New York State is implementing reforms on high school education, including a greater emphasis on competencies and demonstrated learning instead of standardized tests, and Rondout has a new vision to reflect it: “graduate students who think critically, embrace curiosity, and lead with empathy in a diverse world.”

The changes were discussed at the September 15 board of education meeting. Regents exams will remain as an option but no longer be required for graduation and the state will move to one New York State high school diploma instead of multiple diploma types targeted for the 2027-28 school year.

“This is a huge transformation through New York Inspires, through the State Department, and we're going to adopt this here at Rondout,” Superintendent Paul Spadaro said. “Where we're focusing on learning, not time. Where we're focusing on competencies, not credits, and all of our areas are connected, and we're not working in silos.”

Spadaro said that he believes the transformation is “empowering teachers to be creative, to take risks and do the project-based learning, that they're not going to be strapped to a curriculum anymore.”

Rondout Valley’s goals in 2027, according to Spadaro, are: increase grades 3-8 English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency from 40 percent to 48 percent and ultimately to 58 percent, increase math proficiency from 54 percent to 59 percent and toward 69 percent in three years, raise the four-year graduation rate from 91 percent to 94 percent, improve student belonging and wellbeing and improve performance gaps for students with disabilities.

With New York’s new standards, Spadaro said that it would require a “mindset shift” to implement. As an example, Spadaro said, “I'm not just teaching a social studies lesson, but I need to teach a lesson that involves critical thinking, that embraces curiosity, that's aligned to our vision and our mission.”

Board President Nicole Parete asked what that would look like in practice. Parete, who previously worked as a teacher, said that the district’s instructional coach, Rosa Moshi, has been interacting with teachers about project-based learning and “exactly what we want for a portrait of a graduate.”

“Historically we've always looked at a report card,” Parete said. “That's just a really big concern because that is what we use right now to show all of you and the public how your child's doing in school. It's what we all grew up with.”

Parete also said that some schools allow students to repeatedly redo assignments or tests until they master the skill, which Parete said would be “complicated” to figure out. Board Member Charles Dinstuhl also expressed concern about New York moving away from exams.

“I'm not a big fan of the former state test system, but it did allow us to benchmark ourselves against other districts,” Dinstuhl said. “How are we going to be able to do that without that circumstance?”

Parete said it is “kind of scary” to have conversations about different ways of measuring students’ progress outside of exam grades and asked what support New York is giving school districts through this transition.

Spadaro said “theoretically” New York is condensing standards and creating competencies for different grade levels and subjects. According to Spadaro, private schools have practiced this model for a while.

“They're going to create competencies on what a first grader critical thinker should look like in a math class. What does a global citizen look like as a fourth grader in science?” Spadaro said.

As for state testing, Parete said these are not “going away” as it is still connected to federal funding. Regents will also remain, but not be required for a diploma.

“I think our job as the district is to create these pathways for the students, and every student is different,” Spadaro said. “Every student has different talents, different strengths. I think our job as a district is to promote those talents and dispose those strengths so they're ready for what they want to do in life.”