Rid Of Midterics

When Loudoun County declared midterms and finals optional for all their schools, teachers and parents were skeptical about their students and children not taking the two crucial tests that usually cover everything they’ve learned throughout the school year. However, there are several reasons why getting rid of midterms and finals are actually a beneficial thing. According to NBC News, students and teens are now as stressed, if not more, as adults. Their survey reports that 30 percent of teens nowadays feel sad or even depressed due to stress from school and life. Teens and students are now pressured more than ever, especially when you add in two big tests that account for 20 percent of their grade in each class. A study done in the late 2000’s show that regular children and teens now have a higher stress and anxiety level than adolescent psychiatric patients recorded in the 50’s. There are several stressors that could lead to high anxiety levels, including divorce, home problems, friends, social situations, college, and school. The director of high school education, Nereida Gonzales-Sales says the county wants to let their students have the modern skills they need to be able to enter the 21st century workforce, and that midterms and finals may not be that beneficial when it comes to that.
Midterms and finals also take precious time away from the educators in the school system.
Most teachers take several weeks out to go over the information on the tests, which decrease time to do other things, like projects or learning new material. Now, several organizations require schools to be more integrated with technology and have more project-based grades to obtain certain credentials. Midterms and finals take away precious time to teach students about technology and programs they may not use every day, like Excel. The tests also take away time to assign projects, and instead teachers and instructors must use that time to help prepare their students for two exams that could potentially save or sink their grade. There are several better and time efficient ways to grade students on what they have learned over the year that doesn’t have the amount of stress attached to it like the midterm and final exams. Game-based assessing, like ones that are created by Stanford’s AAA lab and other companies offer higher thinking and logical testing, among other things that regular standardized tests don’t examine. They can also be more stimulating and familiar to teens and students that have grown up in the middle of the digital
age. Now schools throughout the nation are slowly realizing the effect that large, high-stakes testing has on students across the country, and are starting to make a change. As they start to end midterms and finals, students everywhere are ecstatic to hear the news. Without these two tests hanging over their heads for the school year, they can now focus on more things, like extracurricular activities, projects, and sports.