New York Ends Practice of Scrubbing Regents

One month before Regents exams begin, New York State education officials have decided to end the practice of rescoring tests to turn a just-failing grade into a passing grade.

The practice, referred to as scrubbing, was originally introduced over a decade ago to increase the number of passing grades for Regents in math and science. According to a number of reports over the years, the practice spread to most subject areas.

Students pass their exams when they score a 65 or above. Regulations handed down by the New York State Department of Education required teachers to reevaluate exams that missed the passing grade by a few points.

Education officials decided to reconsider the use of scrubbing after seeing a rise in the number of test scores barely above 65.

I'm pleased that the state decided to tighten up its policy on how teachers score the Regents exams. It's not in our students' best interest to have teachers pushing their scores over the edge if they haven't mastered the material, and this will help limit the chance of that happening, New York City schools chancellor Dennis Walcott said in a statement.