Written by: Manushri
Edited by: Li
Graphic by: Alina
“I hate that I remember, I wish I could forget what my assessments did to me last December, they left my heart a mess. So this year, to save me from tears, I’ll hope it turns out better.” But is hoping for the best enough?
With the December break around the corner and ICARE week approaching, the holiday spirit appears bright in ISM with the occasional ‘Last Christmas’ track sneaking its way into students’ ears. Yet, cortisol too has reached an all-time high, its burden plaguing High Schoolers laden with piles of assignments and upcoming assessments. This has prompted several stressed students to sing the same, miserable carol of “I have ____ number of assessments this week and I can’t, I’m so tired.” It’s a fairly common statement paired with the age-old sigh. The stakes appear to be even higher for students pursuing the International Baccalaureate (IB) overcome with a slew of IA deadlines and an astounding number of warnings from their sleep tracking applications. The struggle is evident, and it begs the question: is ISM planning or cramming its assessment schedule? To understand the complicated answer to this question, we interviewed some bearcats on their experiences.
When asked about her opinion on the scheduling of assessments this time of the school year, Friia, a junior, explains: “A lot of assessments are not only in the same week but also on the same day–and since it’s the end of the year–it’s hard to reschedule assessments because there are so many happening at the same time. I think it’s gotten worse from last year in that regard.” Her sentiments are reflected in those of Caitlyn, a senior who states: “I think this year involves a lot more cramming compared to last year, but it might just be because I’m a senior and there are IAs due back to back along with assessments.”
Friia and Caitlyn’s turmoil is shared by many other upperclassmen pursuing the IB who grapple with the same mounting stress and deadlines. One would think this is common as transitioning to the next grade level correlates with greater responsibilities and class workload–yet, this estimation does not necessarily stand true as reflected by the experience of Mysha, a sophomore. She explains, “I’m cramming for 6 assessments that I have next week. I definitely feel like the planning is so bad this year because I had 4 weeks go by with no assessments and then a random week with almost a million. I’m pretty sure I’ve annoyed all my teachers by begging them to spread out their assessments and trying to convince them to coordinate with other teachers so I don’t have all my assessments in one week.” Mysha adds another dimension to this argument by prompting reflection on the question: Are the teachers or students responsible for the cramming? Teachers often determine assessment dates while students are expected to adhere to them, unless they must reschedule because they have more than two assessments in a school day. Even still, rescheduling has proven increasingly difficult as mentioned by Friia who argued that postponing assessments is challenging because several are happening in a short time frame. Moreover, in cases such as Mysha’s where it is not the number of assessments in a day, but in a week, that is the concern, the lack of regulations on the topic makes it challenging to postpone assessments, and by extension, protect a student’s health and wellbeing.
This brings up the topic of the assessment calendar. Last school year, teachers assured students that they were working on scheduling assessments through a calendar, leading to a general sense of relief among the student body. The assessment calendar sought to improve communication among teachers. It operated on a ‘first come first serve’ policy where teachers who had their assessment dates scheduled first were given priority and did not have to reschedule assessments. However, some teachers claimed it was not an efficient method and hence have not commented on the matter this year, leading to confusion as to whether or not the calendar is still in operation. Caitlyn expresses this concern when she states, “I wish they could coordinate assessments to have them on separate weeks based on classes in different departments.” An anonymous junior shared the same sentiment when they stated: “I’m disappointed that every class has more than one assessment in the last week of school. How is this possible? We need to plan better.” It appears as though the consensus among the student body is not that the issue lies in their individual time management, but the planning and scheduling aspect of assessments. When teachers were asked to comment on this issue, they declined–citing that the assessment calendar (or lack thereof) is the school’s decision and not something they can express their opinions on.
Hence, a common pattern seems to have emerged: the relationship between an exponential increase in the number of assessments, and a decrease in time until the end of the semester. For several high school students, underclassmen and upperclassmen combined, the stress has negatively impacted their well-being and sleep patterns, sending them into a frenzy. As a school that stands by the values of integrity and merit, it is crucial to promote academic excellence in a manner that is both healthy and manageable from an organizational perspective. Thus, fostering dialogue between students and teachers is essential to avoid students feeling like they are ‘annoying’ their teachers by requesting extensions on assessment dates. An avenue through which this can be done may be advisory, during which an anonymous form can be sent out collecting data on the number of assessments students have, their opinions on the scheduling, and their feedback for managing this in the future. The responses can then be brought to the High School Office Administration and the InspirED club—which aims to promote inclusivity in schools—to be analyzed and broken down into key areas of improvement. Moreover, transparency throughout this process is vital in ensuring that the ISM community is kept in the loop about the action plan and strategies for improvement in the following school year.
The answer to this article’s titular question is simple: assessments can never be completely planned or crammed because the two are not mutually exclusive, thus, there will always be room for improvement. But, this hinges on transparent communication among all members of the Bearcat community, in order to catalyze long-term change in assessment scheduling.
