Two Westchester middle schools will participate in a state pilot program aimed at helping schools transition to performance-based assessments, which evaluate what students know by having them complete tasks or create something.
The state Education Department announced Hendrick Hudson High School and Port Chester High School as two of the 23 New York schools that will participate. The state plans to explore how to help schools transition from traditional forms of testing students.
“Pilot schools will develop best practices that go beyond traditional teaching and assessment models and prepare students for success after graduation,” Chancellor Lester Young said in a statement earlier this month.
New York’s primary and secondary education is moving away from reliance on traditional tests and looking for alternative ways to assess what students know. In November, a committee charged with reimagining the state’s high school diploma requirements recommended that the state allow more types of assessments, including performance-based assessments, capstone projects and experiential learning.
But it is unclear how long such a shift will last. New York schools’ assessment of students to determine their readiness for graduation largely involves the Regents exams, which date back to the 19th century.
Three assessment approaches will be tested
Starting this fall, pilot schools will begin shifting some of their courses to performance-based approaches to student assessment. During the 2025-2026 school year, schools plan to expand this approach to more courses. By the 2026-2027 school year, pilot schools will work to implement the approach in their schools.
Results and recommendations from the pilot are not expected until the 2026-2027 school year.
The pilot will focus on three approaches:
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In vocational and technical education, students learn through internships and work environments.
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In some classes, students learn by asking questions and developing critical thinking. Teachers call this approach ‘investigative learning’. The state education department provided two examples of such programs: the International Baccalaureate program and Big Picture Learning, both of which develop “learner profiles” for students and integrate them into their approaches. IB’s learner profiles help students develop characteristics such as open-minded, reflective and principled, while Big Picture Learning’s learner profiles focus on developing individualized learning plans and assessments for students.
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In some classes, students learn through projects, with assessments based on those projects, such as a final presentation, product, or even an event.
Port Chester Superintendent Aurelia Henriquez said in a statement that the district was eager to collaborate with other schools in the pilot and was particularly interested in project-based learning and performance-based assessment tasks.
Such tasks may include completing a science experiment, writing a research paper on history, or designing something using engineering and mathematics.
Hendrick Hudson High School will focus on career and technical education, Lauren Scollins, principal of Hendrick Hudson High School, said in an email.
“As a district, we hope to use this experience as an opportunity to reimagine teaching and learning,” Scollins said. “We are also excited about the opportunity to collaborate with professionals from across the state who want to adapt their practices to teach students individually and collectively, rather than to the test.”
To help students explore all their options for after high school, Hendrick Hudson plans to introduce “an extensive database of summer opportunities; lunch career series; alumni engagement; career days and fairs; work-readiness learning experiences; and field trips,” Scollins said.
Contact Diana Dombrowski at ddombrowski@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @domdomdiana.
This article originally appeared in Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Two Westchester high schools join New York student testing pilot
