Why East Lansing High School Holds Finals After Winter Break and What Teachers Do About It

East Lansing High School students returned to class last week after two weeks of winter break. On Wednesday, they will begin three days of exams to conclude the first semester.

The timing of the exams may seem awkward. Why would the most important assessments be scheduled shortly after students return from a lengthy break?

“It’s not an easy answer, but it’s also not complicated,” said Cody Harrell, an English and journalism teacher at the high school. “Part of it is that it’s kind of always been this way. The calendar year is about 36 to 38 school weeks. We’ve moved back the beginning of the school year enough to give ourselves some leeway in certain ways. This year, for example, we have a full week off for Thanksgiving break, and we’re able to build in some teacher workdays.”

Harrell, vice president of the East Lansing Education Association, said the halfway point of the semester falls just after winter break. To make it fall before the break, the school year would have to start closer to the beginning of August. He said the fall sports calendar may also be a factor in the late August start.

Social Studies Teacher Ross Gorman said exams have always followed winter break during his 10 years in the district.

“The calendar is part of contract negotiations, so [exam scheduling] is something that gets discussed,” Gorman said. “Part of what makes it tricky is Advanced Placement classes and scheduling.

“Where the semester ends is something we have some control over based on when the school year starts, but we have no control over when AP testing takes place. That happens in May. Because of that, a lot of AP classes in the second semester are cut short on instructional time. There’s an equity issue between first- and second-semester preparation for those exams and the time teachers have with their courses.”

Harrell said some teachers have adapted to the schedule by splitting finals into multiple components, with one section before the break and another after.

“There are experiential finals, project-based finals, and other ways to demonstrate learning besides giving students 185 questions on the last day of the semester,” he said.

Gorman said he has taken this approach with a law elective he taught this semester.

“Instead of coming back to a formal law exam,” he said, “students are coming back to a series of mock trials that we’re holding over those two weeks, with jury deliberation happening on exam days. That’s one example of what a teacher might do.

“I’ve also had classes where exams were immediately upon returning from break. If I’m being honest, I don’t think students are going to spend their break studying, and I don’t really want them to. I want them to spend time with their families — that’s the purpose of a break.”

In those situations, Gorman said he has administered exams before the break with support from school administration. When students returned, they completed projects, such as recording podcasts discussing an issue of their choice for a current events course.

“These activities aren’t a waste of time,” Gorman said. “They extend the curriculum. But it is an awkward space in the schedule.”

Harrell reiterated that there is no easy solution.

“Teachers would rather get it done before the break,” he said. “Parents would rather get it done before the break. But the way the school year starts here in Michigan means the only other option would be one short semester and one long semester.

“Because so many classes switch at the semester, that would shortchange some students with a shorter term and others with a longer one. There’s no easy fix to this problem.”

Editor’s note: Cody Harrell volunteers on East Lansing Info’s Board of Directors.