More high schools ditching final exams

zebes
Wed, 30 May 2007 16:10:54 +0000

3k’s … oh, I agree there are projects that are extremely valuable towards mastery of a discipline or learning to integrate a purely abstract academic concept into a real-world application, etc. My son … in his AP Literature class had to team teach a week’s worth of lessons on Death of a Salesman. This was a very intrictate and well-mentored project by the teacher, and his experience with doing this and several other wonderful projects in this class is one of the reasons he’s minoring in English Literature in college. However, before the AP World History exam in May my D was watching movie Hotel Rwanda and answering a bunch of questions on it, only because the AP teacher had to give a project … as per the school policy of every other nine weeks each discipline must have a project instead of a 9 week exam. Even the teacher noted it was busy work, yet made the thing several pages long. Two years ago in her sophomore Algebra I honors class, she had to create a cereal box, complete with drawings and slogans which went with the topic they were studying at the time. Ninety percent of the project was busy work/ 10 percent was actually applied math. However, the grade was based on creativity of slogans … etc. So, when you’re taking six subjects … and in two nine weeks, 4 of those subjects require these ridiculous projects all at the same time at the end of the nine weeks … time consuming, bubble-head stuff … it’s crazy. I just wish the teachers were given the option of choosing either a project appropriate for the class and material or an exam. Do not force projects into classes just because it’s “their turn.” Next year she’ll have 4 AP classes at once. If they’re required to follow the school rule, she’ll be studying in May for 4 AP exams and doing projects in these classes as well. And they’re due before the exams. Aaargh …

Zebes