NC TESTING DATES BEGIN EARLIER
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction has changed the rules regarding end-of-course testing dates to allow year-long classes to hold their final exams within 15 days of the end of the year.
Additionally, semester-long class exams can occur within 10 days of the last day. The extra five days for testing has caused exam dates to move forward for students.
According to Assistant Principal Lindsay Rice, one of the reasons that Roberson decided to hold exams earlier in the designated time is to accommodate for online tests.
“This is the first year that all final exams will be administered on computers, which is both good and bad. I think students like online testing better and they›re more comfortable with it, but we only have a certain number of computers. Earlier testing days will allow us to spread out testing better so all students can be on computers to test than we would have been able to do if we only had 10 days,” Rice said.
Students and teachers have mixed feelings about the time after exams are over, as the common misconception is that students do not do anything. Rice says that learning still occurs.
“There are still projects, still research and opportunities to learn about things that are in the curriculum but that teacher›s don›t have much time to go into detail with during the year, so there are still lots of things that can be learned,” Rice said.
Freshman academy science teacher Christopher Smith is happy that exams are being held earlier, regardless of the added stress on students.
“I’m just ready to get them over with, and I think the students are as ready as they will be. After testing ends, we’re going to do some more fun stuff, and go deeper into parts of the curriculum that we had to skim over before. I’m hoping to do lots of experiments, projects, and blow stuff up,” Smith said.
AP exams ended on May 14, leaving them with over a month before the end of the year. To fill the time, classes are doing projects such as the AP World History food projects, AP Calculus and Statistic music videos, and senior project presentations in AP English.
Sophomore Theo Frater is glad to be done with his AP World History exam.
“I’m really excited to do our food project. Our group is doing Turkey, which should be interesting to learn about. It’s really nice not to have a ton of work for that class anymore--now I can focus more on my other classes that have exams coming up later,” Frater said.
Freshman Naomi Fisk believes that the time spent after testing is a waste.
“It’s nice that testing is happening earlier, but if we’re not going to do anything, I don’t think we should even go to school, It’s pointless being here,” Fisk said.
Additionally, semester-long class exams can occur within 10 days of the last day. The extra five days for testing has caused exam dates to move forward for students.
According to Assistant Principal Lindsay Rice, one of the reasons that Roberson decided to hold exams earlier in the designated time is to accommodate for online tests.
“This is the first year that all final exams will be administered on computers, which is both good and bad. I think students like online testing better and they›re more comfortable with it, but we only have a certain number of computers. Earlier testing days will allow us to spread out testing better so all students can be on computers to test than we would have been able to do if we only had 10 days,” Rice said.
Students and teachers have mixed feelings about the time after exams are over, as the common misconception is that students do not do anything. Rice says that learning still occurs.
“There are still projects, still research and opportunities to learn about things that are in the curriculum but that teacher›s don›t have much time to go into detail with during the year, so there are still lots of things that can be learned,” Rice said.
Freshman academy science teacher Christopher Smith is happy that exams are being held earlier, regardless of the added stress on students.
“I’m just ready to get them over with, and I think the students are as ready as they will be. After testing ends, we’re going to do some more fun stuff, and go deeper into parts of the curriculum that we had to skim over before. I’m hoping to do lots of experiments, projects, and blow stuff up,” Smith said.
AP exams ended on May 14, leaving them with over a month before the end of the year. To fill the time, classes are doing projects such as the AP World History food projects, AP Calculus and Statistic music videos, and senior project presentations in AP English.
Sophomore Theo Frater is glad to be done with his AP World History exam.
“I’m really excited to do our food project. Our group is doing Turkey, which should be interesting to learn about. It’s really nice not to have a ton of work for that class anymore--now I can focus more on my other classes that have exams coming up later,” Frater said.
Freshman Naomi Fisk believes that the time spent after testing is a waste.
“It’s nice that testing is happening earlier, but if we’re not going to do anything, I don’t think we should even go to school, It’s pointless being here,” Fisk said.