Montgomery County Public Schools have decided to end final exams and replace them with tests that measure cumulative content knowledge and skills that build over the course of the year.

  The Board of Education along with community members were concerned about the amount of tests students were taking, and decided to make a change. According to the MCPS website, the Montgomery County Board of Education requested that school systems look over their testing programs in order to decrease the strain of testing on students, increase teaching time, and provide sufficient teaching and learning.

“I think this decision is probably overdue, given the fact that we lose two-to-three weeks of important instructional time in the classroom every year to administer two-hour exams in an abbreviated schedule,” director of secondary curriculum and districtwide programs Scott Murphy said.

“I am thrilled with the opportunity to get over two weeks of instruction back for teachers and students, while also making sure students are taking assessments that matter and prepare themselves for college,” Murphy added.

In the past, students were unable to obtain feedback from their teachers on final exams. Students would only see a letter grade on their report card and there was no explanation of why they had received it. Teachers were unable to give feedback to help their students and students could never learn from their mistakes. Now teachers will be able to give feedback to their students much quicker and help their students learn from what they did wrong.

Junior Travis Ramsingh said, “It will definitely be less stressful with not having so many final exams to study for.”

Sophomore Virginia Schlosser asked, “What would we take instead of finals?” Final exams will be replaced with standardized marking period assessments that will be given during a grading period and count for a major portion of a student’s grade.

“The way we’re thinking about assessing for knowledge and understanding…is changing, and that’s a good thing,” assistant school administrator Steven Orders said.

These assessments can come in forms similar to final exams, while others may come in alternate assessment forms. These tests will be taken during a regular school day with no disruption to the normal school schedule.