Madison administration revised the Final Exam Policy over the summer, doing away with all final exam exemptions. In addition, under this new policy, the school continues to stress the giving of cumulative projects rather than tests. In the past, if students had an A or A- all four quarters in a class, they were exempt from the class final. This system created a lot of confusion between the students, parents and the school about who was exempt and what they were supposed to do during the final exam. These concerns prompted the administration to make changes.

Under the new policy, teachers will have a few possible options for their class finals, all of which will attempt to limit the amount of tests students take. Each department will decide whether or not there will be a traditional final test. If not, they will give a “demonstration of learning,” which could include a group or individual project in order to demonstrate and apply what they have learned that year. Students would be given class time to finish the project before finals week, presenting on the day of the final exam. Those previously exempt with an A or A- will have the option to do an ungraded project but still present during the final exam period. All students will be required to attend class in order to get their final grade.

“Often times we have kids with AP exams, an SOL and final exams one after the other. We want to try and downplay the amount of large, multiple choice, summative tests and push learning by doing projects that involve demonstrating their knowledge of what they learned throughout the year,” Assistant Principal Steve Plunkett said.  

History teacher Kirsten Stone has already been giving projects instead of traditional final exams to her classes.

“I think [the new finals policy] is a good idea because students already take an SOL, which is pretty much a final. A project gives them the opportunity to research something they are interested in,” Stone said.  

Returning students have not reacted positively to the final exam change.

“Not as many people are going to have the extra motivation to get straight A’s if they don’t have the opportunity to be exempt from a final completely,” Madison Knapp (’19) said

Andrew Cho (’21) and Sam Nunez (’21) are new to Madison and seem to like the idea of a final project instead of test.

“I like this policy because tests stress me out, and projects can be more fun,” Cho said.

“We don’t have to study for a project but it still shows what we’ve learned,”  Nunez said.

The final exam policy policy is one of many new shifts  in Madison’s academic policies for the 2017-18 school year. It seems as if everyone is both excited and curious to see what these changes will bring.