jsisser posted on January 14, 2011 10:03
Administrators should reconsider having exams before Christmas break as it creates unnecessary hassle and stress before the holidays.
Until this year, exams have always taken place the last three days of the semester, which typically fell at the end of the first week back from break.
However, in an attempt to get the tests out of the way before the holidays, administrators chose to give exams Dec. 20-22.
It may have been nice to have the stress of testing out of the way over break, but having exams before Christmas only added to the stress of the holidays.
On top of cramming to fit in curriculum before school let out, teachers were faced with the pressure of writing an exam while students had less free time to study.
Christmas break used to be an excellent time to review for the upcoming tests. While the vacation may have been more relaxing without looming exams, grades very well may have suffered due to the lack of time to study.
Even worse, exams were given before the semester was even finished. It is both unfair and unreasonable to administer exams with a full week remaining in the second quarter, which, with just 42 days, was already the shortest of the year.
For many courses, particularly semester classes, this extra week became nothing more than a waste of valuable class time.
It is understandable that administrators wanted to tackle the burden of testing before break, but in the end, moving semester exams created more stress than necessary.