Classic Photography

New day-based testing schedule overwhelms student.

When students returned in September, they learned of a new testing calendar at Townsend Harris. The previous week-based calendar consisted of A/B/C weeks and allowed certain departments to test during designated weeks. The new, day-based calendar goes by A days, B days, and C days, and introduces new D days, which are non-exam days.

According to reporting by the news department of The Classic, two science teachers devised the new calendar “after raising concerns about the previous weekly testing schedule.” The concerns, shared by science teacher Joel Heitman, were that the previous testing schedule resulted in overly long periods of time between exams. He said this led to tests covering large amounts of material that created difficulties for students.

The new system may have been made in hopes of addressing those concerns, but it is clear, after two months of the new schedule, that it has led to more testing and more stress for students. There is no reason to give this system an entire yearlong test run to determine its value; it is already time for it to be changed. We believe that the best course of action for the school is to have a multi-layered testing schedule that adapts to both the needs of both subject teachers and the needs of students. 

In the same article, all students who spoke to The Classic (and had been in the building for the previous testing calendar) reported that the testing schedule led to more tests than the previous schedule.

It is clear why this would happen. Consider the two-week period (nine school days) from October 7th to October 18th, for example, there were four A days, two B days, two C days, the PSAT, and, most consequentially, no D days. This one example makes clear the dire situation for many students, especially juniors who took the PSAT on October 9th. Since two days for each category (A/B/C) are allotted for three departments to test, it’s entirely possible for students to have tests (possibly multiple tests) on all or nearly all of those days. Under the prior testing calendar, this was far less likely to occur, as each teacher had four days to have a test in their class and fewer departments would be able to test during the week.

Many students have shared their concerns with the new testing schedule, and many say they prefer the old week-based system over the current day-based system.

Sophomore Pekko Hau said, “I know many teachers had to change their way of giving exams/quizzes. This year, I get [many] more exams piled on the same week which gives me quite insufficient time to study.”

We agree and feel that the current levels of stress that students have expressed to us as a result of the new levels of testing are entirely unreasonable and should serve as proof to the administration that changes must be made quickly.

Revising the testing schedule will hopefully reduce stress and reduce test anxiety in students, something shown to “impede cognitive functioning, hinder information processing, and have a detrimental impact on test performance,” according to Edmentum, an educational technology company. 

While we understand that the addition of the “D day” may reduce stress on students who were concerned that there were no days without tests, we believe that it is extremely ineffective. In contrast, it was possible for students to be tested on three subjects per week previously whereas in this new schedule, up to six subjects can be tested in a week. D days tend to be sandwiched between two testing days (typically Wednesdays), however, it still doesn’t change the fact that the amount of subjects increased from three to six. Within two days, students could be bombarded with three tests or so and then would have to use that D day to study for upcoming tests that week. D days, therefore, are just not enough. 

There are also cases where if the week is reduced to four days (due to holidays and such), there are four testing days in a row. For example, during the week of October 14-18th, students received no D days between testing days due to Indigenous People’s Day on the 14th. In other words, they had four testing days back to back. There have been cases where students had three tests in a day or even four because of the pressure that teachers say they feel to test on their specific days. Rather than having the flexibility of choosing which day of the week would be convenient for them to test their students on, they’re limited to only two days. 

Many students share our view that the testing schedule requires change. Sophomore Emmie Krikheli started a petition urging the administration and the Student Union to change the testing schedule back to last year’s schedule. In an interview with The Classic, she said, “I would like to share that many students have been affected by this new schedule and the SU has most likely been too. Townsend Harris students should be excelling with minimized stress levels because all it does is ruin mental health and healthy minds for education… the new is on a daily basis, allowing different subjects to test every day giving students the possibility of several tests per week. [With] last year’s schedule… students had more time to study and focus on the 2-3 subjects that were allowed to be tested that week, rather than 5-6.” She told The Classic that, within two weeks of starting the petition, she had garnered approximately 400 signatures.

The school administration described steps they are taking to work towards this goal. Assistant Principal Ellen Fee said, “We are in a cycle of trying something and seeing how it works. The next step will be to address it to make sure students are not being overwhelmed… the trick is to come up with the testing schedule that is most positive and least negative, but that might take a few iterations of trying something, evaluating, and then adjusting.”

We believe that the time is now for such an adjustment. Our proposed solution is for teachers from each department alongside the student union and the administration to work together to create a testing schedule that is more reflective of the desires of students and teachers. We would be willing to share opinions on various proposals in a future piece, but first, the decision needs to be made and communicated that the current system is not working and needs to be changed.

We urge the Townsend Harris High School administration and the Student Union to hear our concerns and push to announce that the testing schedule will be changed to something that is more equitable and better for both students and teachers.