One Argument For Why We Need To Banish Mid-terms (& Finals) In K-12 Education
Posted by Aaron Eyler on January 5, 2010
As mid-term time approaches, I can’t help but contemplate the validity and necessity of mid-terms and finals in K-12 education. I understand that we are preparing them for college mid-terms (not quite), but the reality is that we offering them another point to learn to cram ideas into their heads the week (if we’re lucky) or night before a test that covers all of the content from September-January.
Is there any real validity to midterms? I have yet to meet a student that begins studying for mid-terms in the beginning of January let alone December, which means that retention is non-existent. If mid-terms are treated by students as just another test then what should we really be trying to prove or accomplish? What alterations to the practice or structure can we make to ensure that mid-terms are meaningful rather than just reemphasizing the students with the best “cram memories”?
Imagine a world where mid-terms were offered as “Problem-Based Assessments” that emphasized interdisciplinary work and transferring knowledge from each of their courses? Students could use their schedules to see the areas that they must emphasize thereby making every project student-centered. If students wanted to work together it wouldn’t be a problem so long as they covered all of the courses in each others schedule (imagine they learn from each other and get interested in a course they aren’t even taking?). Even still, imagine if mid-terms don’t happen in the last week of January but, instead happen throughout the first marking period thereby emphasizing reinforcement of knowledge they have gained throughout the year as well as the ability to persist.
Again, I understand that mid-terms are “important” for some, but, as most people recognize, interdisciplinary work is much more conducive to understanding what students are learning and what they are stumbling with. Wouldn’t the best time to do it be a point in the year that displays the least amount of sustainable learning and more cramming? Scrap the midterms. Let’s focus on some interdisciplinary work and transfer of knowledge.
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