As fourth quarter begins, teachers in Pleasant Valley are preparing students, specifically seniors, for their final exams.
In the Pleasant Valley School District, final exams are only present at the high school level, meaning only grades 9-12 are required to take finals. Every course taken for academic credit at the high school is required to have a final, whether it is a test or a project.
Mike Zimmer, the principal of PV high school, believes all courses at the high school should be held to the same standard. “We do not consider any class to be less worthy than others. Finals are to reflect what the student has learned throughout the semester in that class,” he said.
This current year’s finals for grades 9-11 take place on the days of June 5, 6, and 7. However, the seniors do not take the exams on those days. Instead, they are taking the exams two weeks earlier than everyone else, on the days of May 20 and 21. This means the seniors are missing two weeks of materials being taught to other students of lower grade levels.
This massive time gap between the seniors’ finals and regular finals are due to the final set date of graduation, May 26. This brings up the following question: why are the seniors being required to take the finals exams if they are missing two weeks worth of material? Considering these factors, students “A’s” in a class should not be required to take the final exam for that class.
Zimmer elaborated on why all students are required to take final exams. “The reason behind hosting final exams is so our students here at Pleasant Valley are well prepared for college,” he said.
Despite this compelling argument, seniors have less preparation due to time lost during the snow days. However, for the students who have A’s in a class, finals do not drastically affect their grade for that class.
For an example, if a student has an 95% in the class with the final being 12% of the their grade, they would have to at least get a 66.53% on the final in order to maintain an “A” in the course. The student could get a “D” on the final exam, and still end the year with an “A”.
