Upper+School+Office

= __Notes from the Upper School Office__ = //In this space, you will find notes and updates from the Upper School Office.// //**Bob Murphy**, Principal 678-581-6900// or murphyb@thewalkerschool.org //**Michael Arjona**, Academic Dean 678-581-6918// or arjonam@thewalkerschool.org //**Newton McCurdy**, Dean of Students 678-581-6908// or mccurdyn@thewalkerschool.org  **09/23/08 ** There will be some teachers using [|Turnitin.com] this semester as a teaching tool to help our students learn how to use research sources effectivley and avoid plagiarism.

Students will be submitting papers through the Turnitin.com website. Turnitin.com then produces an originality report that looks for material found on websites, in newspaper or magazine articles, or within papers that have been previously submitted to Turnitin.com. The students will be able to see this originality report as soon as they turn in the assignment. The student will then be able to see whether they have effectively paraphrased sources and used quotes where necessary. They will then be able to revise their paper if there are clear mistakes they have made in using sources.

Here is a link to [|an example of an originality report] that was generated for an essay where I purposefully mixed original thoughts with sections copied from NY Times and Wall Street Journal articles. The plan is to prevent plagiarism and use this submission process as a teaching tool rather than try to catch plagiarism after it occurs.

The concerns and suggestions brought to the Academic Council from the Administrative Planning/Support Committee generated a lot of discussion prior to, as well as during, the September meeting. The easy assumption to make would be that the Council had predetermined answers and that none of the points brought to them were taken seriously. That was not the case. **The result of our discussions is that we will keep our current exam structure, while discussing the possibility for a second semester senior exam exemption at our next Academic Council meeting.** This result is based on our commitment and responsibility to have all of our students prepared for the college or university they attend. The Committee provided valuable information on end of course exams, tests, or projects given for some of the universities our graduates have attended as well as exemption policies of independent and public schools around us. In a first for the Council, Michael Arjona provided us data based on all 3,667 first semester exams taken by our current students and how those exams affected their end of semester grades. Although we have discussed this topic before, this was the first time the Council has had such information. **Based on these inquiries, we have a strong belief that our current exam structure, while not perfect, does not put our students at an academic disadvantage in the college application process and provides the needed experience for college courses, as well as AP exams while in high school, when they will be expected to pull together large amounts of material for one test.** // 1) Overall well being of students attempting to study for and complete five exams over a three day period // The school’s philosophy is to limit exams to six school calendar days, three first semester and three second semester. During the past several years, we have made different adjustments to the exam schedule in attempts to space exams to provide students adequate time to prepare.  -   The time period between exams has been extended to allow students time between to eat, review, or meet with a teacher.   -   The rotation was adjusted to have only one regular exam slot along with the conflict exam on the first day to allow more the preparation time on the front end and more time for a student to meet with teachers.   -   Reading days were added to the calendar and placed around a weekend to add time for student preparation and to move the final tests and projects of the marking period further away from the exam days. Student reaction has been positive to the additional time between exams to allow for lunch the first two days, but there has been a strong feeling from the students to have a schedule where a majority of them are finished before the last exam slot (now scheduled for conflicts, make-ups, etc). // 2) The exam does not necessarily reflect the students true knowledge of the subject matter and is weighted 20% of the final (semester) grade. // Semester grades for semester or year–long courses are determined in the following fashion – Quarter grade (0.4) + Quarter grade (0.4) + Exam (0.2); therefore, each quarter grade counts for 40% of the semester grade, and the semester exam counts for 20% of the semester grade. For year-long courses, the final grade is the average of the two semester grades. Each exam is to be written based on material covered that semester in that course although the cumulative nature of certain disciplines means that there will be overlap of material from first semester to second. Based on the data on exam and semester grades, the exam grade tends to closely mirror the grade earned by a student during the eighteen weeks of the marking period. In fact, for 54.5% of the students, the exam grade changes their semester grade by //less than 1 point//. Further, the exam grade changes their semester grade by less than 2 points for 83.7% of the students. // 3) The possible negative affect on the student’s GPA from a low exam grade, thus making the student less competitive for certain colleges. // We looked at the exam grades for all Upper School students to see the impact that exams have on their semester averages. Note that we only looked at first semester exams because all AP students are exempt from taking a second semester exam in their AP courses, which eliminates a sizable portion of the students. **The main findings are that exams tend to have a negative effect on semester grades, but the overall effect is very small.** This small, negative effect holds true whether you look at the 100 point numerical grade scale or the 4 point GPA scale.    -    //__Specific Data on the exams’ negative impact on numerical grades (0 – 100 scale) __//  o   Having a semester exam lowers 67.3% of the semester grades.  o  Having a semester exam raises 29.4% of the semester grades. -   //__Specific Data on the exams’ negative impact on GPA (0 – 4.0 scale) __//  o  21.9% of the exams change the GPA points for the semester course. (3.2% increase the GPA points & 18.7% lower the GPA points) <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings"> §  <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">This can occur by either the semester grade changing a letter grade or by changing the numerical grade ending in a 7, 8, or 9 (which receives a 0.25 bump in GPA points) <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'"> o  <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">10.7% of the exams change the semester grade by a letter grade (1.7% increase the letter grade & 9.0% lower the letter grade) -   //__<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Specific Data on exams’ small impact on semester grades __// <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'"> o  <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Having final exams lowers the overall semester grade by **0.71 points on average** (on the 100 point scale). For instance, a student with either a cumulative or semester average of 87 would see the average become 87.71% if there were no exams. