Return of Final Exams?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back when final exams were instilled in mcps curriculum the teachers actually made an effort and taught class, nowadays that is sorely lacking and to have final exams would be disastrous.

My kids took MCPS finals and their experience was different. The finals were country wide designed for every one to pass. They were often the easiest test of the semester. They did not typically require much study and they usually boosted grades. I am not sure about class time lost since there is not much true class after AP exams end. Also if you had a strong grade going in to the final...the final could be ignored. I believe AP exams are enough.

And even though they were easy, they revealed that the level of mastery varied quite a bit at different high schools.

[Anonymous]

The problem with the finals was two fold on the extremes. If you had two A’s for each quarter you could safely blow off the final.

If you had a E and a D, and then likely failed the final you would fail the course.

So, there were lots of students blowing off the final exams or not even bothering to show up, resulting in failure for quite a few students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back when final exams were instilled in mcps curriculum the teachers actually made an effort and taught class, nowadays that is sorely lacking and to have final exams would be disastrous.

My kids took MCPS finals and their experience was different. The finals were country wide designed for every one to pass. They were often the easiest test of the semester. They did not typically require much study and they usually boosted grades. I am not sure about class time lost since there is not much true class after AP exams end. Also if you had a strong grade going in to the final...the final could be ignored. I believe AP exams are enough.

And even though they were easy, they revealed that the level of mastery varied quite a bit at different high schools.

OMG and even within high schools there was a wide range of matery corresponding to the student's SES!

[Anonymous]

We recently moved from Whitman. Our kids now have exams at the end of each semester (Dec / April) and the ones in April serve mainly as practice exams for any APs that will take place in May. It's helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope not. High school students are busy enough as is with jobs, academics and extracurriculars. The county already has Progress checks in some classes that are basically finals each quarter and, like PP said, AP exams.

+1 My kid has so many tests in HS it is ridiculous.

Mine has several weekly tests that count for the majority of the grade and only a few questions so if you get one wrong you fail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't that what AP Exams are for?

Yes, exactly. The final is silly and redundant. It also isn't analogous to a final in college since it will span a class that runs from August to June.

? You know not every kid who goes to college takes AP classes/exams, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't that what AP Exams are for?

Yes, exactly. The final is silly and redundant. It also isn't analogous to a final in college since it will span a class that runs from August to June.

? You know not every kid who goes to college takes AP classes/exams, right?

I know and it will all be fine. Nobody needs half-bakend finals.

[Anonymous]

I hope not as my sophomore works his butt off for his grades but has severe anxiety that can cause him to freeze up when he considers a test high-stakes. This just happened in an AP class where he was crushing it all quarter. He had a high A going in to the last few days of the quarter and had been an active participant in class. He bombed the last test and it was enough that the one test dropped him to a B for the quarter. I reassured him that the grade didn’t matter but he was so disappointed that all his hard work was undone in 45 minutes. He really knew the info too. I suspect he would be pretty negatively affected across the board if finals returned in every class as he would see them as make or break. Fwiw, my college kids who had no finals had zero issue adjusting to college mid-terms and finals. They have more time to study.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I heard that MCPS is considering bringing back final exams so that students are better prepared for college. My oldest liked not having finals but now says that it would have helped in college. Wondering if it might be starting at some of the high schools?

I heard this is just a rumor and isn't really true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back when final exams were instilled in mcps curriculum the teachers actually made an effort and taught class, nowadays that is sorely lacking and to have final exams would be disastrous.

Back then, the world and MCPS were different in many fundamental ways that have shaped what and how teachers teach.

For my subject area, the curriculum has shifted away from direct instruction entirely. It’s all inquiry-based learning. A teacher who stands at the front of the room to lecture or demonstrate would certainly be chastised by their department head. If they persisted, they would be placed on review. Students don’t practice with multiple choice anymore, unless they are enrolled in test prep.

The assessments in our curriculum are all writing. Adding a final wouldn’t be as simple as plopping in a 50 item multiple choice exam at the end of semesters. Students would likely be asked to write written responses to multiple prompts. In all fairness, students would need more than one hour to complete this. And teachers would need more than the current one day at the end of the marking period to grade. When my curriculum had finals before there were 30 multiple choice questions on a bubble sheet and one twenty point, single paragraph “BCR”.

If we go back 20 years or more, final exams were created by the teacher and differed widely from school to school. That was unfair. Then the county created final exams that were the same across the county. Part of the problem was that the BCR questions would spread from school to school as day 1 students would tell others what was on the exam. That was also not good. Eventually the county began publishing the BCRs in advance so that students could practice before the exam. Students with tutors would work out the perfect answer while students without tutors would suffer. Again, not equitable.

I would prefer multiple choice created by the county and then BCRs created by the individual teacher to focus more precisely on the items they emphasized the most. I don't think we should do this across the board. It might not be a positive, fair, appropriate experience in some subjects. I do think it is important in math where students need to focus on long term learning rather than the cram a few minutes before the test followed by a frenzy to answer questions before they forget how to do that kind of problem. As it is, many of our students are struggling in math because they do not have a solid foundation on the earlier concepts. Letting them move on without support to improve is setting them up for failure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We recently moved from Whitman. Our kids now have exams at the end of each semester (Dec / April) and the ones in April serve mainly as practice exams for any APs that will take place in May. It's helpful.

Where are you that the semesters end in Dec and April? Not doubting you. Just curious.

[Anonymous]

I think they should have optional finals with a C or better being required to earn the Honors designation for a course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We recently moved from Whitman. Our kids now have exams at the end of each semester (Dec / April) and the ones in April serve mainly as practice exams for any APs that will take place in May. It's helpful.

Where are you that the semesters end in Dec and April? Not doubting you. Just curious.

Southern California

[Anonymous]

Will students be able to retake these final exams like other tests until they get a grade they like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will students be able to retake these final exams like other tests until they get a grade they like?

No but I heard you will get an automatic 75% for just turning in the exam.