ALBANY — A student graduating from Albany High School Sunday will become one of the first in the state to earn her diploma with an art portfolio. This is the first year the state will allow a three-year arts project to replace one of the required five Regents exams.
It’s a glimpse of what graduation may be like in a few years, when the state offers alternative ways to graduate beyond current rules that require students to pass five Regents exams to earn diplomas.
This year, for the first time, New York students can graduate from high school on the “arts pathway.” That allows them to take just four Regents exams, skipping either U.S. history or global history. Instead of the fifth exam, they must complete a three-year series of art courses and submit a portfolio, which is graded at the local level. About 1% of the state’s graduates this year are expected to earn it, according to the Education Department…