In an effort to improve test security and provide better opportunities for students, the new schedule for this semester’s final exams will be by subject not period as in past years.
Finals exams will take place on Jan. 15-17 with the first slot of the first day for English exams. Rooms will be assigned previously according to class, but they will be supervised by a teacher from a similar department. For example, a math teacher will be supervising a physics exam.
“The security of the test will be a lot more manageable since the test while be taken by all students at the same time,” assistant principal Kendall Griffin said. “For teachers who are grading exams will have more flexibility on the days that they are not proctoring to grade tests and use that time to help students.”
There have been negative responses toward this new schedule by students and teachers. Teachers want to supervise their own exams, and students want their teachers while taking the exam.
However, this schedule will allow teachers to not only check in on their students while taking the exam, but it will also help their students with their final exams before they take it, Griffens said.
“Teachers will have free time [during the exams that they will not be proctoring]. They can use to help their students outside of the classroom, which otherwise couldn’t do because they’d be proctoring their own exams,” Griffin said. “They will be able to do the pop-ins to check in on [their students] and answer any questions that students may have [with] irregularities with the exam.”
Some students aren’t looking forward to the schedule change.
“I think [the new schedule] is worse that our period schedule, because some kids have two electives of the same subject, so how would that work out?” said junior Savas Savidis.
“I have to say that I don’t really like this change, but I really like the idea of meeting with your teacher when they’re free during the exam days,” senior Eleni Mastorakis said. “I think that will really help out with studying and all.”
The subjects that will be proctored by the teachers who teach it will be fine arts classes and other specific electives. Since a lot of the arts involve a performance (acting, singing, playing at instrument, etc.), those exams have to be supervised by the original directors and teachers.
Another detail that is still being worked on is the students with the special accommodations, like extra time on their exams.
However, the schedule is almost complete and will be set for the first final exams.
The first testing period will start at 8:10 a.m. and the day will end at 2 p.m. There are four sections in the day to take tests. Each period will be an hour and 20 minutes long with 10 minute breaks to get from the one exam to the other.
