January 30, 2005 | By Ann Cook and Phyllis Tashlik |

To the Editor:

The current push to institute a “work readiness” credential (High School Test in Basic Job Fitness…”NYT 1/29/05) for high school students highlights a problem that parents and educators have been articulating for years: Regents exams fail miserably as an assessment system. As states around the country demonstrate, and research studies have shown, there are more educationally sound and effective ways to evaluate students for both higher education and jobs. Such systems call for multiple measures of assessment like that used by the New York Performance Standards Consortium – a statewide group of small public schools that pioneered such a system. Multiple measures require students to demonstrate proficiency not only in academic skills—critical analysis, reading, writing, mathematics--but also those skills required for success in both college and the workplace: time management, oral communication, problem solving, self-motivation, and teamwork. As Assembly Education Chair Sanders says, “The Regents have a problem.” Well, it’s time to fix it.

Ann Cook, Co-Chair
NY Performance Standards Consortium

Phyllis Tashlik, Director
Center for Inquiry