Here's another reason not to give them out - it may cause teachers to give a higher grade than deserved so they don't have to write an exam. I went to a high school where a final grade of B+ or better exempted you from the final. That B+ my AP French teacher gave me was a total gift. I was by far the worst student in the course. (And I did not take the AP unlike all my other fellow students.) The only reason I don't feel guilty about it is that I went on to spend a year in France and learned French fluently the next year.
