As we near May 28, the last day of school, teachers are considering whether or not they should administer final exams this year and how they might conduct them. Not only our Aragon teachers, but also the San Mateo Union High School District (SMUHSD) and schools around the world are preparing for how everyone will return to schools after this semester.
“I think teachers are struggling with [testing]. That’s probably why they’re changing the assignments to be planned another way,” said SMUHSD Superintendent Kevin Skelly. “It’s very unlikely that teachers are giving very many tests and that’s another reason why we have a credit/no credit system.”
Amongst students, there was controversy around this system as some thought it would decrease student motivation to participate and affect the impact of their GPAs. However, it was the teachers’ decision to make and according to the teacher’s union, 80% of teachers voted to implement a credit/no credit policy.
“It’s not about the grade anymore. It’s about learning and [tests are] a good opportunity to see if you’re learning the material,” said math department head Adam Jacobs.“It’s not about right now, but about being successful next year and the year after … and taking pride in the learning process.”
The decision to switch to credit/no credit took the pressure of achieving letter grades off of students, but it also may have relieved pressure on teachers to learn how to make and grade exams and projects online.
“I think the teachers just didn’t feel like it was fair and that they weren’t prepared to give grades at this time or that they didn’t have the training that they wanted,” Skelly said. “[Teachers wanted] experience using tools, instruction, and assurances that kids could take advantage of the situation.”
““I think the teachers just didn’t feel like it was fair and that they weren’t prepared to give grades at this time or that they didn’t have the training that they wanted”
During school closures, teachers have had to quickly learn how to relay information and monitor assignments through Canvas. It might even be necessary to find new tools and platforms to teach on. Several math teachers have been using Canvas quizzes, Kutaworks, Khanacademy and Quizizz to see what their students have learned.
“The pros are that I’m still able to assess what students are learning and students are able to get feedback on how they’re doing. The cons are that there’s an opportunity for academic dishonesty, so I can’t control whether they’re going online for answers, but I think that most students have academic integrity,” Jacobs said. “Especially with the situation with grades, it being pass/no pass, I feel like students can learn the material just to learn the material.”
“With the situation with grades … being pass/no pass, I feel like students can learn the material just to learn the material.”
Other teachers are also assigning small tests, but they don’t have the effect normal, in-class tests would have.
“The few assignments put in the exam category, I don’t think they’ll drastically change students’ grades because we’re moving to a credit/no credit system,” said AP and Honors Spanish teacher Benjamin Ho. “I think most, if not all of my students will eventually get credit for this semester’s work.”
Tests might not have the same power to change grades as before because teachers must keep students’ grades at a certain level and they are not able to produce tests as easily. The tests also would have different outcomes than if school was in session, so they’re still attempting to find a method to produce an accurate evaluation and an accurate grade.
“I can’t control how [students are] taking [the test] or whether they’re getting help. When we are in a classroom, I can control that environment,” Jacobs said. “I can’t make it a huge part of their grades because some students might have a family member helping them out or another student might have nobody helping them out.”
With this in mind, Aragon’s math department has decided not to conduct finals but would rather use their last unit tests as their final tests. This trade-off also goes for Advanced Placement (AP) classes as teachers plan for students to take the AP test instead of a final. Nonetheless, other classes may still conduct traditional finals or an unconventional final project.
“For the final, we’re planning on having students plan a trip to Spain… It’s a good connection to real life because I can see some of my students going to Spain someday,” Ho said. “Senora Salis and I are still in the middle of planning this project but we’re probably going to do something on Google Slides with pictures and text of the details of their itineraries.”
Since the normal finals for Ho’s Spanish classes consisted of a composition, a reading section, a listening section, and a fill-in-the-blank grammar section, they have not had a presentation final. Though the decision on this semester’s finals is a large topic teachers are considering, the SMUHSD and San Mateo Union High School District Teachers Association (SMUHSDTA) must consider the projections for schooling beyond this semester.
“Are we going to have to practice social distancing when we come back in the fall, if we come back in the fall. How will we do grades in the fall? The board has been really clear that they want us to do grades,” Skelly said.
The District did not set regulations on testing for finals, so it is up to teachers to determine whether they would like to test and how, be it an online testing site, a digital presentation or virtually nothing.
