Evan Minniti staff writer
During the month of November, students will not have to take tests from the science and English departments on Fridays.
The reasoning behind this decision is that students can sometimes take four or more tests in one day. If tests are spread across the week more evenly, supporters reason that students can better prepare for them and not have as much stress.
“When we department chairs were looking up the test calenders, which we encourage all students to fill out because it tells us how the testing is, we see that Friday is becoming overwhelming for a lot of subjects,” History Department Chair Dan Moroaica said. “At Department Chair meetings…[we decided that] we should try to take turns for certain subjects of not giving tests on certain Fridays. Fridays seem to be a horrible day for students. The deal was that for November, English and science classes would try to refrain from giving any major tests or assessments on Fridays.”
English teacher Samantha Miller concurred with what Moroaica said.
“[Test reductions help students] not have the pressure of tests on Friday in all classes. And it does happen where a student has four tests or five tests in a single day. So this will eliminate stress,” Miller said. “They are switching [test reductions] between departments. Certain departments aren’t supposed to give tests on Fridays during a specific month.”
Miller supports the decision reached by the department chairs, believing it will alleviate stress for students.
“In my mind, I don’t think Fridays should be a day that is dreaded. I think that depending on how you are teaching something you don’t need to have a test only be on a Friday…I don’t like giving tests on Fridays unless it is really necessary,” Miller explained.
So far, Moroaica thinks that the plan seems to be a success and there is planning for it to be repeated in January.
“For this first Friday of November, it seemed to work really well! Students didn’t have more than two or three tests, whereas on previous Fridays they had four or five tests. So it is a step in the right direction. In December, we are talking of which subjects may or may not do [test reductions] because it is a shorter month and with finals. But in January, we are definitely going back to it… It seems to have had an approvement,” Moroaica said.
Moroaica does realize that not all teachers support it and that there might be some resistance to the decision. However, he remains optimistic about the future.
“I think in general, teachers don’t always like to be micro-managed. People like autonomy in their classrooms and I completely understand that,” Moroaica said. “So, even my department there is not complete unanimous support. But, I think in the end, as long as teachers realize that what we are doing is in the students’ best interests, they tend to go along with it. There may be some bumps along the road, but as long as we remember that this is for the students, things will get fixed.”