New York Drops Regents-or-Fail Graduation and Learning-Different Kids Win

Last updated: June 28, 2026

Your child knows the material. You have seen it at the kitchen table, during homework, on the good days when the right question comes at the right moment. What the test never captured was that. For decades, New York’s graduation system handed students a timed standardized test on a fixed day and treated the score as the verdict on what they knew. That system is ending. New York’s Board of Regents announced this month that the state will shift to a competency-based diploma, the first in the nation, where portfolios, projects, and real-world demonstrations replace pass-or-fail standardized tests as the route to graduation. The mainstream coverage is framing this as workforce modernization. The story it is missing: for kids whose brains process differently, this is the structural change they have needed for decades.

TL;DR

NY Board of Regents announced a shift to competency-based diplomas under NY Inspires, calling it the most significant graduation overhaul in generations.
Portfolios, projects, presentations, and internships replace pass-or-fail Regents exams as pathways to graduation; full implementation in 2029/2030.
Students entering high school in 2024, 2025, or 2026 no longer need to pass Regents exams to graduate, effective now.
The IDA 2025 definition names processing speed and working memory as co-occurring factors in learning differences; timed standardized tests have always penalized these students for processing rate, not knowledge.
EdTrust-NY warned the new pathways work only for students who received strong K-8 reading and math instruction, meaning the shift matters as much at age 8 as at age 16.

New York is replacing its pass-or-fail Regents graduation system with a competency-based diploma. Here is what parents of kids who learn differently need to know about why this structural shift matters, and where the real risk still lives.

Common questions

Does New York’s diploma change help my child who has an IEP or 504?

Yes, in a meaningful structural way. Under the current system, students who need certain accommodations qualify for a “local diploma” rather than the standard Regents diploma, creating a visible distinction between students regardless of what they actually know. The new single-diploma model eliminates that tiered structure, and portfolios and projects give students with processing differences a format that works with how their brain operates. Your child’s IEP and 504 remain separate from graduation requirements, and school districts are still working out how accommodations carry into competency-based assessments. Ask your IEP team directly how the transition affects your child’s current plan. A screener is a starting point, not a diagnosis; if your child might need formal accommodations, or you suspect a vision, hearing, or medical cause, a professional evaluation is the route to those supports.

My child is in middle school now. Will this affect their graduation?

If your child enters high school in 2029 or later, they graduate under the fully implemented new system. Students entering in 2024 through 2028 are in transitional cohorts where some credit requirements still apply, but passing the Regents exams is no longer required to graduate. The State Education Department is finalizing requirements for the 2027 and 2028 cohorts. Watch your district’s pilot program announcements and NYSED’s NY Inspires updates.

If my child struggles with reading or math, will portfolios make graduation easier or just different?

Different is the more accurate word. A portfolio pathway gives your child an alternative format to show what they know, but it does not teach them what they have not yet learned. EdTrust-New York flagged at the Board of Regents meeting that the new system works only for students who are proficient in reading and math. If your child is behind in those foundational skills, the more urgent question is the quality of instruction they receive now. A screener is a starting point, not a diagnosis. If your child might need formal accommodations (an IEP or 504 plan), or you suspect a vision, hearing, or medical cause, pursue a professional evaluation too.

Will colleges accept a competency-based diploma from New York?

NYSED stated there is little evidence that competency-based education disadvantages students in college applications, and the department is actively working with colleges and universities to ensure they understand and trust the new diploma. Many colleges already use holistic admissions practices that consider portfolios, projects, and non-test evidence. Expect more clarity as the Board of Regents finalizes the “learner profile” transcript design over the next year.

NY just ended test-only graduation. For kids whose brains process differently, this is the structural fix nobody in mainstream education coverage is naming. Tweet Now Follow Learning Success

What New York announced and when it takes effect

At a June 16 Board of Regents meeting, New York’s State Education Department unveiled the next phase of NY Inspires, describing it as ‘the most significant transformation of the state’s graduation system in generations.’ The current framework, which awards three diploma tiers based on Regents exam performance, will be replaced with a single diploma earned through demonstrated competency. Students will prove mastery through assessments, projects, presentations, or portfolios. They will also count internships, capstone projects, community service, and career-technical programs toward graduation.

‘The big idea is that New York is moving away from an outdated factory-style education model toward a model system built for how students actually learn,’ said Jeffrey Matteson, the department’s senior deputy commissioner for education policy. Full implementation is set for the 2029/2030 school year. Students who entered high school in 2024, 2025, or 2026 will still sit Regents exams, but passing them is no longer required to graduate.

