McIntosh High School has implemented a new summative testing schedule for the 2022-2023 school year. In July, MHS Principal Maggie Walls sent parents and students an email about the new testing schedule. 

Summative assignments are given at the end of each unit that show mastery of the unit and can be tests or projects. In previous years, teachers would assign tests as they felt best; this change in the testing schedule was adopted so that students wouldn’t have multiple tests on the same day of the week.

The new summative testing schedule is as follows:

On Mondays, students will not have any summative assignments for any classes, while Tuesdays and Thursdays are reserved for tests in Career Technical Education (CTE), History, Math, PE or Health.

On Wednesdays and Fridays, tests can take place in Fine Arts, English, Science and World Languages classes.

Contrasted with summative assessments, formative assignments are smaller assessments and include quizzes and normal daily grades. These types of assessments are not included in the new testing schedule. Teachers can give formative assignments as they see fit. Such assignments show students’ progress at the time, and teachers often use them to determine weaknesses and areas that need improvement before a test. 

“[The summative testing schedule] has the potential to be good by preventing kids from getting tests all in one day, but I think it’s a drawback for people who take multiple sciences, for example, they’re going to have all their tests on the same day,” McIntosh science teacher Stephanie Sisk said. “I have had to change just about everything. So there are a few units where we’ll actually end the unit and text the next day. There’s going to be a gap of usually about three days, [between] which we finish a unit and take a test.”

However, since the school year has just started, it may be hard for students to adjust to the effects of the new summative assignment schedule as many students have not taken any tests yet.

“I can’t really see the difference because I haven’t really taken that many tests yet,” junior Natalia Cho said. “I probably will because stress was a pretty big thing so having tests be by subject on separate days probably [will] be better than it was before.”

Junior Anslie Harrell agreed.

“As of right now I haven’t really noticed that much of a change, but probably more throughout the year it might be helpful because we’ll know for a fact that we won’t have several tests on one day,” Harrell said.

“If it really helps kids I think it’s good. I think it’s just whatever is best for [students]. My initial reaction was irritation, but I’m being positive if it is positive for kids,” Sisk said