At its Jan. 22 meeting, the Glen Cove Board of Education took a deep dive into the district’s graduation rate and upcoming changes to New York State’s graduation requirements. The discussion, led by Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, and Technology Alexa Doeschner, highlighted the district’s 81% graduation rate for the 2023 cohort and examined how future policy shifts may impact students.
Doeschner explained that the state determines the graduation rate by tracking students who enter ninth grade together and following them for four years. The state accounts for transfers, students who remain enrolled past four years, and those who drop out.
“Cohorts are based on student enrollment as of June 30 before their graduation reporting year,” she said.
According to Doeschner, the district’s 2023 graduation rate reflects the 2019 ninth-grade cohort, which had 294 students. Of those, 239 earned diplomas by August 2023, with 37% obtaining an advanced Regents diploma, 44% earning a Regents diploma, and 1% receiving a local diploma. Additionally, 6% of students remained enrolled for a fifth year, 3% transferred to a GED program, and 9% dropped out.
Students still enrolled from the 2019 cohort will be counted in the five-year graduation rate when it is released later this year. However, the district cannot yet disclose 2024 graduation figures.
“We know it internally, and we are looking at it and analyzing it, but we cannot share it publicly,” Doeschner said. “Very soon it will be disembargoed, and when that happens, all districts across the state will have that data publicly shared on the report card.”
While the discussion focused on past performance, Doeschner also detailed significant changes coming to how New York State recognizes high school graduates. Currently, students receive one of three diploma types: local, Regents, or advanced Regents. But that system is set to change.
“It will be one diploma for all students, with different seals of designations,” Doeschner said.
The state is also moving toward a major overhaul of the Regents exams, which have long been a core requirement for graduation in New York. Starting in the fall of 2027, Regents exams will no longer be mandatory for earning a diploma.
“The second change is the uncoupling—in the fall of 2027—of the Regents exams as graduation requirements,” Doeschner explained. “The Regents exams will still exist but will not be required to graduate, as they are now.”
This shift aligns with ongoing discussions at the state level about how to better assess student achievement beyond standardized testing. The Board of Regents has argued that students should be evaluated on a broader range of skills and competencies rather than being limited to high-stakes exams.
For Glen Cove, the changes mean educators will need to adjust how they prepare students for graduation. The transition will impact students currently in middle school, who will be among the first to graduate under the new diploma framework.
The Board of Education’s review of the graduation rate was part of a broader conversation on student achievement. District officials reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring all students are prepared for college and careers, particularly as the state moves toward a new system.
“We see that high school is a culmination of a K through 12 education,” Doeschner said. “And so it definitely is a gateway to college and employment as well.”
