during the 1990s, some alternative assessment schools were founded in parts of new york in an attempt to provide a way for students to graduate from high school without taking any regents exams. usually, the substitute graduation assessment consisted of a review and grading, by a panel of teachers, of an academic portfolio — a collection of the student's best work from all his or her years at the school. from such a "portfolio examination" would be issued a "regents equivalency" grade for the areas of math, english, history, and science, and a "regents equivalency" diploma would be awarded to the student at commencement. students enrolled in these schools do, however, take the english regents exam as a part of the new york state school accountability system.