One of the elements that makes Dee-Mack High School different from other schools around us is that, for the last several years, we did not do finals at the end of the school year. This year, however (and presumably in the years to come), we are switching our system up yet again, and bringing back finals week in a new form. Our principal Mr. Holmgren explored the details of the new look to help students understand.
The idea behind bringing back end-of-the-year assessments was primarily related to the disorganization at the end of the year. Mr. Holmgren elaborated further on this matter, explaining, “Most of the classes had ended with some type of summative exam or assessment around that time, but it was kind of loose, and very open, so it just didn’t close out the semester in an organized way.” The solution to this problem is not necessarily in the form of long state-testing style academic assessments, but rather just some sort of final piece of work submitted at the very end of the year. This fact means that the usage of the term “finals” does not apply as we commonly see it. Our finals by this new system are not necessarily exams or tests like we would usually associate the word with.
Mr. Holmgren discussed the form of these new finals, stating that “the academic assessment won’t be any different in most classes than what it was. It’s just structured so it’s over those three days.” This calls to the stand the actual schedule structure of the final days. On the last three days of the school year, there will be altered schedules that essentially split the usual 8-period schedule in two. On the first day, your first four classes will take up the day, as you work through your final assessments or projects. Then, on the second day, it will be the second half of your usual schedule. The third day was described as a “bonus day” for students to either make up assessments that they missed or even possibly move one or two specific classes to so that they can focus purely on those, if it is something that they struggle in more.
The difference between one big test at the end of the year and multiple smaller assessments for each class is something that Mr. Holmgren pointed out. One big test leaves the possibility that a student might not do as well because of an off day and suffer a very large percentage of their grade because of that. Instead, the more “low stakes” system allows for time to recuperate and focus on each individual subject with less pressure. In addition, as pointed out by Mr. Holmgren, it allows us to end out the year with a nice academic mindset before having an excellent summer!