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Parents and district urge state review after Earth & Space Regents left students confused
Summary
Parents, students and district officials said the newly administered Earth & Space Sciences Regents included unfamiliar material and heavy reading demands; Jericho officials plan to send formal feedback to NYSED and urged parents to contact the Office of State Assessment.
Parents, students and district leaders at the Jericho Board of Education’s June 12 meeting described widespread confusion and upset after the newly administered New York State Earth & Space Sciences Regents exam.
District curriculum staff said the exam asked students to apply knowledge to new data and unfamiliar scenarios and that the test remained embargoed for seven days after administration. "We will be providing very specific feedback to the New York State Education Department," a curriculum associate said. District leaders said raw data are due to the state the following day and that scoring scales will not be available until the last week of June.
Several parents and a board member-elect pressed the district to advocate for remedies ranging from a major scoring curve to removal of this year’s exam from student transcripts. One parent speaker summarized the concerns: "Students were diligent. They studied hard, but they're preparing for the wrong test," a speaker said, calling for a districtwide 'no harm' grading policy and greater transparency about the decision to opt into the new exam this year.
Students who took the exam described it as unlike their preparation, saying many questions emphasized reading comprehension and unfamiliar topics. One eighth-grade student said: "A majority of the exam was reading comprehension rather than testing our knowledge of earth science."
District officials urged parents to communicate directly with NYSED’s Office of State Assessment and said the district would submit formal written feedback to the commissioner’s office and the assistant commissioner. The board and administration discussed timelines: initial raw-score submissions were imminent and official Regents scoring is normally completed by the end of June.
Board members and administrators said they will coordinate outreach and recommended that families submit complaints and observations to the state to increase pressure for review. The district asked parents to watch for posted contact details and promised to share updates as the state responds.
