How should I handle this- final exam (long)

amother

Tue, Jun 18 2013, 1:17 pm

Today I gave 4 finals- this was not my choice, the school sets the schedule and they made all my finals the same day. Teachers do not proctor their own finals, instead, each class is divided into 2 and a proctor administers the exam while the teacher pops into each room for a few minutes to answer questions and clarify stuff. Of course, no matter how hard you work to make it clear, there are always questions (not all of which can be answered).

Anyway, I had to visit 8 classrooms in the span of an hour and a half (it's a 2 hour exam, and we're told not to visit within the first half hour). By the time I got to the last 3 rooms, the kids in those rooms were extremely anxious. With one of them, they started clapping and cheering when I walked in. The proctor asked them to quiet down (there were kids from a different class in the same room taking their exam) and they didn't listen. I told them to quiet down, and they didn't, so I told them, I'm going to walk out and answer NO questions if they did not stop immediately. Well, it didn't stop, and I made good on my threat- I said goodbye and good luck and walked out to go deal with the other 2 rooms I still had to see. The last room contained the other half of the class whose room I had walked out of, and it turns out, there was a typo in the instructions of a section that would have significantly affected how students dealt with this section, which was worth 30 points. After clarifying, I went back to the other class- I still wasn't going to answer their personal questions, but I had to inform them of the correction. Well, only half of them were left, so I corrected it for them.

Now I have a quarter of that class that will likely fail this final because of my typo. On the one hand, it's their own fault that I couldn't address the issue when I first walked in; on the other hand, we're talking about a significant portion of the exam, and I did come back for the express purpose of correcting it in the end, and it WAS my own stupid mistake. While I do think they deserve to lose some points as a consequence of their behavior, they don't deserve to fail. What should I do for this quarter of the class? I can't ask them to come back in for a redo- tomorrow they have their last exam and then they're done- most will be leaving for various camps and summer programs. I already checked, and most of those kids decided to leave that section entirely blank. I can't just give them credit for work they didn't do, because it's unfair to their classmates who did that work. But I feel like something is in order- should I just ensure they all minimally pass (if the rest of the test indicates that they had a solid grasp of the material)? Any other suggestions?

Sherri

Tue, Jun 18 2013, 1:25 pm

Can you leave out this section and then re-calculate all of the other sections of the exam to count more? Re-assign the weight. That's not the same as giving them a free pass.

ElTam

Tue, Jun 18 2013, 1:33 pm

I would do what Sherri suggested. You can't fairly penalize them for your mistake and the school's poor planning. If they hadn't waited so long to see you, you wouldn't have gotten that sort of reaction, I imagine.

amother

Tue, Jun 18 2013, 1:38 pm

OP here- that sounds like a good compromise. As you can tell, I'm not a math teacher, or I would have thought of that myself Very Happy

Barbara

Tue, Jun 18 2013, 1:50 pm

amother wrote:

You need to go to the administration and confess that you made a major error on the examination, and ask for guidance. Frankly, you also need to do so before the calls start coming in. I can assure you that were this my child's school, a significant majority of parents would call the school by the end of the week demanding that you be fired. (FTR, I would not be one, although I would demand that the final not be counted.) Sorry to be blunt, but that's the way it is. You created an examination where roughly 1/3 of the test had a major error. That affected the timing (they had to struggle with the improper question, wait for your instructions, and correct it, all without being given additional time), not to mention the grading. NEITHER of the classes were given sufficient time due to your failure to adequately proofread your work.

Clearly, the students were cheering because -- in their eyes -- you finally bothered to show up to fix your mistake, so that they could complete their examination. It is completely understandable that they did so. You say it was the 3rd to last classroom that you visited. If you spent 10 minutes in each of the 5 previous classrooms, that meant that they only had 40 minutes left to correct the error that you caused (and which wasted their time) and to finish the rest of the test. Maybe it wasn't their best idea, but in this case, they had a better ground to stand on than you did. (I must also add, unless you can be certain that each and every student engaged in that behavior, you will be failing students because of others' reaction to your mistake.)

Frankly, I find it utterly disconcerting that you, as an adult, are willing to place such a draconian penalty -- failing the final (because if they got so much as a point off, its a 69) -- on a bunch of kids, while not taking responsibility for your own error. As soon as the error became apparent, you needed to tell all of the students to remain after the exam, you needed to go the principal, and you needed to tell him or her what happened. Having failed to do so, the exam should be a nullity.

Barbara

Tue, Jun 18 2013, 2:06 pm

amother wrote:

OP here- that sounds like a good compromise. As you can tell, I'm not a math teacher, or I would have thought of that myself Very Happy

That doesn't work because you have some students who would have quickly skipped the question, giving them an entire 2 hours for the other questions; some who spent a long time struggling with it, then went back to it after you gave further instructions, and therefore had less time than they should have for the other questions; and frankly you had students who became so upset by your error that they were unable to concentrate on the rest of the exam.

The only fair thing is to not count the final, or at least not to count it to reduce anyone's grade.

And, again, you need to inform the administration immediately.

Fox

Tue, Jun 18 2013, 2:14 pm

Barbara wrote:

The only fair thing is to not count the final, or at least not to count it to reduce anyone's grade.

And, again, you need to inform the administration immediately.

This would work for me.

