Information Digest 1998-1999: Regents' Testing Program

REGENTS' TESTING PROGRAM

PURPOSE: The Regents' Testing Program (RTP) was instituted in all System institutions to provide System-wide information on the status of student competence in the areas of reading and writing and a uniform means of identifying those students who fail to attain the minimum levels of competence in the areas of reading and writing. Passing the test became a requirement for graduation from undergraduate degree programs (associate and baccalaureate) in 1973. In 1987 the RTP policy was changed to exempt students earning career associate degrees.

DESCRIPTION: The test consists of two parts, reading and essay, and is administered each semester at all System institutions. The reading part of the test is a 60-item, multiple choice test based on ten reading passages with five to eight questions about each passage. The questions are designed to assess vocabulary, comprehension, and analysis skills. The minimum passing score for the reading section is 61.

For the essay, students have one hour in which to choose and write on one of the four topics that are given. The completed essays are then distributed by the RTP office among six centers in the State, where three independent raters from System institutions score each essay on a four-point scale. The final score is the rating on which at least two of the three raters agree or the middle rating if there is no agreement. Thus, an essay is given a failing grade only if at least two of the three raters assign a failing grade.

REMEDIATION: Students who have earned 45 semester hours of college-level credit and have not passed both parts of the test must take non-degree credit courses in remedial reading and/or writing until they have passed both parts of the test. If a student fails only one part of the test, he or she is required to repeat only that part. There is no limit on the number of times a student may take remediation or retake the test, although some institutions have policies allowing students to retake the test only when quantifiable progress has been made.

RESULTS: Because institutions vary in their policies concerning the Regents' Test, it is unwise to use the data on the next page to compare institutions. Note that statistics for repeaters include each repeat attempt.

Historical Summary of % Passing Regents' Test
Academic Year	First-Time		Repeaters*
	N	%	N	%
1971-72	10,923	51.2	0	--
1972-73	16,261	56.1	0	--
1973-74	19,555	53.4	2,527	27.0
1974-75	21,127	64.3	5,020	37.0
1975-76	20,095	65.4	7,322	42.9
1976-77	19,616	65.5	7,101	44.0
1977-78	20,268	64.0	7,781	44.6
1978-79	26,481	63.3	10,389	45.2
1979-80	26,036	64.7	12,877	43.0
1980-81	21,552	63.7	11,782	46.9
1981-82	22,316	62.4	12,497	47.5
1982-83	23,565	63.4	13,748	45.0
1983-84	23,152	63.6	13,843	43.4
1984-85	23,982	68.1	14,310	46.7
1985-86	23,250	71.3	12,385	50.3
1986-87	25,493	74.1	10,903	49.6
1987-88	26,869	76.4	10,904	48.9
1988-89	27,922	75.4	10,762	46.6
1989-90	28,835	75.3	11,693	48.3
1990-91	30,905	73.5	12,416	46.0
1991-92	31,954	72.6	14,206	46.4
1992-93	32,537	72.3	14,718	46.5
1993-94	32,160	72.3	14,896	46.9
1994-95	32,073	73.3	14,541	45.7
1995-96	31,815	73.4	14,494	45.1
1996-97	30,644	73.6	13,760	45.1
1997-98	30,745	73.1	14,568	45.6

* Note that statistics for repeaters include each repeat attempt. A student passing on the third repeat attempt would be counted three times -- twice as failing and once as passing.

Sources: Director of Regents' Testing Program, Fall 1998 Regents' Testing Program Report of Results