[Excerpt] New York State has been administering curriculum-based Regents Examinations to high school students ever since June 1878. As Sherman Tinkelman, Assistant Commissioner for Examinations and Scholarships described in a 1966 report: The Regents examinations are closely related to the curriculum in New York State. They are, as you can see, inseparably intertwined. One supports and reinforces the other.... These instruments presuppose and define standards.... They are a strong supervisory and instructional tool-- and deliberately so. They are effective in stimulating good teaching and good learning practices (Tinkelman, 1966 p. 12).