An Alternative To Traditional Semester Exams

What's the problem with finals?

It's the end of the semester. We've assessed our students right into the ground. We've banned them from retaking earlier tests on which they have scored poorly. We've stooped to the bottom levels of Bloom's Taxonomy in our summative assessments over the semester. What do we do now? Celebrate their learning and share their discoveries over the semester? NO! Let's throw at them a high-stakes, multiple choice exam which consists entirely of recall multiple choice questions already asked earlier in the semester on unit tests!

In addition - we'll expect them to perform their best while testing three or four 90-minute marathon tests back-to-back in one day! Then - when they go home that night exhausted, we'll ask them to do it again the next day.

We justify this as making sure they've "learned something" over the course of the semester. In the United States Constitution, this is called double jeopardy. In high school, we call them final exams.

I've searched high and low for data to support my contention that "final exams" don't truly assess anything new or of merit. Anecdotally, I have heard of major universities in the United States starting to go away from the traditional final exam. However, I have yet to find anything sincerely concrete.

A better way?

A few years ago I finally said enough. There had to be a better way. After a great deal of time discussing ideas with colleagues, researching best practice, and simply thinking through my pedagogy, I settled on the idea of a portfolio where students would synthesize their learning through a writing prompt, apply their learning to their present-day lives, and submit evidence of their learning from the unit. The evidence would range from essays, projects, etc. Students would no longer have to cram for a multiple choice manifesto at the end of the semester. They could submit portions of this portfolio gradually over the course of the semester. I could work in conjunction with the student and offer feedback through various target benchmarks. In addition, I could scaffold the structure of the synthesis essays which would allow me to differentiate based on the writing ability of the student.

How did it go?

Mixed results the first year I implemented it. I had structured my rubrics too strictly around Bloom and students were struggling to figure out what I was looking for in their submissions. Plain-English rubrics followed and that helped a great deal. In addition, the first semester I tried the portfolio, I asked for too many submissions over the course of the semester. In my mind I felt I should request one submission per unit. What I later found out was that true synthesis is the ability to identify themes from one unit to another, or over multiple units. I ended up not burning out the students (or myself) and the students produced a much better product in the end.

Does this take more time? Absolutely. I currently ask for three portfolio submissions over the course of a semester. I have 150 students, with roughly 30 in each class. Each class takes me about 1-2 hours to assess. So - we're looking at 30-60 hours a year of assessment. That's a great deal more time than grading traditional final exams offered twice a year.

Why do it?

In addition to getting a better snapshot of student knowledge and taking a great deal of stress away from the student, the thing I really like is that the student has a nice thick folder of projects, writing, and synthesis examples to take with them to their next year. I have a secret hope that these students are saving these and will pull them out 20 years later when they are cleaning the garage and seeing their growth over time.

What's next?

Digital portfolios. I would like to get to a point with my comfort level and our district's technology abilities where students can submit these electronically. This would not only help the environment in terms of less paper used, but students would be open to a great many other ways to demonstrate their competencies. Think about things like recorded interviews, simulated newscasts, video from outside of school (show me an escarpment and illustrate for me its characteristics), etc... Very exciting. And - if nothing else - not having to drag home 150 thick folders six times year! I think I'm a year or two away from this.

Feedback

As always, I make no claim to be an expert here. As stated above, I have tried and failed to find concrete data that my approach is correct. However, when I take into account all that I have read from experts in the field and blogs from other teachers, this seems to be the direction in which to head. As for those teachers who say: "You're not preparing these kids for high-stakes tests..." My response is quite simple. There are PLENTY of teachers out there who will continue to give high-stakes final exams for decades to come. I have no fear that students will lose out on the incredible opportunity to exhaust themselves cramming mundane trivia in their craniums for an assessment that is disproportionate to the sum of their work over the semester to date. So - with the exception of that point, please offer me feedback - it is welcome and appreciated!

Blog Update

I've been nervous about the fact that there have only been a couple of comments on these blog posts. However, I've had some great conversations with some of you via Twitter since this blog has been active. In addition, in the past two weeks, we have had 227 people visit from 10 different countries. (United States, Canada, United Kingdom, New Zealand, France, Russia, Germany, Australia, Spain, and Ireland - in case you were wondering). Thank you! I'm glad word is getting out about this. I look forward to continuing to hear from you all.