Reexamine diploma requirements, worth in time of tumult

Social media is buzzing with clips of Class of 2026 graduation speeches lamenting artificial intelligence’s impact on the job market. For freshly minted grads, the message is that the professional world is a scary place where quality careers evaporate before they begin and a diploma is as valuable as a trough of AI slop.

But commencement is about optimism, and thanks to Long Island’s high school graduates, there’s hope for the future.

To Long Island’s Class of 2026 — congratulations on achieving one of life’s important milestones.

For educators, state leaders and other guardians of education’s future a test remains: In the age of AI, what will make a diploma stamped with the state seal a valuable credential?

This is a tumultuous time in education. Just as AI has turned career hunting upside down, education itself is being upended by several forces. The New York State Education Department must navigate shifts, from technology to student mental health, competency-based education models, chronic absenteeism and more. We can’t let AI distract us from the goal — educating our children to be exemplary and successful American citizens.

FOCUS ON COMPETENCY

New York is one of several states moving away from standardized tests as benchmarks for diplomas. A new emphasis is on competency-based education that gives students opportunities to demonstrate proficiency in a subject outside of a timed exam that tests cumulative knowledge, like the Regents exams. Just this past week, during a Board of Regents meeting, Education Department officials again discussed implementing the state’s Multiple Pathways to Graduation, which is expected to be fully in place by the fall of 2029, and changing diploma requirements for future classes.

But changing graduation requirements doesn’t automatically mean students will be better prepared or more successful. Next year’s graduates and those who follow must still be taught how to analyze misinformation, interpret data from numerous sources, and solve complex interdisciplinary problems. They must be able to do what AI can’t if they are expected to outmaneuver AI for job security. Whatever standards a student must meet for a high school diploma must strenuously test their ability to synthesize facts into solutions.

Here are a few key issues for educators and state officials to continue to tackle over the summer:

CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM

Attendance by itself isn’t a measure of success, but kids can’t learn if they aren’t in school.

Chronic absenteeism — defined as missing 10% of a school year or more — is an epidemic in every state. Connecticut has dented its chronic absenteeism rates, and there are a few bills in Albany seeking to mimic that state’s success here. State elected leaders can’t let missing classes at will be the new normal in education.

FLOOR GRADES

Grades and graduation rates are up, but so too are remedial course enrollments in colleges. If the quality of a diploma is debased by floor grades, a graduate won’t be sufficiently prepared for college or the workforce.

A floor grade is a minimum grade a student can receive in a course or assignment, regardless of effort or quality. The idea is to prevent late and missing work from snowballing into an impossible situation that leads to unavoidable failure. But floor grades provide incentives for kids to simply ignore assignments.

The state Department of Education must put a spotlight on the practice — research floor grade policies, hold public hearings with parents and education officials around the state, and establish statewide policies guiding the use of floor grades.

TECHNOLOGY

Schools across the country are banning cellphones like New York did last year. While that is a necessary and welcome move, technology itself has become a distraction.

Some schools are beginning to implement screen time limits on a grade-by-grade sliding scale. The idea is that students in lower grades shouldn’t be on screens during the school day, while older students should have limited, supervised access for meaningful assignments. New York must set statewide standards like the Los Angeles Unified School District implemented, which phase in screen time as students advance in grade.

THE BIG PICTURE

Our schools must be centers of critical thinking that nurture students into lifelong learners who think deeply and are positive contributors to their communities. Schools can’t be diploma mills that settle for meeting sales team metrics. That means pushing back against graduation rates as the sole indicator of a high school’s success. Will Long Island communities accept lower graduation rates but a higher quality education?

Entire communities here celebrate high school graduates every year because the entire community takes pride in the successes of its youth. Educators, taxpayers, coaches, aunts, mentors — they all contribute in some way. That collective spirit of success and celebration is inspiring. So, as forces beyond the control of any single Long Island community drive change, the state Education Department must remain laser-focused on the priorities of a public education to guide local school boards.

Technologies come and go, political influences wane and societies adapt. But education remains a foundational principle throughout a person’s life. In the end, how we judge ourselves as a society is measured in large part by how well we prepare our youth for a successful future. A high school diploma must signify that the individual is well-prepared for life.