Luke Giordano ’19, Nick Peyton ’19
A senior student at Episcopal wants nothing more than to bound past their final academic formalities and enjoy the warm summer air. However, the refuge of summer vacation is guarded by a heavy hand as second semester exams prove to be an unnecessary pitstop on their road to college. Furthermore, the exams delay the impending summer hiatus and fuel academic anxiety where it need not be. Despite a student consensus opposed to senior exams, the administration retorts that an exam’s ability to cement semester material can serve as useful practice for imminent college exams.
From the senior perspective, as the relief of the finished college process sinks in and the sight of summer is in view, senior exams prove unnecessary and stressful. The stress of senior year is tumultuous, so as a reward, it should be only fitting for seniors to be exempt of the onus of an entire years work in one exam. Furthermore, if the goal of the exam is collegiate preparation, shouldn’t the exam mimic the real thing? As Josie Konopka ’18 points out, “In college you never have to take exams on a full year’s material, only one semester.” Konopka addresses a valid point, one that could be readily implemented in the EA community. A change from full year cumulative exams to simply the final semester could be the change that seniors desire, and one the administration could support.
Unfortunately, despite the students’ natural inclination to advocate for examination exemption, the faculty has a different view on the matter. Charles Bryant, Head of Upper School History Department, analyzed the history of this policy. Some years ago, seniors with a B or higher were able to opt out of final exams. With the progression of upper school heads, however, this perk was removed and the senior project implemented. Bryant advocates for exams, saying “Without exams, kids miss out on learning. People scramble to a B doing point-oriented things.” Bryant touches on a particularly positive aspect of seniors taking their final exams as well as a flaw within the exemption system. While some students may have had a high mark in the class throughout the year, other less motivated students saturated their grade with miscellaneous assignments. While these assignments displayed no knowledge of the material, they did boost a student’s grade past the exemption threshold, robbing a student of the chance to retain the year’s teachings in his or her mind. Cheryl McLauchlan, V Form Dean concurs with Bryant, saying “The more practice you have doing cumulative exams, the better. It’s about learning how to dig deep at the end of a year when you really don’t care about high school.”
The harsh reality of the situation reveals that the reinstatement of this policy is mere speculation. However, with a high student interest, it may be beneficial to reconsider and revive this policy, by possibly increasing the cutoff from a B to a B+ or A-. This change could appeal both to students and faculty. This new system would ensure that students are still working hard and understanding all of the information for the year and would also give the students a little bit of a break at the very end of a stress-filled school year. Ultimately, however, implementing major changes to the existing system remains doubtful in immediate years.