What's more essential than midterms?

Twelve percent of your grade hangs in the balance. Slowly, it begins to tip over the edge of an extended cliff. 

This, ladies and gentlemen, is an accurate representation of finals week -  too much content in too little time. However, with the safety of a rope, midterms could be our saving grace from doom.  

Many students desperately hang on to the hope that this measly twelve percent at the end of the year might push their grade up just enough from an A- to an A. 

Yet, there is no meaningful reason that the end of the school year must be marked by students desperately trying to cram knowledge from September into their evolved June brains. 

Beyond the disparity between what students are able to recall from the beginning of the year, having a dedicated midterms week would be a valuable addition to the high school’s calendar because of the plethora of classes that already offer midterms. 

In the week following December break, Advanced Placement United States History students sit down to take a midterm in the span of a single hour. 

During the first week of February, Honors Biology students take a 100 point midyear exam consisting of forty multiple choice questions and one to two open response questions. This exam accounts for a third of their ‘final’ grade. 

These teachers have the right idea, separating the year’s information into two sections requires students to make sure they can account for everything they’ve learned while ensuring that the studying done in May and June for finals is on relevant material.

 Yet, taking these large tests in a short span of time rather than being given the time and space of a dedicated week for midterms is negligent towards our student body. 

According to the United States Department of Education, the value of midterms is backed by the “testing phenomenon,” an idea that students recalling learned material through testing is more effective to long-term memory and learning than re-exposure ( ‘cram’ studying) or attempting to recall information from months prior. 

The high school had midyears going as far into the early 2000s as 2005 and 2006  but the overwhelming majority of the student body and faculty when polled advocated against midterms week. 

The structure of their midterms was incredibly different to how we deliver finals today. For example, every student would simultaneously take an English midyear and then a math midyear as opposed to the color block schedule the high school follows now. 

This begs the question: could we adapt midyears to be more similar to our finals week?

My vote is irrevocably yes. The week preceding December break or the week marking the end of semester one could be much improved by our 8:30 to 1:30 days and a dedicated two hour block for each of our classes to mark an end to material from the beginning of the year. 

A big concern when midyears were first phased out was finding a natural end point for each individual course’s content.

Every class struggles to find a place to stop, but while honors biology teachers have simply decided to leave quiz time for photosynthesis and cellular respiration to be on or after the final, chemistry teachers will just have multiple tests in the span of a few weeks.  

The National Institute of Health claims that students scored significantly higher on midterms and subsequently finals than times when finals were the only opportunity to show student growth over the year.

The results could be staggering for student success. 

When our midterms week is done, we’ll all be able to take a deep breath and come back to school reinvigorated and ready for a new semester. 

Without a doubt finals will always be a stressful time, but the benefits of reducing this anxiety by shortening the breadth of information students claim responsibility for is not only essential but absolutely necessary to student welfare as a whole.