Let me preface this by saying I understand that midterms are a part of being a student, and of course we will most likely continue to have them. But I do think they need real improvement. I’ve gone through two years of midterms in the KO Upper School, and neither was a particularly fun experience. This year, however, was by far the worst.
Personally, these midterms felt rushed and chaotic. It could have been due to a mix of reasons, but it seemed like the main factor was that many classes were giving out assessments the week before midterms. Despite the week before midterms being reserved for English assessments only, a number of teachers continued to give out tests regardless of that rule. It felt like we had two weeks of midterms, which, as you can imagine, is stressful and in no way productive.
While studying for a unit test on material that isn’t going to be on your midterm, you also have to figure out how to study three months’ worth of material in that same time frame. There is a reason why the week leading up to midterms is supposed to be for English assessments only (so you can focus solely on that), and if teachers refuse to follow this policy, is that really fair to students? I would say that it isn’t, not only because it takes away from time spent preparing for midterms, but also because we essentially end up with back-to-back exam weeks. In order for a midterm week to be less stressful for students, this policy needs to be upheld, not broken by multiple teachers.
The first email I received about midterms was on Nov. 18, and the first day that midterms began (including English) was Dec. 6. Allow me to do the math for you: that is 18 days or three weeks. It was official that midterms were being held for only three weeks. That first email wasn’t even sent directly to students; rather, it was published in the Wyvern Weekly. The first direct communication the student body received wasn’t until Nov. 30. The first announcement about midterms at an assembly was on Dec. 9. By that point, many English classes had already held their assessments prior to the midterm week, and this was the first time anything had been announced at assembly. This cements the fact that communication about exams was severely lacking.
While it may have been naive, I know that it was the assumption of many students that we weren’t going to have midterms. As we didn’t have midterms last year, we thought that would still be the case. Although those three weeks I mentioned before may have sounded like a lot, with the question of if midterms would be held, it was not an adequate amount of time. Granted, you could say that it is partially the students’ fault for assuming we weren’t having them, but with no clear communication from teachers or administration, I think it was a fair assumption to make.
Is there a way to make midterms better, or should we simply get rid of them? I could make the argument for KO completely scrapping midterms altogether, but I know the chances of that actually happening are slim. Because it is more than likely that KO will continue to have midterms, there are two areas that need to be improved. KO must hold teachers accountable for following the rules put into place around giving assessments before exams. It is ridiculous that teachers blatantly disregard policies designed to make midterms fair for students. Communication between students and teachers also needs to be improved. It is unreasonable and unfair for students to be virtually in the dark about whether or not these important exams are being held.
