Final Thoughts

final (n) - An ugly thing college and high school students must deal with at the end of a semester/quarter/trimester. Very unpleasant to deal with. When dealing with a "final," one usually drinks excess amounts of coffee and sleeps very little. As defined by Urban Dictionary.

As we approach the end of another school year and enter the season of final exams, I want to throw some things out for consideration:

• Are our students taking tests that allow them to demonstrate what they know or tests that measure what they don't know?


• Are our students taking tests that best assess what has been taught and what they have learned or tests that are most convenient for our teachers to grade?


• Are our students taking tests that are longer and more rigorous than the AP exams they took less than a few weeks ago?


• Are our students taking two-hour-long tests only because administration requires students to remain in the testing location for two hours?


• Are our students taking tests that have been reviewed by other teachers or administrators or tests that have never been reviewed?


• Are our students taking tests that have been used every year for the past twenty years or tests that have been evaluated and re-evaluated regularly?

Just a few final thoughts...