‘What will matter moving forward is the quality and substance of the evidence that a student produces, not the particular route that produced it or how long it took,’ said Shannon Logan, director of strategic priorities and coordination in the department’s Office of Cultural Education.

Author Quote "

The big idea is that New York is moving away from an outdated factory-style education model toward a model system built for how students actually learn.

What the coverage gets wrong

Most reporting frames New York's diploma overhaul as a workforce-alignment story or a modernization of an outdated graduation system. That framing is accurate as far as it goes. What it misses: the students who stand to gain the most are those whose processing differences have always made timed, standardized tests a poor measure of what they actually know. The International Dyslexia Association's 2025 definition update explicitly names processing speed and working memory as co-occurring factors in learning differences, not excuses. A diploma system built around multiple pathways and evidence of mastery over time is structurally better aligned with how these learners demonstrate knowledge. The mainstream frame treats that as a side benefit. It is closer to the point.

The frame the mainstream coverage is missing entirely

New York’s Regents system was built on a model that treats timed, standardized performance as the measure of what a student knows. For a child whose brain processes information differently, that model has always measured processing speed under pressure, not knowledge. The International Dyslexia Association’s 2025 definition update made explicit what learning-differences research has documented for years: dyslexia and related conditions involve processing speed and working memory as co-occurring challenges, not outliers or excuses.

A student who reads slowly but accurately, who understands a concept deeply but needs a different format to demonstrate it, has never been well-served by a system where the clock and the bubble sheet were the final word. The three-diploma structure made that visible in the worst possible way: a student with an IEP who needed accommodations qualified for a ‘local diploma,’ a credential that carries a different signal than the standard Regents diploma regardless of what that student actually mastered. That distinction is ending.

Deputy Commissioner Angelique Johnson-Dingle said at the meeting that current transcripts do not ‘adequately reflect what a student knows and what they are able to do.’ That sentence applies to every student. It describes the experience of learning-different kids with particular precision.

Key Takeaways:

Portfolios replace pass-or-fail tests: New York is shifting to a competency-based diploma where students demonstrate mastery through projects, presentations, or portfolios, with full implementation in 2029.

The three-diploma tier system ends: The current structure, which gave students with certain IEP accommodations a different 'local diploma,' is being replaced with a single diploma tied to demonstrated competency, not testing tier.

The K-8 instruction gap still applies: EdTrust-New York flagged that the new system works only for students who were taught to read and compute proficiently in K-8. A new diploma pathway does not repair a skill gap left by inadequate early instruction.

What it means for your child now, and where the real risk sits

If your child is in middle school, this change arrives as they enter high school. If they are already in high school, the pass-or-fail Regents requirement is already gone for the Class of 2025 onward. Portfolios and projects give a kid who knows the material a route to show it without being penalized for how fast they process a standardized exam. A student who writes slowly due to dysgraphia, who struggles with timed math tests due to dyscalculia, or who loses focus under standardized testing conditions due to ADHD now has other routes to demonstrate the same knowledge.

The honest warning comes from Jeff Smink, deputy director at EdTrust-New York, who noted at the meeting that students can only access opportunities like internships and college courses ‘if they are proficient in reading and math.’ Portfolio pathways work for kids who have been taught. For a child who left third grade still unable to read fluently because their school used a guessing-based reading program instead of systematic instruction, a new diploma format does not fix the gap the instruction left behind. The more urgent question for those families is the quality of instruction their child receives right now.

What to ask your child’s school: Is the district designing pilot programs for next year? What will the ‘learner profile’ transcript document, and how does it represent a processing-different student’s strengths? If your child has an IEP or 504, how will those accommodations carry into competency-based assessments?

Author Quote "

What will matter moving forward is the quality and substance of the evidence that a student produces, not the particular route that produced it or how long it took.

Your child’s ability to learn is not the question. The factory-style model that treated a timed bubble sheet as the final verdict on their future was the problem all along, and New York is now naming it. The same research that backs New York’s shift, that knowledge lives in how a child demonstrates mastery rather than how fast they process a fixed exam, is what the Brain Bloom multi-system approach is built on. If you want to see exactly which processing skills your child is building and where the gaps are, the Learning Success All Access program starts with a personalized assessment and gives you the roadmap either way.