Regents exam results: How Long Island districts performed on 2024-25 English, Algebra I tests

The percentage of Long Island high schoolers who passed the state Regents exam in English Language Arts in 2024-25 stayed about the same compared with the year prior, but the number of students who reached the top level of mastery dropped significantly, a Newsday analysis found.

A total of 85% of the more than 37,000 Island students who took the test in the 2024-25 school year scored proficient, compared with 86% in the 2023-24 school year, according to data released by the state Education Department. 

But only 43.5% of test-takers reached Level 5, the state's highest academic level, also known as “distinction.” That marked a drop of nearly 10 percentage points from 52.9% in 2023-24.

And the number of Island districts whose proficiency rate exceeded 90% dipped from 61 to 51 out of 99 districts that reported results, the data showed.

The expected phasing-out of the Regents exams as a requirement for high school graduation may have contributed to the decline, education experts theorized, as some students may not have taken the tests as seriously as they might have in the past. Lingering learning loss from the pandemic years, when schools were closed and instruction was delivered virtually and later in a hybrid fashion, could also be a factor, the experts said.

The test data also revealed wide differences in passage rates by district, and Hispanic students underperformed when compared with other racial or ethnic groups in English and Algebra in 2024-25.

In English, for example, nearly all Cold Spring Harbor students (99%) passed the test, whereas about 1 in 2 (58.5%) in Wyandanch did.

Dafny Irizarry, president of the Long Island Latino Teachers Association, said while the disparities may not be surprising, they are not acceptable.

“It is wrong because we do know that all children are capable of succeeding,” she said.

'Very transformative time'

Newsday analyzed state data of Regents exam scores in English and Algebra I, two of the most often tested subjects. The recently released 2024-25 data included results from exams administered in August 2024, January 2025 and June 2025.

Newsday is not comparing Algebra I results from year to year because the state implemented a new version of the test in June 2024, making the latest scores incomparable with those from previous years.

In 2024-25, nearly 70% of the 43,490 Island students who took the Algebra I test scored proficient — higher than the state average of 56% of 276,015 students.

The state rates student performance in five levels and those who scored Level 3 and above are considered proficient. A student needs a score of 65 or higher to get Level 3. The highest level, 5, requires a score of 85 or higher.

Bob Vecchio, executive director of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association, said he believes the decline in the percentage of Island students who showed mastery in English is an indicator of the flux happening in education, versus an actual “slippage” in performance

“We're in the middle of a very transformative time as far as a complete overhaul of graduation standards,” he said. “So I think there's a lot of things in transition in anticipation of the new changes coming about.”

State education officials in fall 2024 unveiled a proposed timeline to drop Regents exams as a graduation requirement by 2027, making the tests optional and offering more pathways for students to earn a high school diploma.

Vecchio said he believes discussions of the anticipated changes created confusion and altered perceptions for some over the exams’ importance.

“All the conversation about Regents exams not being required for graduation going forward may have an unintended consequence of a different importance or a different priority for some — not meaning districts but maybe students, as far as preparation,” he said.

The decline in English scores came as a contrast to the upward trend of student achievement in grades 3-8. State data released in December showed marked improvement in both English and math in the lower grades, with some Island districts reporting significant gains.

But the decrease appears to track with national data. Results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress showed a lower average reading score for 12th-graders in 2024 compared with 2019.

In New York, English Regents exams are often taken in 11th grade; Algebra I is typically taken in ninth grade or earlier.

Arlen Benjamin-Gomez, executive director of EdTrust-New York, an advocacy group headquartered in Manhattan, said that the NAEP and Regents results may suggest that the pandemic years had a lasting effect on students in the higher grades. She noted in particular the state exemptions that allowed New York students to pass at a lower score.  

At the beginning of the pandemic, Regents exams were canceled and qualified students could be exempted from taking the tests as part of their diploma requirement. The score needed to earn a diploma was later lowered from 65 to 50.

“Between the exemptions that were given … and then the message that Regents are no longer going to be required [for graduation], I do think that's impacting the emphasis on Regents in the high school classes,” Benjamin-Gomez said.

A spokesperson for the state Education Department said in a statement: "There can be many contributing factors to rises and falls in assessment scores year over year. While it is not always possible to identify the cause of these shifts, NYSED remains committed to ensuring that all students have access to skilled instruction aligned with the state’s rigorous learning standards, while continuously working to identify ways that it can better support students, teachers and schools. ... We continue to support districts as they review student achievement and strengthen their literacy practices, while honoring the principle of local control over curriculum and instruction."

'Alarming' disparity

While Island students overall outperformed the state average of 75% in English proficiency, district-by-district results were more uneven.

In 2024-25, the top-performing district in English was North Shore, with 99.4% of its students scoring proficient. (Fishers Island had a rate of 100% but only five students took the test.)

Cold Spring Harbor did best in Algebra I, with a 99.3% proficiency rate for districts with more than 60 test-takers.

Cold Spring Harbor schools Superintendent Joseph Monastero would like to see the rate even higher and assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, Kim Libertini, said the district is also looking to raise student performance levels.

“We are really looking at our mastery levels … and how we can move our Level 3s to Level 4s and how we can move our Level 2s to Level 3s,” she said.

In Wyandanch, meanwhile, 58.5% of students scored proficient in English and 30.7% in Algebra I.

Erik Wright, superintendent of Wyandanch schools, acknowledged the low test scores in a statement and said the district is committed to addressing them.

“Our focus as educators remains on delivering a high-quality education that supports the whole child, understanding that standardized tests do not always capture the full scope of student learning and growth,” he said.

Wyandanch is considered a high-needs district, with 85% of its student population in 2023-24 qualifying for free and reduced-price lunch. In Cold Spring Harbor, 3% of its student body qualified, according to state data.

“It's not shocking because we see these numbers year over year,” said Benjamin-Gomez, with EdTrust-New York. “But it is alarming because there's no reason why there should be that range of disparity.”

Student achievement also varied by race and ethnicity. Only 54% of the roughly 17,000 Hispanic students on Long Island tested proficient in Algebra I, marking the lowest performance level among all groups. About 55% of Black students and 85% of white students were proficient. Asian students performed the best, with 91% passing the test.

“I don't think these scores are a reflection of the students and their capabilities,” Irizarry said. “I think they are a reflection of the systematic ways that school districts are segregated, are not given enough resources, and how socioeconomics play a role.”

Vecchio said there has been “growth in some of our challenging school districts with academic performance" despite these achievement gaps. Poverty, he said, presents many challenges to high-needs districts like Wyandanch.

“It's unfair to compare a Wyandanch to a Cold Spring Harbor because there are very different, significant challenges that Wyandanch has to deal with that Cold Spring Harbor would not,” he said.