This year, Pelham Memorial High School is scrapping its state-sanctioned chemistry final that has been in place for years. The school board hosted a meeting on September 16th where Superintendent Dr. Cheryl Champ announced that the chemistry regents, a final exam administered by New York State, will now be omitted from the student curriculum at the high school. The move, she said, was being viewed as an “exciting change” by chemistry students.

As a replacement, PMHS will conduct a “comprehensive and project-based” assessment that challenges students by testing their chemistry knowledge outside of a standardized and state-regulated exam. This new approach will measure laboratory skills and test whether students are making real-world connections with their knowledge of chemistry.

The purpose of the change is to allow chemistry teachers and high school teachers to judge a student’s performance based on the school-sanctioned curriculum that has been established throughout the school year as opposed to a standardized state examination.

The district’s goal appears to be to duplicate the success that followed its decision to replace the Physics Regents several years ago with a local assessment made by PMHS teachers.

As stated by Champ, that change resulted in “increased student enrollment, fewer gender gaps in physical science classes, and outstanding performance and recognition on AP examinations.” With these outcomes in mind, Pelham strives to replicate this change in the same way with Chemistry.

“The previous curriculum was comprehensive and deep, but this one is also interesting too,” said Tatiana Dyakina, a chemistry teacher at PMHS. “The final might be different for the students since it’s hands-on which some may find more difficult. It’s very early in the year to determine where me and my colleagues will go with this new project-based exam.”

When asked about the predicted effect on students’ performance, Champ wrote in an email, “any assessment will not be comparable to prior regents exams in Chemistry. We believe that a rigorous local exam developed by our teachers and science department will best assess the skills and knowledge that was taught in the classroom throughout the course of the year and are confident that our students will perform well on the new assessment. Our plan will best equip our students for future study and reflects the characteristics of the portrait of a learner the state is adopting.”