Editor’s Note: The following views are those of the writer and do not reflect the opinions of Bethesda Beat staff.
As a Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) alumna, a parent of two children enrolled in an MCPS elementary school and a 15-year veteran MCPS English teacher, I feel I have earned the right to speak up against the Board of Education's short-sighted, hypocritical and dictatorial decision to abolish final exams from our high schools. This hasty decree, issued without comprehensively polling teachers, parents, college professors or former graduates, is just the latest move in the board's recent abuse of power. (Case in point: the ridiculously quick and undemocratic decision to get rid of a young, energetic, bright superintendent before giving him time to make a difference.) I know I speak on behalf of many colleagues when I say that this policy change, combined with a new, blatantly inflationary grading system, disrespects our profession and shamelessly panders to a minority of vocal parents who were complaining about the number of tests students are forced to take.
While most public school teachers would likely agree that students are forced to take too many state and national standardized tests that fail to adequately measure their mastery of curriculum or provide parents with meaningful feedback on their children’s academic progress, it is bitterly ironic that the board has chosen to take away the one set of tests that do indeed measure students' mastery of curriculum and provide parents with an understanding of their children’s development in academic subjects. In recent years, we have been hearing from local colleges about our students’ lack of preparation and need for remediation. How will this do anything but compound that issue?
Since I started teaching in the county in 2000, a frequently deployed buzz word has been “rigor.” The county has rightly prioritized challenging all of our students, whether college or career bound. Yet Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate students will no longer have the opportunity to simulate the actual experience of taking their AP and IB exams by sitting for a two-hour exam. Instead, they will practice for their exam over multiple days in class. This is a loss for them, and, if MCPS had taken the time to poll recent MCPS graduates who are in college, they would undoubtedly have shared that taking final exams prepared them to take AP and IB exams, followed by final exams in college.
Furthermore, the final exams are being replaced by a one-size-fits-all marking period assessment that will be given to on-level, honors and pre-IB students. We already give exams like these. They were called "formatives," then "mid-semester assessments." They are extremely challenging for on-level students, just right for honors and too easy for pre-IB. How is this rigorous? To me, it is a hypocritical lack of differentiation in a county that prides itself on meeting the needs of all of its students.
The current and long-standing grading system that combines students' grades for two marking periods with their final exam grades to determine the semester grades (which are sent to colleges) makes sense. It takes into account students’ growth in a class, rewarding them for upward trends between marking periods and for performing well on their final exams.
The outrageous new system starting in the 2016-2017 school year (which allows a student to receive an A in the first marking period and a D in the second for a final semester grade of a B) was roundly rejected by the majority of teachers when we were sent a survey on which option we wanted. Not only were we not seriously consulted on the decision of whether to get rid of the exams; we were ignored on which new grading system would be put into place afterwards. Clearly, decisions had already been made and the surveys were just a formality.
The removal of final exams in high school also negatively impacts teachers. We use final exam week to grade end-of-the-quarter papers and final exams, collaborate with colleagues on scoring exams and analyzing data, plan for the next semester, pack up the materials in our rooms and even act like other professionals who have the freedom to go out to lunch with colleagues. Removing this small amount of needed work time and freedom will only increase teacher burnout.
While teachers of courses that formerly had a final exam will still be expected to give an end-of-the-semester assessment worth 10 percent of students' final marking period grade, our time to grade it has been taken away. Furthermore, although the abolishment of final exams is intended to add instructional time for students, our colleagues in elementary and middle schools will attest that the last week of school is typically dedicated to celebrations and reflections on what was learned during the school year.
I am sickened by the board's decision and I speak for many high school teachers. Sadly, we feel voiceless and powerless when we are the ones who are most qualified to make instructional decisions. Our school board members overstepped their authority, undervalued their teachers, reduced rigor and removed a genuinely beneficial academic experience for AP, IB and other college-bound students. I sincerely hope that they realize their mistake and reinstate final exams at the high school level.
