“Okay class, we have a test tomorrow.”
Oh, the one word that students everywhere, no matter their age, dread: TEST. When you hear that word, what goes through your mind?
For the average high-schooler, there is a tremendous amount of mixed emotions. After all, the average chapter or unit test presents a unique opportunity: scoring well means your grade will skyrocket, but what you need to do to make that happen is another issue.
For a final or mid-year assessment, the stakes are even higher. Often valued at 20 percent of a student’s semester grade, many Maine high schools dedicate two full weeks of the school year to these cumulative exams. The situation is even more stressful for regularly high-achieving students who need to score well in order to solidify things such as class rank, GPA, and honor society requirements.