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'"> o  <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Having a final exam lowers students’ GPAs by **0.08 on average**. For instance, a student with either a cumulative or semester GPA of 3.50 would see the average become 3.58 if there were no exams. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'"> o  <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">For a current student, the most that any single grade has dropped (on the 0-100 numerical scale) because of a semester exam grade is 4.9 points. Additionally, if Neil Clark’s discussions with our students accurately reflect the nature of college admissions, then the rigor of the course of study, performance within that course of study, SAT/ACT scores, and involvement inside and outside the school all are factors in the college decision. If you pair that fact with our research, it indicates that the very small impact that exams have on their GPA has an even smaller impact on a student’s overall profile to colleges. We believe that the benefits in terms of preparation for college outweigh the relatively minor grade effects. // 1) Conduct a survey of US parents regarding exam exemption policy // The Academic Council believes any decision regarding an exemption policy should be made by the Council and not based on a parent survey. // 2) Implement an academic incentive for exempting one exam // This item is being considered as the Academic Council continues its discussion of possible exemptions for seniors during second semester exams. // 3) Lower the exam’s weighted percentage // Lowering the exam’s weighted percentage would again have a relatively small, positive impact on semester grades. If semester exams were weighted at 10% instead of 20%:   -    <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">The semester grades would be 0.36 points higher on average. The median increase would be 0.30 points.    -    <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">81.5% of the semester grades would change (up or down) by less than 1 point.    -    <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">1.8% of the semester grades would change (up or down) by more than 2 points. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri"> -   9.8% of the semester grades would change the GPA points for the semester course This positive effect could even be offset if the students prepare less for exams when they discover that they will have less of an impact on their grades. Additionally, having the semester exam count for a significant portion of the semester grade is in line with the college preparatory mission of the school. Many, if not most, college courses have exams that count for between 25% and 50% of the overall course grade. Therefore, our system stands as an intermediate step that creates a sense of significance for the exams while being below the percentages they may see in college. // 4) Give students the option to substitute a project or research paper for the exam // We do not have courses at this time where this could be an immediate option but this is open for further discussion for courses where a project or research paper could reflect the student’s true knowledge of the entire semester’s subject matter. // 5) Decrease the number of cumulative exams // The Academic Council believes in our commitment to be a college preparatory school and with that goes the responsibility of teaching our students how to prepare for courses where they will be asked to synthesize large amounts of material. Many of our students elect to take multiple AP courses during their Upper School career and they must be prepared to sit for a three hour exam covering much more material than a semester exam might. The number of cumulative exams diminishes second semester for any student taking an AP course. As we continue to look at courses that might be able to offer alternative forms of assessment (#4), this possibility may occur naturally. // 6) Consider adopting a “humane” factor for students who drop a letter based on exam performance but did well throughout the year // This currently occurs more than parents or students know. For instance, many teachers are aware that if their exam falls at the end of the exam week then the amount of time a student are might spend in preparation for the exam can be influenced. // 7) Increase exam review days and spread out exams // “Reading days” were implemented several years ago. On those days, courses giving an exam may not have tests, papers, or major projects due. Courses not giving an exam may have final presentations or projects due on those days. // 8) Improve teacher awareness regarding the pressure students feel during exam time and their intense focus on the GPA and need to compete with students from other schools for sought-after college slots. // There are discussions each year on stress and apprehension around exam time for a portion of our student body. There are some students who put a great amount of time into preparing for exams while others see the exam as a long test and do not change their routine. Many teachers, especially those of ninth and tenth grade students, begin discussions about preparation for exams as early as the first few weeks of school to take some of the mystery out of what is happening and to create an environment early on that eases the stresses of the last week of the semester. // 9) No change in Walker’s present policy regarding exams // The Academic Council believes strongly that the current system of exams provides a crucial preparation for succeeding in a college environment while minimizing the negative impact on the student’s grades. We appreciate the questions brought up by the Parent Council and feel that such dialogue strengthens our school environment and improves our academic practices. The Council will continue to lead discussions to determine if criteria can be established that provide incentives for seniors to stay engaged second semester with the possibility of exempting exams in early May. The next meeting of the Academic Council is Wednesday, October 1 so there may be a follow-up report for the October 20 meeting.
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">09/23/08 **
 * __Academic Council response to questions/concerns presented by Planning and Support Committee of the Parent Council.__**
 * __ Concerns __**
 * __ Committee Suggestions for Consideration __**