the stentorian [ ncssm
features
february 2002 ■ 5
Questioning the Testing Policy
Continued from
the Front Page
No limit is placed on major
labs, papers, or investigations,
and though the current guide
lines also call for all tests, major
projects and quizzes to be regis
tered and scheduled, many
teachers do not update regular
ly-
The Testing Policy
Committee then wrote a pro
posal. The proposal was not an
end in itself, but rather, “[It] was
created to create discussion and
generate interest among stu
dents, faculty, and administra
tion. It consisted of a very basic
format that also included exam
ples of possible resolutions and
examples of major assign
ments,” Alex said.
The proposal’s goals were
“to provide each student with
the opportunity to exhibit mas
tery of the subject material,
allow students to utilize time
management skills, [and to]
reduce stress and increase sleep
to heighten attentiveness and
participation in class.”
Through a series of brain
storming sessions and informal
talks with the
student body,
the commit
tee made
several rec-
ommenda-
t i o n s .
Among them
were the less
plausible
suggestions
of limiting tests to four per week
and a limit of three in the last
week of the quarter, when most
projects are due. More realistic
was requiring more projects, as
well as all tests, to be scheduled
on the At-A-Glance page. The
proposal also made it clear that
the student, not the teacher, must
take the initiative and deal with
problems in advance if they
arise.
With a set of potential solu
tions in hand, the Testing Policy
Committee attempted to present
their ideas to the administra
tion’s Curriculum Standards and
Assessment Task Force, but
“they were not ready for student
involvement,” according to
committee member Katherine
Chen (’02). Instead, the Testing
Policy Committee turned to
Faculty Council, and President
Joe Liles graciously put the
Committee on the Faculty
Council’s agenda for an early
January meeting.
After the initial presenta
tion of the proposal, a discus
sion followed. The discussion
To Allison Mejer:
hot mama. Thanks for
being a friend this past year.
You are a wonderful RJLA and
I know you will do well in the
future.
Toyin O.
When I got home,
I slept for 16
hours straight.
Juniors, you
have no idea../'
was centered on a number of
points including the student’s
responsibility in keeping up
with work, the possibility of
scheduling certain periods or
certain days for testing in one
subject area, the importance of
considering time-consuming
items other than tests, and light
ening homework in periods
where it seemed many students
had tests and projects. Mr. Liles
said, however, “that testing is
necessary at our school
[because] testing lets students
know where they are in a
course,” and the unofficial min
utes of the meeting noted that
tests bunching up in groups
“was a necessary consequence
of having'2-3 tests per quarter,
and that they cover at least 2-3
weeks’ worth of material. The
[Committee members] imder-
stood the dilemma.” According
to all involved, the dialogue
was, in the words of Mr.
Bullard, “beneficial, and at the
very least it makes the faculty,
aware of student concerns.”
Also discussed were the
advantages to a few tests per
quarter that weighed heavily on
quarter grades, or many tests
and smaller
grades. An
excellent
example of
this
dichotomy
is the dif-
f e r e n c e
between
Physics
with Topics
and Advanced Biology.
Dr. Bermett sees many
advantages in the Physics sys
tem. He said, “tests serve a use
ful purpose by requiring stu
dents to review a fairly large
body of material and see con
nections, [an] advantage [that]
is lost if teachers only give
quizzes on smaller bodies of
material, [and] learning to study
for [multi-chapter, multi-topic]
tests in high school will help
students once they are in col
lege.” On the other hand, a bad
day along with a test that counts
40% can damage a quarter
grade harshly, but Dr. Bennett
points out, “the rest of the grade
goes for things like homework,
labs and class commitment,
which are based on work that
students do every day/week,
and this reflect overall perform
ance, not just performance on
one assessment” Also, test cor
rections allow students to
recover some points lost on a
bombed test
Mrs. Brinson takes the
opposite approach in Advanced
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A senior’s assignments schedule for the week of October 24 - November 4, 2001.
