Metro

State fails as a grader

The state Education Department is failing to ensure that schools don’t inflate the results of diploma-granting Regents exams, according to an audit by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

Officials found in 2005 that schools had awarded students with more points on short-answer and essay questions than a panel of experts did 80 percent of the time in one case and 58 percent of the time in another.

But after that finding, not much changed, DiNapoli found.

“Despite the seriousness of the review team’s findings and the questions they raised about the accuracy and reliability of Regents examination scoring process, we found little evidence action had been taken,” the audit said.

Each school’s Regents exams are scored by the teachers who work there, so giving more points to an answer can boost a school’s graduation rate.

State officials agreed with the recommendations.