Finals Month

A week or two ago, I showed my 7th standard students a way to solve linear equations called the "Arrow Method." They were having so much trouble knowing which operations to do in order to solve for x. I learned this method in one of my college courses and loved it. It turns out, my students liked the method too! I was grading some 7th standard exams yesterday and found several students using this method! It made me smile to know that I was able to help these students develop their mathematical abilities and understandings. The teachers liked it too, and they said they want to show this method to their future classes. Speaking of exams, I want to share with you what that process is like.

The school year in India goes from April to March, of course with short and long breaks in between. This means final exams are in full swing during the month of February. It's not like the short finals week we have in the states. In fact, the procedures are quite different. It's finals month.

In January, teachers prepare the final exams for their classes. Teachers work together, according to the content they teach, to form a batch of cumulative questions from the class syllabus. Once teachers form the exams, they must show it to the principal to have it approved. This ensures that the questions and format are appropriate for the grade level and require higher order thinking. Throughout this month, teachers prepare students with revision lessons and wrap up any last chapters left to complete from the syllabi.

Finals started this past Thursday. Every other day, students have exams. There is only one exam for each standard per day, so this means they come for only half days from here on out. Of course, teachers stay back to do their work. Every other day is a prep day for students to stay at home and study. Teachers come to school during these prep days to grade papers (they are required to finish grading within two days), prepare for the next exams, and finalize records and registers. The school is also awaiting an unannounced inspection from the CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education), which, of course, causes anticipation and last-minute preparations to make sure all is ready for this visit.

Primary students (standards 1-5) sit for two hours to take their exams. Secondary students (standards 6-12) have three hours for each exam. Students are no longer in their regular classrooms; instead, they sit in a randomized seating arrangement with students from other grades as well. For example, upstairs in the primary wing, there are five rooms. Today, I was in a room with 3rd, 4th, and 5th standard students. Downstairs in the secondary wing, there are rooms with a mixture students from 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th. The exams for 10th, 11th, and 12th standard will begin later this month.

There is a team of teachers in both the primary and secondary wings called the "examination department." These groups of teachers are responsible for organizing, packaging, and distributing exams to their respective classrooms. For example, let's say 6th standard is taking their Hindi exam, 7th standard is taking science, and 8th standard is taking math. Room 3 might have 12 students from 6th standard, 10 students from 7th standard, and 11 students from 8th standard. The examination department is responsible for packaging 12 Hindi exams, 10 science exams, and 11 math exams, each according to the grade levels, in a folder labeled "Room 3." The morning of the exams, the examination department distributes these folders to the teachers on exam monitoring duty. All students have to do is show up with their materials to their assigned seats.

Once exams are done for the day, the kiddos go home and teachers collect the answer sheets. Teachers then give the answer sheets to the examination department to check and recheck how many exams were taken by the students and which students were absent, if any. Teacher monitors on duty must sign a register stating how many answer sheets they collected from their assigned classroom. This way, if there was any miscount or accident, then the responsibly falls on the teacher monitor. The answer sheets are organized together by subjects and standards for the teachers to grade during the prep days. There is much work for the teachers to do all to make the process simple and easy for the students. 

Teacher friends, what do you think about this process? What questions do you have for the teachers here? What do/don't you like about the exam process in the states? I would love to share your thoughts with the teachers here, so feel free to comment below!