“Is your grade out yet?” 

“What did you get?” 

“Did you check genesis?” 

At the end of each year, every student has one final test that will make or break their grade. Finals are a way to see how much students have learned in the past two marking periods. Even though it can be helpful for teachers to determine their students’ academic abilities, final assessments puts a lot of unnecessary stress onto the kids taking them. Lots of students study for hours on end using extensive study guides. The students and staff from Edison Intermediate School have mixed emotions about whether or not finals are beneficial towards kids.

Some students at Edison Intermediate School have good study habits, but others can’t figure out what works best for them. Over studying leads to stress, but understudying can lead to bad grades, so it is very rare for kids to find the perfect medium. Also, teachers rarely suggest a good way to study to their students. When asked how much sixth grade student John Brodo studied, he stated, “I would study one chapter a day for two hours.”

Furthermore, though these tests are meant to assess the skills and material that students have learned throughout the year, the exams actually work against the teacher’s goal. Studies show that finals induce frantic and stressful studying, which has been proven ineffective. Seventh grader Jacob Ferrer expressed, “Finals stress me out because they are a big part of my grade.”

Studying for finals is hard, but remembering the material is even harder. The two main causes of having a bad memory are stress and lack of sleep, and finals enhance both of these problems for students. Eighth grader Ava Jasina feels strongly that finals are a waste of time and energy. “It is so stressful and unrealistic for us to be expected to remember that much math,” she explained.

On the other side of the argument, teachers believe that finals can be very beneficial to kids in future years. Eighth grade math teacher Zachary Crutcher believes that, “Finals are important for kids because being able to handle and maneuver big projects is a good lesson. Also, getting exposed to a final transfers good skills into life and future academic years.” 

All in all, finals put a lot of unneeded stress on students and are actually less beneficial than teachers believe. Instead of a large test on the last week of school, a relaxing group project is a better alternative to end the year.