineering and research, presented the board with a program evaluation that she said aligns the district to the Next Generation Science Standards and the New York State Science Learning Standards (NYSSLS). "These questions are more in‑depth and require multiple steps in higher‑order thinking," she said, describing a move away from one‑dimensional recall items toward phenomenon‑based, three‑dimensional assessment tasks.
The presentation included recent performance data. Forbes reported that in the June 2025 Regents administration the district outperformed its region in all science disciplines: earth and space science posted an 86% pass rate in its first year of implementation; biology achieved a 96.2% pass rate and the highest concentration of advanced‑mastery performance; chemistry has historically averaged an 86% pass rate with a mean score of 78; and physics passed at 88%. Forbes also highlighted subgroup results, saying students with disabilities passed at 82% and economically disadvantaged students passed at 93.8%, both exceeding regional benchmarks.
Forbes told the board the district’s three‑year strategy focuses on four priorities: strengthen supports for students with disabilities; accelerate students performing at level 3; integrate literacy across science disciplines; and close gaps for low‑income students. "By elevating the quality and depth of core classroom instruction across all of our science disciplines, closing performance gaps for students with disabilities, low income, and ELL populations," Forbes said, the district aims "to raise passing in all of our courses in the Regents level to 90% and increase level 4 and level 5 advanced mastery by 5 to 10%."
She described concrete instructional tools and processes the district has put in place: formal data cycles anchored in common assessments, cross‑departmental data review meetings, professional development including regional chemistry roundtables and BOCES content training, expanded use of the LinkIt assessment platform, and targeted co‑teaching and scaffolding strategies to support diverse learners. Forbes said the district is also piloting use of digital resources (referred to in the presentation as Inner Orbit) and supporting teachers in using AI to develop standards‑aligned assessment items.
To increase access to chemistry, Forbes said the district will offer a non‑Regents chemistry course next year to provide an additional pathway for students who need more time to reach the math readiness required for Regents chemistry. "That allows them to get credit, gain exposure to chemistry, and later join the Regents cohort if they choose," she said.
Board members praised the clarity of the report and asked follow‑up questions about how LinkIt will be used to identify standard‑level gaps and inform instruction. Forbes described how teachers can tag assessment items to particular standards in LinkIt to track student performance over time and adjust teaching strategies.
The board indicated support for continuing the work and encouraged staff to study related course options such as honors‑by‑distinction and expanded ICT offerings at the middle school level. The presentation ended with Forbes’s stated targets and an emphasis on sustaining the instructional structures needed to meet those targets.
