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THE EAGLE Plymouth North High School Plymouth, Massachusetts
Midterms Removed District ends formal midterms, gives teachers more flexibility, and avoids schedule interruptions By Justin Fosdick and Oliver Trask
For many years, students at North knew that the end of the first semester brought midterms. The schedule would rearrange to accommodate a standardized test for every class, no matter the subject or discipline. This school year, Plymouth Public Schools have removed formal midterm exams and a midterm schedule for high school students. Instead, students will be subject to taking a less formal midyear assessment. The decision to move away from the standard midterm was a collective one, made earlier this year. “We had a big conversation about it, what is the value of that for kids, other than a messed up week that interrupts the whole process,” said Principal Peter Parcellin. “When we shut the whole building down and
do a whole schedule just for the week, it interrupts everything.” Teachers across the building are welcoming the additional time they receive for instruction as part of the change. “You lose a lot more time than the class period where you take that test,” said Language Department Head Michelle Lewison. “I think ultimately it will be a really positive thing in all aspects, including grades.” While year-long courses will not be required to take a formal midterm exam, half year courses will still take a final exam at the end of the semester in January. However, the schedule will remain the same during the semester final exams. “With the direction of our K-12 Mathematics Coordinator, Dr. Kelly Bitinas, the removal of midyear exams means that teachers and students are not forced to follow the previous strict timeline for a mid-year benchmark, but we should still offer common cumulative assessments.” said Math Department
Head Kesha Nielsen. In science, the teachers of each subject are tasked with coming together to decide what their common assessment will be, keeping it the same across classes. “It’s up to the collective,” said Mary Raymond, the Science Department Head at North. “Like, all the chemistry teachers will decide whether they’re doing a test or if they’re going to do a project. It’s up to each individual area within science to decide that.” In contrast to that, the English department set the framework of the test to be decided by grade level. “Freshman are going to be doing a poetry analysis. Sophomores are going to be doing a continuation of a story- narrative writing to help prepare them for MCAS. And juniors are going to be working on a rhetorical analysis, which helps them prepare for the writing option on the SAT,” said English Department Head Shelley Terry. The task stays the same from classes in the same grade level,
January 2020 but individual teachers are allowed to choose the text their students work with. “For all of the honors core history classes, the National History Day project took the place of the midyear exam and is kind of there as a substitute for that midyear exam even now,” said Department Head David Clark. Clifton Buckley, one of Plymouth North’s three chemistry teachers, said, “For AP we’re still going to take a traditional test, everything that they covered, but that’s to kind of get them ready for the AP exam.” As a result of midterms being removed, year long classes have been re-weighted, with each term being worth 22.5% and the final exam being 10%. Any assessments that take place as a common assessment will be factored in a term grade. Over the next few weeks, students will be taking midyear assessments all across the building during normal class periods. Teachers will be able to continue their classes with less interruption, while still being able to administer cumulative assessments for the first half of the year.
Advisory With Additional Goals
New changes to the advisory classes at Plymouth North hope to provide students with a more meaningful classroom experience By Meiling Xiong and Amber Bates
For Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors, it is mandatory to participate in an assigned advisory on Tuesdays and Wednesdays every week. The main purpose of advisory is for students to connect with teachers and peers through service, art, and a variety of activities. Although that goal of connection remains consistent, advisories are showing signs of change through new mini lessons. “The goal still remains, it will always stay there,” said Ms. Linda Goggin, a teacher helping institute these changes. “The mission of Plymouth North is for every student to have a connection with someone in school. Instead of replacing the goal, we are adding on to it. Helping students develop character and practice civil responsibilities.” Advisory classes are an initiative to a strategy called small learning communities. The logic is that if a student had one staff member that they had a connection with, students would be more likely to open up with teachers about their
Echo:
problems, creating a stronger and safer overall learning environment. Around the school, there have been many different projects completed by advisories. Some classes aim their projects at helping North through the recycling program or Pay It Forward, which helps students in the North community attend school events free of cost. Other classes, have taken the initiative to help those outside the walls of North through letter writing, caroling and even gardening. Advisory teacher, Ms. Jennifer Carroza, said, “I think that there is a lot of value in understanding what kind of impact you can have on society.” Recently, however, North has been shifting advisory to move beyond its previous focus on a singular project. This began with the advisory mini-lessons that took place in December. Students were given different options and they chose the one that they felt bet fit their interests. These lessons ranged from ‘How to cook a perfect steak’ with Mr. Christopher Bruno, to ‘What’s the purpose of the Tower of Hanoi’ with Ms. Melanie Dolloff, or even ‘How to do your Laundry’ with Mrs. Bonnie Holmes. Each lesson had the common goal of teaching students something they wouldn’t learn in a traditional classroom. Junior Adam Garcia said, “I thought it was fun, I felt like I was doing
Two of the options on advisory mini-lesson day were tie dye and organizing your agenda (see above).
something that I actually enjoyed.” In addition to the mini-lessons, the new changes included character development activities, leadership, community services, public speaking, fundraisers, and life skills such as how to effectively complete a job or college applications. “In whatever form students and teachers feel is best, I want advistoy to be the place where kids feel at home here,” said Mr. Parcellin. “I think our goal is, in the long term, to have an advisory where kids connect with each other and with an adult in the building, and
hopefully we can make that happen.” Advisory classes already made significant progress in developing students’ characteristics through activities like mini-lessons. The bond between staff and students within the school is noticeable too. Mrs. Goggin said, “I love my advisory students, we are like a family. I get to know my students a lot better because there is no judgment. I get to see a different side of them rather than just being a student.”
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