A high school diploma is a benchmark of American society — a milestone of maturity, an indicator of academic achievement, and a precursor of future promise.

This diploma is the foundation for individual success and for being a productive member of a community regardless of whether a teenager attends college, enters the military, apprentices in a trade, or takes a job to figure out a life plan. A high school diploma is the first step.

So congratulations to this year’s class and their families, as Long Island celebrates its high school graduates this June. Next year’s prospective graduates, however, will be the first class awarded diplomas based on new standards that are being gradually implemented by the state.

By the time the class of 2028 adjusts its tassels, New York will no longer require graduates to pass Regents exams — first introduced as graduation requirements in 1878. New York joins a growing list of states to forgo standardized tests as requirements for a diploma and instead offer multiple pathways to graduation.

That strategy emerged after the state created the Blue Ribbon Commission on Graduation Measures in 2019 to revamp requirements to “ensure equity and excellence in education” while “exploring alternative measures for demonstrating student proficiency beyond traditional Regents exams.”

The result is the phasing out of challenging subject matter on Regents exams and the implementation of multiple pathways to graduation. Schools will provide a menu of options from which students can choose, including project-based learning in numerous fields of study.

Is an adolescent better at sculpting than statistics? More adept at air conditioner repair than algebra? More clever with cutlery than chemistry? Multiple pathways will greatly expand the ways a teen can demonstrate expertise to earn a diploma, especially attractive since Long Island’s job market craves career and technical professionals.

But New York must heed what other states are learning: Are pathways too confusing? Can every school afford to offer multiple pathways? Are these options really providing a path for success? Flexibility is important; other states are revising their pathway options based on their experiences.

Long Island is one of the premier regions in the country for public school education. It’s why families move here, why they stay, and why our home values remain sky high.

New York’s graduation rate was 86% in 2023. According to a Newsday analysis, the graduation rate for Nassau and Suffolk counties was 92.2% in 2023, a significant jump from 2013 when the rate was 78% for Long Island.

Yet, there are worries. In New York State overall, 30% of graduating seniors in 2024 did not meet the ACT’s college readiness benchmark for math, 27% fell short in reading and 32% in science. Figures were not broken out for Long Island. But they suggest there is reason for concern at a time when graduation standards are being relaxed.

Given all the money spent to fund education on Long Island, it would be problematic if a decent percentage of high school graduates were not ready for college level work. The National Center for Education Statistics reported in 2022 that up to 65% of community college students took at least one remedial course.

The problem has become so pervasive nationally that most colleges and universities now favor corequisites — a developmental course taken concurrently with the standard college course so students can receive remedial help while simultaneously being enrolled in a credit-bearing class. This strategy encourages students to stick it out and not drop the course or fail out of college.

Numbers for Long Island colleges and universities are not so dire but still are reasons for concern.

Nassau Community College has seen a decline in the number of students needing remedial courses, according to Jerry Kornbluth, vice president of the college’s office of community and governmental relations and a longtime professor of remedial math courses. In the fall of 2023, 51.1% of first-time college students at Nassau needed a remedial course. In the fall of 2024, that figure dropped to 35.4%.

Kornbluth told the editorial board that a greater number of new NCC students are enrolling with the intention of obtaining an associate degree and then looking for work, rather than applying to a four-year college.

“We are looking to get students into credit-bearing courses right away,” Kornbluth said. “We are in the process of trying to jump-start vocational training.”

Meanwhile, at Stony Brook University, an institution offering four-year degrees and top academic programs, less than 10% of incoming students “are identified to take one or two developmental classes in their first semester.” And the pass rate for developmental classes is 85%, Stony Brook told the editorial board.

As educational philosophies diverge on how to best prepare high school students, we must acknowledge that both basic approaches are equally essential to our functioning democracy and way of life and, if done well, equally adept at preparing a graduate for a career capable of providing for a family.

Multiple graduation pathways provide opportunities for every student to graduate. Raising graduation requirements while improving the quality of education and expanding graduation opportunities makes the most sense for all students. Yet, we must be certain that whatever route a student takes to get a diploma, the demand for excellence is steadfast.

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