As we look back at the final week of the second semester, there’s one thing every Pentucket student was worried about. Or, as I probably should put it, several things. Midterms. Exams such as these have stressed students across the United States and beyond for as long as testing has been a core part of the education system. However, with the stress these tests cause students, one has to wonder why we take them. Let’s look into why schools see midterms to the degree of importance that they do, why Pentucket brought the tests back, and how our teachers are handling this first year of midterms in a way that you may not expect.
The topic of midterms and their importance is not one that has ever been shied away from. In fact, over 10 years ago an article was published on the Pentucket Profile discussing a petition to keep a creative “Habits of Learning” (HOL) project in Pentucket’s traditions for seniors rather than requiring its replacement with another written test. While the HOL project and its subsidies seem to have been phased out in our modern environment, it goes to show how the validity of midterms has been put into question for years. After all, most people don’t enjoy taking tests. However, from a teacher’s perspective, a midyear exam makes sense. It’s a benchmark, one where students have a chance to demonstrate the knowledge they’ve accrued over the past four and a half months of schooling. It can give teachers data on which topics students have cemented in their minds and what they might need extra help with. It can be a wakeup call to students that have yet to develop the proper study and work habits that they’ll need in college. There are many reasons why a midterm exam could be beneficial for students.
However, is a written exam really the best way to test students’ knowledge? Some signs point to no. A study at the University of Cambridge found that more than 60% of students who took standardized tests such as midterms failed to use their knowledge beyond the ways in which they needed to for the test. It can be inferred based on this data that exams often test memorization rather than understanding, a harmful difference that perfectly aligns with how students study for exams. The main study method that students are encouraged to use by teachers in classes such as science and history is to review notes in order to memorize formulas, methods, and other concepts, many of which are forgotten as soon as the test is over. Many schools in places like the United Kingdom have created solutions to this problem. Some places use multiple projects spread throughout the year to serve as their benchmarks. Others combine numerous different aspects of their schoolwork into a portfolio that colleges and universities can use to gain a better understanding of a student’s capabilities and shortcomings than they ever could with a simple letter grade or percentage on a test.
With all these negatives to be gleaned from midterms, why has Pentucket made a point of bringing them back? As a junior, this is my fifth year at Pentucket Middle High School, and the previous four years have seemed to work just as well without mandatory midterms. According to Mrs. Erhardt, the decision to bring back this “important academic experience for our students” came “after thoughtful discussion with our faculty, who felt it was important for students to gain experience with cumulative testing—a valuable skill for success in high school, college, and beyond.” While, yes, cumulative testing is a staple of college, the inclusion of “high school” and “beyond” in the announcement strikes me as odd, since the importance of cumulative testing in high school only exists because of midterms’ and finals’ reintroduction, and most adults I know aren’t taking midyear exams at their jobs. However, preparing students for college is the primary focus of secondary education, so this is a step in the right direction overall.
Another way that the addition of midterms may not be as nerve-wracking as many originally thought is that there are still many teachers who, in the face of mandated tests, have opted to reclaim agency and work around the limitations. There were seven “midterm blocks” in testing week, but, according to a small survey done among Pentucket students, not one student from any of the four grades had seven traditional exams as their midterms. The highest I found was a sophomore who had tests in five of her seven classes, being English, Chemistry, Algebra II, Spanish IV, and APUSH. The lowest was a senior with only one traditional test in Physics. Some notable examples of non-test midterms are Dr. Ruland’s midterm for his AP Lang students, who are being graded on a rough draft for an Emily Dickinson explication essay; Mrs. Snow’s midterm for her Advanced Acting students, where they are having a mock callback audition and being graded on their performance; and Mr. Sherman and Mr. Dziedziak’s midterm, where students are graded on their National History Day Projects.
Even though the return of midterms and final exams was seen as a tragedy that stressed most who attend Pentucket, the implementation in its first year back has shown how teachers at Pentucket are using the requirements given to them in unique ways. Hopefully, students were able to get through the week, face the challenges ahead of them, and pass their tests, projects, or essays with flying colors!
