Why not be flexible in assessments?

While formal assessments are not always the best way to assess learning, sometimes teachers must give a formal exam (especially when teaching honors, Advanced Placement, or International Baccalaureate courses). And, as teachers, we often have a clear idea of when it’s the right time to give an exam. For example, many might want to assign an exam or assessment to wrap up a unit before moving on to other material. If this is the case, it can be hard to look at the teaching schedule and think, “You know, I really could change this exam to next Monday instead of this Friday.”

With planning, grading, and running a club or a sport, it can be difficult to take a moment to find out what will work best for students. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that we must be flexible when possible because that flexibility can help students manage their time and their stress.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we learned that flexibility is key in times of crisis. In a matter of days, the pandemic tore down all we knew about how to structure a lesson, class period, or an entire school environment. Now that the initial shutdowns are three years behind us, I find myself asking, Why do we need to only be flexible in times of widespread crisis? Can’t we be responsive to the lives of students every day? Can’t the lessons of COVID apply when students’ schedules become overwhelmed with homework, studying, soccer games, track meets, and college applications?

Easing the pressure

For students, the demands of what it means to be a “strong and competitive” college applicant seem to become more burdensome every year. The college application system is confusing, misleading, and stressful (Selingo, 2022), leading students to feel completely overwhelmed about “what it takes” to get into their dream schools. These feelings of stress can have negative effects on students’ health and lead them to disengage from actual learning (Villeneuve et al., 2019). Teachers can easily help with some of this stress by shifting some of their expectations, particularly when it comes to the assignment calendar.

Whenever I assign an exam, I announce it to the class a week ahead of time. After the announcement, I let the new information sit with them for a few minutes and then ask, “How do we feel about this exam being on this day?” Usually, students do not have any problem with when the assessment is scheduled because I have given them plenty of time to prepare. However, there have been a few times where a large number of students ask to push the test back a couple of days. If students bring concerns regarding other exams, sporting events, or family engagements, I then open the floor to a five-minute conversation about when an assessment should take place, with the stipulation that we are going to move on to new material while they take the extra few days to prepare for the exam.

What makes it work

This process works well for several reasons. First, it wins tons of brownie points with students because they feel heard, and they like being part of a conversation in which their input matters. I’ve sometimes had to cash in on those points later, such as by giving an extra assignment, and I’ve been able to do so without losing face with my students because they know I’m looking out for them. This practice also lets students know that flexibility is an important part of everyone’s life and that constant rigidity will not get you anywhere. And it really makes a difference to students who feel overwhelmed. As anxiety and depression rates skyrocket among high schoolers (McCarthy, 2019), any small thing we can do to alleviate those concerns goes miles for the students.

You might be thinking, “Wait, you just assign a test and then let the kids determine when the exam will be?” The answer is no. I lay out a few rules. First, students know that their requests must be warranted and “I just need more time to study” usually will not be enough. Students also know that we cannot reschedule a test further than three class days ahead; that sometimes there is no room for negotiation, such as when an exam must take place before a major break; and that there must be a majority consensus to reschedule the exam.

Why do we need to only be flexible in times of widespread crisis? Can’t we be responsive to the lives of students every day?

You might also be wondering if students bother to pay any attention to new material if we move on while they’re still studying old material. To this I say that my students seem remarkably capable of starting a new unit before the previous one is wrapped up. The students appreciate the alleviated schedule more than they worry the overlap between old and new material. Some teachers have asked whether this messes up my curriculum pacing and lesson planning, but it hasn’t, and I don’t think it would for any teacher with more than a few years of experience. It does not matter to me whether students take a test on a Monday or a Thursday. In either instance, I must allot a class period to administering a test. If it’s a few days later than I originally planned, I simply move on to the next unit a day earlier. The change surely matters much more to the students who must prepare for the test.

Over the past few years, it seems clear that sticking to a rigid assessment calendar is no longer needed — and may have never been needed. It just took a global pandemic to show me and many others that flexibility really matters. In the end, the relief and appreciation from my students shows me that the small change in scheduling has a meaningful impact.

Is this practice only usable in small private institutions like mine? Possibly. But I think being flexible for the sake of students deserves a try. For me, it has worked wonders. Students feel that they are heard in my classroom and that their stress matters to someone other than themselves. I think we all want to create learning environments where students feel this way.

References

McCarthy, C. (2019). Anxiety in teens is rising: What’s going on? The American Academy of Pediatrics, Healthychildren.org.

Selingo, J. (2022, March 23). The college-admissions process is completely broken, but it doesn’t have to be. The Atlantic.

Villeneuve, J.C., Conner, J.O., Selby, S., & Pope, D.C. (2019). Easing the stress at pressure-cooker schools. Phi Delta Kappan, 101 (3), 15-19.

This article appears in the April 2023 issue of Kappan, Vol. 104, No. 7, pp. 66-67.