All these school rules about final exams seem a bit much to me, too, but maybe that's just me. It just seems like all these protocols and regulations do little to teach anything to anyone and make it that much harder for the teachers.

notshanarishona

Tue, Jun 18 2013, 2:20 pm

I agree with Barbara.. If you made a mistake on a 1/3 of the test there is no way you can count it even a drop against the students. Although behavior plays a part in a final grade, it should not play a part in the academic aspect I.e. the percentage part which is based on grades. You can mark girls down for behavior in whatever percentage of the grade you calculate towards behavior / participation, etc..
Also, this is a whole classroom. You don't know if all of the girls were misbehaving, 1/2 , or even 8/10 but there were most likely girls who didn't do anything.

amother

Tue, Jun 18 2013, 2:22 pm

Barbara and Fox- the administration knows- I went to them first thing when the test was over. They are being really unhelpful. They think- the kids misbehaved, were warned about a consequence, consequence was carried out, too bad on them, good for you for following through. They will not consider nullifying the final, they told me to either figure something out myself or leave it be. I feel part of the attitude stems from the fact this this particular class is a low level class and is thus concentrated with "problem" kids. I don't see it that way, but they do. Obviously, the dynamic in how honors kids are treated versus others is an issue in my school beyond the scope of this post.

amother

Tue, Jun 18 2013, 3:05 pm

A couple of questions- How old are these kids? Were they informed that you were not allowed to enter at the beginning of the exam? Do the 30 points equate to 30% of the exam grade? With all due respect to the other posters, I honestly don't know how anyone can provide any useful advice without knowing these key factors.

busydev

Tue, Jun 18 2013, 3:33 pm

maybe make that section into extra credit and dont count it. This way the girls that were disruptive/punished will still get their punishment (they wont be able to get that e.c.) but the other girls will be able to get something for the work that they did.

I wouldnt count it as a full 30 points of ec but either make a limit of 10points in the whole section (less grading for you) or make each question worth .3 points or something so there isnt to much EC.

AlwaysGrateful

Tue, Jun 18 2013, 8:29 pm

Fail the kids because they were too rowdy? And because you messed up their tests? Wow, absolutely not.

What is with your attitude towards these kids? Do you honestly think this will teach them anything? Or are you just trying to get back at them? Or to try to pretend that your problem was really their fault somehow?

You messed up the test. Admit it. Give them the section free. Flunking them, just because you feel like it? Please rethink that.

I'm just in shock that you would even consider that. You think that would be teaching these kids about consequences? Or that it would be in any way fair?

Sherri

Tue, Jun 18 2013, 8:41 pm

Sherri wrote:

Can you leave out this section and then re-calculate all of the other sections of the exam to count more? Re-assign the weight. That's not the same as giving them a free pass.

I answered quickly and realize upon thinking more that it's not just about the weight of each section, but that the girls who did fill out that section took the test under different circumstances than those who did not. So I agree that the solution I propose is not the best.

Barbara

Tue, Jun 18 2013, 8:47 pm

amother wrote:

Lovely. The teacher screws up the exam. Kids are going to fail because the teacher screwed up the exam. And the school's attitude is hey, these are the lesser-abled kids, who gives a hoot about them anyway.

I'm shaking in anger.

imamom7

Tue, Jun 18 2013, 9:10 pm

I think that you should mark the test in a way that the kids should get highest possible- if they properly filled out that section- count it- if they didnt dont count it and count the rest for more points- I think in the long run students will remember that the teacher didnt mess them over because of her mistake and tried to accomodate as best as possible- an invaluable lesson that the teacher is on our side!

amother

Tue, Jun 18 2013, 9:13 pm

OP here- Always grateful- Huh? Yes, I admitted I messed up the test. And where did I say I wanted to flunk the kids? I specifically said I DON'T want to, which is why I'm trying to come up with something here. Unfortunately, the two best options- either canceling the test entirely, or having a redo- are not available to me, and I've explained why. I could omit the section entirely and redistribute the points for everyone, but then the kids who did work on the section will be upset that they took the time to work on it for nothing. My original thought was to look at how those 5 kids who didn't get the message handled the section and not penalize them if they got it right according to the alternate understanding, but only one of them did the section at all, the rest left it blank. I am thinking of redistributing the numbers but giving some amount of ec to those who did it, as a previous poster suggested. My talk about consequences was more initially- had I not made the mistake, some students would have suffered the loss of a few points because they would have chosen not to answer questions they weren't sure about. It would not have been a significant amount, and hopefully, they'd think twice about speaking up in the middle of an exam again (and BTW, both myself and the proctor were within our discretion to choose to end the test right there due to the behavior; we did not want to do that to them). The issue is that I found out about 10 minutes later that it was more than just a few points at stake.

Barbara- it's a bad situation, and you're right to be angry about it. I can't change the administration, but I try my hardest to right by these kids. Every issue that has cropped up with this class throughout the year (and similar classes I've had in the past), I have generally attempted to deal with on my own, because I know the principal's response would be to just bring the stick down harder, so to speak.

rachelbg

Tue, Jun 18 2013, 9:13 pm

I don't know what I'd do in your situation, but I know that I wouldn't want to be in your shoes!

Sounds tough, and I imagine that it's a large stress for you.

Hatzlacha raba with it!

JollyMommy

Tue, Jun 18 2013, 9:36 pm

Give them all 100% on that section, only grade the rest of the test. What are you afraid of- that some kids will do a little better than they would have?

Good! If I was a student with unclear instructions and no one to answer questions I would have freaked out and likely cried. A lot of kids work very hard, this is unacceptable.

JollyMommy

Tue, Jun 18 2013, 9:37 pm

in other words- everyone starts with a 30%, every point from the rest is added to the 30.

spinkles

Tue, Jun 18 2013, 9:45 pm

Grade their exams as-is tonight. Go in tomorrow and let the kids sit down individually with you and see how they did. Calculate what their final grade in the course would be with the exam grade as it is. Offer them the option of doing a section which is equivalent to the one you messed up so they can improve their grade.