Study Plans for Exams

As we approach exams, advisors will be talking to their advisees about semester exams.  Our Freshmen Advisors will be following a more structured plan to help their advisees since this is their first time preparing for semester exams in the Upper School.  The plan, developed by our Upper School Guidance Counselor, Anna Kennedy, involves three steps:

1. Advisors will be going through general study tips with their advisees. Here is a link to the guidelines for those study tips.
2. Next, the freshmen will create a study schedule in advisory as a plan of attack for exams.  Here is a sample study schedule that can help guide the students in making their own plan.  Keep in mind that students should design a plan that best fits with their style of studying and amount of review they need.  The sample can serve as a starting point.
3. Advisors will then spend a few days going through the students' study plans with them to ensure that they are on the right track.

The Freshmen Advisors have already started implementing this process this week, but it is a useful exercise no matter whether you are a freshman or a senior trying to direct your studying efforts.

How Are Exams Factored into the Students' Grades?

Semester exams count for 20% of the students' semester grades.  The semester grade for a class is composed in the following way:

40% - Quarter 1 grade
40% - Quarter 2 grade
20% - Semester Exam grade

Last year, we conducted a comprehensive study to examine the impact that exams have on students' semester grades.  We looked at the possibility of exam exemptions and changing the weighting of exams.  In the end, we decided to keep our current 20% weighting of exams, and we implemented an exam exemption policy for second semester seniors.  The main findings of our study were that exams tend to have a negative effect on semester grades (for about 2/3 of the students), but the effect is very small on average.  The average decrease is 0.71 points (on a 100 point scale), and 54.5% of the semester grades changed by less than a point due to the grade on the semester exam.  Here is the full Summary of the data collected on Semester Exams and their impact on Semester Grades.

2009-2010 Fall Semester Exam Schedule

In today's post about exams, I have included a link to the full exam schedule, which includes when each exam takes place, where it takes place, and the teacher that will be proctoring the exams.  The document also lists some of the exam policies for the students: what to do if you have a conflict exam (two exams in the same department -- e.g. two math classes), the fact that students should come in dress code for exams, etc.

2009-2010 Fall Semester Exam Schedule