The End to Final Exams?

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I love talking about learning, and had a great opportunity today to speak to WTOP listeners about the possible end to final exams.

Just last week, Montgomery County Board of Education voted to end final exams in middle school and to consider a proposal to end finals in high school. Loudoun county is moving in the same direction. The school system just announced that high school teachers are no longer required to give midterm and final exams.

Here’s an excerpt of the interview with Sean Anderson and Hilary Howard.

 

QAnn, why are we seeing school districts moving away from final exams?

A:  Parents, teachers, and administrators worry that there’s too much testing. Final exams along with mandatory state testing, such as the Standards of Learning in Virginia and the Maryland State assessments, result in kids are being overly assessed. Many are concerned that there’s too much emphasis on teaching to the tests and bubbling in scantron sheets and not enough authentic learning.

 

Q It sounds like this roll back in exams can be a positive thing.Scantron test

A:  Not necessarily. It’s important to remember that there are two types of exams.  One is standardized. These are the state or national tests that are administered in the same way to every student taking the class.

For example, in Virginia, every student taking 8th grade science will take the same exact multiple-choice test in the spring. That means that the teacher has to cover all the material on that test, even if he or she feels it’s not particularly relevant.

Non-standard tests can be teacher-created. So, for example, the 8th grade science team at a school might design a test that covers less content but at a deeper level. They might include essays or short answers to assess a student’s knowledge, not whether the child can just regurgitate facts. This type of testing in the form of mid terms and finals is actually beneficial and allows teachers more flexibility in how they teach. Research shows that long-term memory is enhanced when students take mid-term and final exams.

 

QWhat’s your opinion?  Do you think we are testing our kids too much?

A:  I do. I think we have too many state standardized tests which force kids to memorize facts and choose the right bubble. They force teachers to base instruction around test taking strategies and getting kids to pass the test. And now, in some districts much of a teacher’s evaluation is based on his or her pass rate. I’m not saying we need to eliminate state testing, but we can certainly reduce the number of tests we give.

But eliminating teacher-made mid-term and final exams in middle and high school is a mistake. In these grades we have a tremendous opportunity to teach kids how to study.  84% of students report that they study by rereading their notes, but rereading is one of the most ineffective ways to retain information long-term because it’s single-sensory; it’s just visual. To truly commit something to memory, learning must be visual, auditory, and hands-on.

If we teach students how to study in middle school, they’ll have a much easier transition to high school. And in high school, we have to continue to teach these skills so that students are fully prepared for college.

 

QDo exams of any kind help learning?

A:  Yes, and the reason is that these tests are cumulative, meaning that they don’t just cover material from the past week, but they cover material learned over a number of months. When your brain has to rehash prior content, it increases the likelihood that you’ll store it into long-term memory, not just short-term.

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