Board Approves Recommendations On Regents Testing Policy
Atlanta — January 12, 2010
In the future, 性视界APP (USG) students may be given a different assessment of learning than the current Regents鈥 Reading and Writing Skills Requirement, known commonly as the Regents鈥 Test. Today the Board of Regents approved a change to its current policy requirement that will allow an institution to petition the Board for an exemption to administering the Regents鈥 Test.
The policy change, which will only allow exemptions for institutions that satisfy the Board鈥檚 criteria, follows the October 2009 approval of a new core curriculum for the USG. The new core curriculum requires all USG institutions to develop learning outcomes and assessment measures in multiple subject areas, a requirement that could make the current Regents鈥 Test redundant.
Under the new core curriculum, to be fully implemented across the state by 2012, student learning assessments will be required in the following areas: communication, math, humanities, the fine arts, ethics, the natural sciences, technology, the social sciences, United States and global perspectives, and critical thinking.
鈥淥ne of our goals in developing a new core was to make learning outcomes and assessment integral throughout the curriculum,鈥 said USG Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer Susan Herbst. 鈥淭he Regents鈥 Test was, and still is, an important assessment tool. We will continue to use it as well as other measures to assure that our graduates are prepared to take their place as members of a global society.鈥
In order to be granted a waiver to giving the Regents鈥 Test, institutions must demonstrate that they have in place a rigorous learning assessment program that uses methods superior to the Regents鈥 Test. Herbst said that initially only a limited number of institutions will be allowed to stop using the Regents鈥 Test. Additional institutions will be added, as they implement the new core curriculum and demonstrate the effectiveness of their assessment measures.
Over the past five years, the Board of Regents has been evaluating the effectiveness of the Regents鈥 Test, which was first required in 1973. Today鈥檚 decision is the culmination of that process.
鈥淭he Regents鈥 Test was first adopted at a time when student assessment was just not being done nationally,鈥 said Herbst. 鈥淎t that time, Georgia was out in front of other public higher education systems in requiring a System-wide assessment of student learning. Today鈥檚 action, and our adoption of a new core curriculum this past fall, only strengthens our historic commitment to providing both transparency and accountability for good student outcomes.鈥
The approved changes will go into effect on a rolling basis. If an institution applies for and receives an exemption, they may eliminate the Test as soon as is possible and appropriate during the academic year.
More information on the USG鈥檚 new core curriculum can be found at:
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