9th Grader Serinity Johnson is shocked by the new schedule.
By Saffia Tiba
Many students at Pioneer High School are just discovering the new exam schedule, but the Building Advisory Team at Pioneer is already deciding whether or not they should change it again. Not only are students concerned about their lack of a day off, but teachers are concerned that they will not have time to grade their assignments.
The final exam schedule that students are used to has been changed this year. It used to be that on Monday, classes were shortened, giving plenty of time for the seventh hour exam at the end of the day. On Tuesday, students took their first and second hour exams. Wednesday and Thursday also had two exams per day, leaving Friday for make-ups. Most students found that they were able to stay at home on Friday and debrief from the long first semester.
Sophomore Ella Castanier is upset with the changes. “It was really nice to have a day off after all of our exams,” she said.
Now, students will be at school every day of exam week. Monday is a regular day without any exams. Tuesday through Thursday, students will have two exams daily, starting with seventh hour and going to fifth hour. On Friday, many students will have their sixth hour exam making it mandatory to come to school. Not only are students concerned about their lack of a day off, but teachers are concerned that they will not have time to grade their assignments.
Sophomore Safa Salman says the new schedule is worse because it elongates the final week. “It’s unnecessary,” said Salman. “They need to give us more time to adjust to the new stuff that we’re going to learn on Monday.”
Salman believes it is important to have a day off before the semester. “We need time to recover from the exams. Two days is not enough. That’s a normal weekend,” she said.
According to 10th and 12th grade class principal Jason Skiba, the final exam schedule is “controlled by contractual agreement between the district and the Ann Arbor Education Association.”
The Ann Arbor Education Association is a group of teaching professionals that make sure Ann Arbor Public Schools provides students with the opportunity to reach their full potential. Decisions like the final exam schedule are decided between the school district and the association. “All decisions around calendar, exam times, when teachers report, all come out of those negotiations, and then filter down into the schools to be able to implement,” said Skiba.
Skiba believes that students need to have a conversation with their parents and counselors if they believe they will not be ready for the next semester. “If they have a class structured that’s difficult to manage with the way that they work, then they should let their counselor know before the school year starts or before the next semester starts,” said Skiba.
Skiba recognizes that it is important for students to take care of their mental health and organize their time. “Different people need different amounts of time and there are individual students who need that mental and cognitive break especially if they have a number of highly demanding academic classes,” said Skiba.
Students are not the only people that are concerned about the new exam schedule. Teachers are very concerned that the new schedule will cut into their grading time. Many teachers assign essays for their finals, so it would be hard for them to get all the grades in by Wednesday. World History and Geography teacher Stephen Hathaway is not a fan of the schedule change because “it puts more pressure on teachers to get the grading done in a shorter time.”
After finals, teachers usually receive a day called a reporting day that is used to grade assignments and input their grades. It usually falls on a Monday or Friday, but the new schedule removed that day. The new schedule was partially changed due to the need for more hours in school. Michigan law dictates the amount of instructional time each school needs. Every year, Pioneer needs to submit a form, informing the school district about how many hours they have in the year. When the Ann Arbor Education Association built the exam schedule, they used some of the minutes and ultimately decided to have more school time during the week.
With the loss of a reporting day, Hathaway believes that it will cause many teachers to “dumb down the exam.” He thinks that it will push teachers to create more exams with bubble sheets so it will not take very long to grade. “You shouldn’t have tests that are just like that,” said Hathway.
Regardless of the complaints from teachers, Skiba said that there is not much that can be done. The decision was already made, so it will not budge. “It’s not something that can be done. This was the decision. There is not a lot we can do,” said Skiba.
It will not be known whether or not the loss of a Friday off will have a huge effect on teachers and students, but some might feel the same sentiment as Castanier. “It was a nice break to have between the semesters,” she said.
Many students at Pioneer High School are just discovering the new exam schedule, but the Building Advisory Team at Pioneer is already deciding whether or not they should change it again. Not only are students concerned about their lack of a day off, but teachers are concerned that they will not have time to grade their assignments.
The final exam schedule that students are used to has been changed this year. It used to be that on Monday, classes were shortened, giving plenty of time for the seventh hour exam at the end of the day. On Tuesday, students took their first and second hour exams. Wednesday and Thursday also had two exams per day, leaving Friday for make-ups. Most students found that they were able to stay at home on Friday and debrief from the long first semester.
Sophomore Ella Castanier is upset with the changes. “It was really nice to have a day off after all of our exams,” she said.
Now, students will be at school every day of exam week. Monday is a regular day without any exams. Tuesday through Thursday, students will have two exams daily, starting with seventh hour and going to fifth hour. On Friday, many students will have their sixth hour exam making it mandatory to come to school. Not only are students concerned about their lack of a day off, but teachers are concerned that they will not have time to grade their assignments.
Sophomore Safa Salman says the new schedule is worse because it elongates the final week. “It’s unnecessary,” said Salman. “They need to give us more time to adjust to the new stuff that we’re going to learn on Monday.”
Salman believes it is important to have a day off before the semester. “We need time to recover from the exams. Two days is not enough. That’s a normal weekend,” she said.
According to 10th and 12th grade class principal Jason Skiba, the final exam schedule is “controlled by contractual agreement between the district and the Ann Arbor Education Association.”
The Ann Arbor Education Association is a group of teaching professionals that make sure Ann Arbor Public Schools provides students with the opportunity to reach their full potential. Decisions like the final exam schedule are decided between the school district and the association. “All decisions around calendar, exam times, when teachers report, all come out of those negotiations, and then filter down into the schools to be able to implement,” said Skiba.
Skiba believes that students need to have a conversation with their parents and counselors if they believe they will not be ready for the next semester. “If they have a class structured that’s difficult to manage with the way that they work, then they should let their counselor know before the school year starts or before the next semester starts,” said Skiba.
Skiba recognizes that it is important for students to take care of their mental health and organize their time. “Different people need different amounts of time and there are individual students who need that mental and cognitive break especially if they have a number of highly demanding academic classes,” said Skiba.
Students are not the only people that are concerned about the new exam schedule. Teachers are very concerned that the new schedule will cut into their grading time. Many teachers assign essays for their finals, so it would be hard for them to get all the grades in by Wednesday. World History and Geography teacher Stephen Hathaway is not a fan of the schedule change because “it puts more pressure on teachers to get the grading done in a shorter time.”
After finals, teachers usually receive a day called a reporting day that is used to grade assignments and input their grades. It usually falls on a Monday or Friday, but the new schedule removed that day. The new schedule was partially changed due to the need for more hours in school. Michigan law dictates the amount of instructional time each school needs. Every year, Pioneer needs to submit a form, informing the school district about how many hours they have in the year. When the Ann Arbor Education Association built the exam schedule, they used some of the minutes and ultimately decided to have more school time during the week.
With the loss of a reporting day, Hathaway believes that it will cause many teachers to “dumb down the exam.” He thinks that it will push teachers to create more exams with bubble sheets so it will not take very long to grade. “You shouldn’t have tests that are just like that,” said Hathway.
Regardless of the complaints from teachers, Skiba said that there is not much that can be done. The decision was already made, so it will not budge. “It’s not something that can be done. This was the decision. There is not a lot we can do,” said Skiba.
It will not be known whether or not the loss of a Friday off will have a huge effect on teachers and students, but some might feel the same sentiment as Castanier. “It was a nice break to have between the semesters,” she said.