Biology. There, students have a
test almost every Friday, as well
as a lab during their lab period.
The other class time is used to
discuss the reading done out
side of class for comprehension.
Mrs. Brinson said this method
gave the class “structure,” and
though tests count for two-
thirds> of the quarter grade,
screwing up on one individual
test would not kill one’s grade
because there are six more.
Furthermore, students may take
a pass twice a quarter and
reschedule their exam if that
Friday is particularly bad for
them. However, even routine
stress is still stress, and seven
tests are nothing to sneeze at.
On this issue. Josh Michener
(’02) said, “It is nice to be able
to mess up on a single test, and
not have it count very much, but
it can be tiring to begin studying
for the next test almost as soon
as you get the earlier one back.”
The Faculty Council mem
bers present at the meeting
reached a consensus on a few of
the issues. Mrs. Skidmore said
one issue was, “the need for
keeping up with
assignments and
homework and
for regularly
reviewing in
order to master
material being
covered. That
does then allevi
ate massive
amounts of new learning before a
test which seems to create a need
for staying up all night to feel
prepared.” According to Steven,
“The teachers have agreed to
come up with ways in order not
to make students too stressed,”
To Ashley Alexander and
Whitney Norris,
You two are awesome!
Keep on cheerleodinl
Thanks for being great friends
Happy Valentine's Day
-Emery
such as using less weighted, less
stressful, but more Sequent, reg
ular quizzes! The goal would be,
according to Mr. Bullard, “that
studying for a test should be little
more than a review of material,
taking an hour or so.” In this
way, the stress of individual tests
will decrease.
Also, the Faculty Council
made no resolutions but
“agreed upon that all tests and
major assignments should be
posted on-line using ‘OIC’ or
posting directly using the on
line form,” said the unofficial
minutes. Those present agreed
to encourage their colleagues,
even those who are flexible
with their assignment dates and
thus avoid the At-A-Glance log,
to schedule their tests and
assignments so other teachers
can tell at what times other
teachers have scheduled their
tests, and avoid bunching up.
After the Faculty Council
meeting, having gathered
teacher input, the Testing Policy
Committee was able to present
their work to the junior class at
a Monday Meeting. There,
fact that the majority of the stu>
dents thought [their teachers] were
not properly using the testing polky
procedure raised a lot of eyebrows,
especially for the administration/^
procedure raised a lot of eye
brows, especially for the admin
istration,” said Alex. The
Testing Policy Committee
noted many of the suggestions
raised by the junior class at that
meeting.
The Testing Policy
Committee is currently evaluat
ing the feedback it received
fi-om the meetings with the
Faculty Council and junior
class. In addition, the idea of a
“Student Initiative Council,”
integrating and overseeing com
mittees such as Testing Policy
and Senior Exemption Exams,
has been generated. According
to the President, “The student
initiative council seems like a
very possible, but difficult
option that I want to put a lot of
my effort into. I see a perma
nent council as the best way to
ensure the continuation of our
student initiative that we have
started this year.” Soon the
Testing Policy Committee,
regardless of affiliation with the
Student Initiative Council, will
begin to add more junior mem
bers who will run the committee
next year, and will
then prepare for a
longer-term solution
to multiple tests.
For now, we’ll
all be a little more
aware of tests and
projects, but stress
will still be our way
of life.
“[the Testing Policy Committee
was] drastically supported by
the students in our efforts to
look at this issue even further.
The fact that the majority of the
students thought they were not
properly using the testing policy
Uo Carfefa,
Jfappy Uafeali'ae 's Day.
your Sacral C£fmirar
Got suggestions for the Testing
Policy Committee you want to see
in print, or want to comment on
this article? Write a letter to the
editor and see your words in the
next issue!
Kervi/n/,
Yo-u/'re' tJvc Ire^yt a/rvd/ I
Verve/ yervu o/Vwayy.
Ke/m/e/mkre/r: Serchyl
(He/ He/ He/)
3retta/rvy