Timberlane: More learning, less pressure without exams

From the Eagle Tribune;

November 8, 2010
Timberlane: More learning, less pressure without exams

By Cara Hogan chogan@eagletribune.com The Eagle Tribune Mon Nov 08, 2010, 02:54 AM EST

PLAISTOW — Now that Timberlane Regional High School no longer has midterms or final exams, both students and teachers say they feel more relaxed in the classroom.

"I feel like it's not as stressful," said Sam Hackney, a Timberlane junior. "You're not worried about cramming before the midterm and then just forget everything after. Now we're learning more."

Over the summer, Timberlane principal Don Woodworth announced the decision to eliminate the exams that counted for 10 percent of students' grades.

Now, after teaching for a few months with the new program, he said teachers focus on reaching competency levels in each subject.

"We're still going to have large tests, we're just not calling them midterms and finals," Woodworth said. "Now the teachers can decide how much a test is worth per quarter. We're assessing with more of a plan in mind about if all the kids reach a competency, such as learning an algebra concept."

If kids don't understand a concept at the end of a section, they are sent to a lab to get extra help. Woodworth said this style of teaching helps students with different learning methods.

James Kelly, a social studies teacher, said he's changed the way he teaches.

"Not having midterms and finals allows me to be more flexible and gives the students a chance to be creative," Kelly said. "One project we do is an Ellis Island simulator. Students have a role of coming to America as an immigrant in 1900. We act it out and they can talk about their experience."

He also said the new system also allows him 10 more days of instruction, days that used to be taken up with reviewing for and taking the exams.

"That's almost a whole unit in a half-year class," Kelly said. "All in all, I'm loving it so far."

But some parents are less pleased with the changes at the school. Peter Bealo of Plaistow has two children at Timberlane, his son, a freshman, and his daughter, a senior.

"The other part that bothers me is about being an experiment," Bealo said. "When some parents asked could you tell us what districts have done this successfully, the principal said someone up in Maine and a district in New York state have tried this. But no one in New Hampshire. Let's let someone else be guinea pigs."

He said he understands the school had to make some changes because of poor New England Common Assessment Program scores. But he said he is worried the lack of testing would not prepare students for college, where midterms and finals are often the only grades in a semester course.

Woodworth argued the big tests are part of the problem holding back learning.

"Kids sometimes put off trying to learn until the large test," he said. "I think that's where failure comes, when kids misjudged and try to cram and achieve significant learning at the end of a long period of time. We want to make sure they're learning all the way through so when we give a cumulative exam, they'll do better."

Melissa Zorn, a Timberlane junior, said she's enjoyed the change in teaching style.

"The assessments are a wide range of tests, not just a big paper-and-pencil test," she said. "In my biology class, we had to show and narrate how DNA creates proteins. I didn't get it until someone showed it to the class. Actually doing it with the physical model made such a difference."

She said it gives the class a completely different feel.

"It's not just filling out A, B, C, but more creative," Zorn said. "I feel like I'm learning more because they're giving us information in a new way. I agree that maybe the lack of tests could hurt some students in college, but there is just as much pressure on competencies. We still have to learn the information, and we still have to study."