As students prepared for the torturous week of midterms, many choose to adapt to the revised testing schedule or simply take their chances with the shortened exams. The 2014-15 school year is the first time high school mid-terms will not be held in January since the standard practice of midterms began in the late 00’s.
Midterms were during the last full week of December– that is, one per day, each to be completed within the 45-minute class period. This change in events has led to a variety of opinions from a range of freshmen to seniors.
“I don’t mind too much but I worry about not having enough time to complete the test. I’d say [the midterms are] a bit better because I don’t have to worry about the whole day being nothing but midterms. I can still relax during study halls or lunch and not worry about midterms the next period,” said junior Alex Zbozny.
“I think that some teachers are very disrespectful towards Doctor Lockette’s intentions of not assigning any homework. It’s unfair and disrespectful,” said a junior who wished to be anonymous.
Mr. Tuffiash argued that the midterms were made too easy, especially for juniors and seniors. “I’m an 11th grade teacher, and the midterms are {now} modeled after what’s definitively not collegiate. They’re just like a regular test. Midterms are long and challenging in one sitting.”
Many Honors IM2 students, mostly freshmen and some sophomores, were concerned that there was not enough time to complete the test, which had already been shortened to fit into the 45-minute testing period. One student said, “It felt like the test was meant to be taken in the 90-minute session. I was very rushed and did not have much time to carefully take the test.”
Many 9th graders felt the same about the Honors Biology test, where test scores this year have been shocking. Many are used to getting 100 percents on every test.
“For 9th and 10th graders it makes sense to not have such a challenging midterm, to have one more appropriately for their grade level.” said Tuffiash regarding midterm changes throughout the high school.
From our reporting, most freshman felt the midterms were still extremely challenging, despite the overall policy change.
Senior Joe McDonaugh said of the shift to December testing, “I like it because we don’t have that big break to lose the ‘school mindset.’ But I don’t like it because it came up super quick and we weren’t given that much warning about it.”
Sophomore Tyler Boothby thought, ”They weren’t very hard, and they were a good use of time rather than lectures.”
Other local schools such as North Hills, Northgate, even Quaker Valley do not appear to have a scheduled midterm dates similar to Avonworth.