BCAT News

For the past twenty-plus years, Burlington High School has required students to take a final for every class, excluding those in AP and concurrent enrollment. For new students, it may seem a bit nerve-wracking. But for returning students, many tend to not worry about it.

With the new grading policy at BHS, some students did not fully realize the full effects of how finals truly alter grades. To pass a class now, students must receive a passing grade of 60% or above with a mean average on both the finals and mid-terms. This should not cause many students to worry, for the average students are exceeding this cap without many issues.

Teachers do not necessarily attempt to make their final exams very difficult due to the fact that both tests are averaged at only 8% of the final grade. Some teachers do not agree with the weight of finals and believe that they should carry a heavier load for the year.

“When we reduced the percentage weights down to 4%, I think students take it a little bit less seriously because it’s not worth that much,” BHS math department head, Mrs. Whitcomb, said.

BHS has been experimenting with this type of work under current principal Mr. Sullivan. He has attempted to move around the percentage and feels he has found the perfect sweet spot where the grades are enough for students to care, but not enough that it could negatively affect students’ final grades.

Giving teachers flexibility to adjust and change their policies really allows them to decide how they would like to distribute these exams. With this policy in place, teachers do not have to assign the typical exam on test day and could draft an idea about a project, assignment, or presentation students have to complete.

“And over the years, we’ve gotten different feedback that some people feel, how much if you do a traditional mid-year assessment or exam that the weights of them were too high, so like they counted too much against your grade. So we’ve played around over the years with caps on how much the teachers can come for and things like that,” BHS principal, Mr. Sullivan, said.

Teachers are the ones fully steering the ship when it comes to finals, while Mr. Sullivan claims that he has heard of no complaints from either faculty or students on their opinions of finals.

Moving to students’ opinions, they are not very strong. Many of them complete finals with a neutral mindset, as they are not excited or very nervous about them.

“I don’t mind finals, honestly,” Aaryan Dash, BHS sophomore, said. “I study a little, but the tests aren’t like super complicated.”

Students are able to study for these tests in many different ways. Many teachers tend to give students study guides of what will be on the test about two weeks before the actual date. According to Mrs. Whitcomb, she would give it out to students earlier if they requested it.

In conclusion, that is all students need to know for finals this year. Good luck to everyone taking a final, and make sure to get a good night’s rest before!