An article at the New York Times, New Diploma Standard in New York Becomes a Multiple-Question Choice, raises several questions about NYS Regents exams.

• How will the new "five regents exam" graduation requirement affect graduation rates?
• Should testing standards align better with college requirements?
• What do the exams really test?

...
For a time, Mr. Decker encouraged teachers to spend more time delving into the philosophy behind the Bill of Rights, a line of inquiry that seldom leads to points on the test in United States history. But he drew back when he saw that many students were failing the exam.

Educators are also debating how the tests are graded. Teachers currently grade their own students' exams, which many critics say encourages grade inflation, particularly on tests that include essays, whose scoring is somewhat subjective. Because schools can be closed for sagging graduation rates, teachers have a stake in the scoring, and will have an even larger one two years from now.

"We've raised issues about scoring of the test for the last 10 years, but I don't see sufficient pressure for them to really examine it," said Howard T. Everson, a senior research fellow at CUNY and the chairman of a committee that advises the state on testing. "The problem is it would be expensive to do it any other way, but I don't see a plan for them to address it."

More important, Mr. Everson said, there has been little evidence that state officials are certain about what the exams really test and what their impact is.

"People have always taken the Regents as a fact of life," he said. "They were always seen as a benchmark of quality - it has always meant something. And does it still? That's the real question."
...