“F” For Finals

Finals. It’s that time of year again for Madison High Schoolers, however in a different way. This year, unlike any of the past, each final is a cumulative review of all four marking periods. This differs from previous years because Madison did not give their students midterms this year. Instead, students at Madison were given PARCC testing in January, with the understanding that final exams would still take place during the last week of school. While having no midterms seemed was a joy for many in January, the time has come to prepare for an even larger, heavier weighted test in the heat of June when summer is all anyone can think about.

In an interview done in January asking students their opinions on the elimination of midterms, many agreed they would rather take midterms than finals.

One mentioned, “Why would I want to study four marking periods’ worth of material when midterms only include two marking periods?” Another chimed in, “I don’t think a test at the end of the year including most material from each class would represent me as a student. I have good grades and work hard, but it is so hard to keep all that knowledge to ace a huge test at the end of June, in the heat of summer.” The overall consensus agreed that students would rather take two tests based on two marking periods rather than taking one larger test at the end of the year.

Last week, MDO met with junior and senior students from MHS to discuss the finals situation.

MDO asked how the juniors felt now that finals are just two weeks away and if having no midterms ultimately helped them or hurt them. Their responses were similar to the responses given in January. “I still would have rather taken midterms than finals, especially since I have received my final review packets in my classes now. I looked at the material expectations from September and October with a blank stare and suddenly realized, ‘I am not prepared for this final’,” one concerned student expressed. This response was reiterated by several junior students.

“How do you feel about the final being worth 12% of your grade this year as opposed to 10% last year?” MDO questioned next.

“Afraid,” immediately replied a junior. “I honestly don’t feel like this one test will define me as a student, and I’m upset that my junior year is the year that the high school is ‘testing’ whether or not finals with no midterms are a good idea or not,” she mentioned. A male student agreed, “it’s tough enough already to remember everything important from January and now I have to remember things from September. That is something I’ve never had to do. I’m nervous the 12% will hurt me rather than help me,” he concluded.

The seniors at Madison High School had a different perspective than the juniors on these topics. At Madison High, if a senior averages an “A” or a 90-100 grade in a certain class, they get exempt from taking that final exam. With this exciting agreement, many seniors strive for the “A” in their classes to prevent the stress at the end of the year from finals.

One senior jokingly commented, “Hey, I’m not complaining, I didn’t have to take any midterms or finals!” On a more serious note, she added, “but if I were a junior, I would feel very overwhelmed because I can’t remember everything I’ve learned this year. I guess my grade lucked out and I’m very happy about that.” Those feelings were shared mutually between the group of seniors and they were extremely relieved thanks to the exemption policy and completely thankful that they aren’t juniors this year. Lastly, one mentioned, “I needed my junior year to go as smoothly as it could in order to get into my dream college and I feel really sorry for the juniors that this finals situation might mess them up.”

The consensus was that the junior class feels ultimately cheated. At this point, they would rather have taken a midterm and a final than the new final set-up. This may surprise many; why would a student rather take two large tests instead of just one? The answer is that to have to remember ten months worth of material in five major classes is very difficult to accomplish. They all agreed that it is unfortunate that their junior year is during the trial of this situation, but they all hope it ends up okay. Maybe, if this ends terribly wrong, Madison will reconsider its decision on this topic. Hopefully, however, one larger final at the end of the year will help students instead of destroy them.

See Junior responses from January at:

It’s a Love Hate Relationship: Midterms