Junior Brian Bartley focused full attention to his Economics final exam. Bartley relies on his good memory skills to pass classroom tests.
This week begins the dreaded final exams Loy Norrix Norrix students are forced to ready themselves three times each year of high school for final exams. With the trimester based system, students must prepare for five exams and also keep their grades up at all times due to the short twelve week class schedule.
Loy Norrix senior Austin Lee has a firm position when it comes to taking exams, like many others, he hates them.
“If we come to a certain number of school days we shouldn’t have to take a final exam like some of the other schools,” continued Lee, “it is pointless and typically will drop your grade.”
Many schools all over Michigan in fact, schools such as Plainwell and Oxford High Schools along with many Grand Rapids schools do not force students to take the final exam if they have less than three unexcused absences.
Junior Peter Kettner believes that if students attend class and average above a B- in the class, the student should not be forced to take the exam because it can hurt their grade more than it can help it.
Students begin to worry more and more come exam time of the trimester. There is a way students are able to figure out what they are able to end up with in the class based off a simple math formula. The formula to give you an idea what your class grade will result in is, your average in the class before the exam multiplied by .80 then add the score predicted on the final exam multiplied by .20 and you get a product of your estimated class grade.
Teachers are another group that is forced to worry when it comes to final exams week. When students start the class in the beginning of the trimester they are forced to take a pre-test. A pre-test is a test very similar or exactly the same as the final exam. Teachers are now evaluated if the students show growth from the pretest to the final exam. These exams let teachers know how well students understand the material.
Math teacher Adam Hosler said, “Final exams let the teachers know how well a student understood the course.”
Loy Norrix students not only have the questions on exams to worry about, although, more of the worry is the 20 percent weight put on the exam. This means that twenty percent of your overall grade is based off one test. Students on the border of receiving a passing or failing grade on their overall average in class, are the ones who support final exams. The exam gives them one last opportunity to get an overall grade in the class and receive credit.
