New York Cancels Its Statewide History Exam

The New York State Education Department has canceled a statewide standardized history exam over a question on the test that it says had the “potential to compound student trauma” caused by the recent deadly mass shooting at a Buffalo grocery store.

In a Tuesday letter to colleagues, State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa explained the reasoning behind the cancellation of the Regents examination in US history and government — which was scheduled to be held for the first time on June 1.

Rosa wrote that in the “wake of the heinous mass shooting in Buffalo,” content experts from the state’s Education Department in partnership with state educators reviewed all of the June 2022 Regents exams and “determined that there is content” on the history test “that has the potential to compound student trauma caused by the recent violence in Buffalo.”

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In a statement to Insider, Emily DeSantis, a spokesperson for the state Education Department, repeated some of Rosa’s remarks from the letter and suggested that a single question on the history exam caused the department to cancel the test.

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The state Department of Education confirmed that one question led to the cancellation of the test. The agency would not provide details to Insider on what the question on the history exam entailed and instead directed Insider to submit a Freedom of Information Law request to the department.

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