Finals are approaching and many find themselves freaking out at the thought of that big letter grade marked on their report card. All grades but seniors haven’t taken finals in person yet due to the restrictions of Covid. Test-anxiety is raised and the idea that content from the entire year will be on one exam is terrifying. Performance and reviews on this year’s finals will be sure to set standards for future tests. 

Last year’s quality of education was subpar because of the online construction and finals weren’t a point of worry. It was another online test (as all of them were) and the minds of students were so fogged, we’d obliviously click away at answers. Finals during online school either terribly portrayed academic retention of knowledge that year or were extremely accurate at depicting the fact no one learned anything.  

Now that we’re in person and rigor has dramatically increased, exams are becoming a pressing concern. A positive of the 2021-2022 school year was the block schedule and how classes were divided into semesters. This made it easier to remember information and overall perform better on finals because the curriculum were more compact. However, we now run on and A/B-day schedule, so students must try harder to memorize lessons and keep their knowledge fresh.  

“Finals: A failed attempt at measuring student success” written by Sabrina Wolfson of Tower publications, cited a 2015 survey that tested college students on how much information could be remembered two weeks after being tested. It was recorded that the students forgot more than 90% of the information after those two weeks. 

 Teachers should incorporate the skills of application rather than ineffective remembrance of information in upcoming school plans. Many students blindly memorize topics in order to get a good grade on a test, but never grasp a deep understanding. A change in schedule is also to be discussed because of its dramatic influence on a student’s success on finals. 

Some teachers have already discussed more forgiving grading by making exams only multiple choice, and it’s greatly appreciated by the student body. A completely new concept, in-person finals are anxiety-inducing evaluations and academic tolerance from teachers is something that should be considered too.