Making up tests is undoubtedly one of the most stressful aspects of high school, especially where there is minimal time in one’s schedule to fit an hour-long exam they were supposed to take days before.

When students coordinate a time with their teacher to finally make up a test, they then meet in the office for that particular subject, sit in the back of a classroom that their teacher teaches in, or in the middle of the hallway.

However, it’s not possible for students to focus with a lecture going on, with students hanging out, or with teachers conversing with each other over what they want for lunch. Schreiber needs to establish a room designated for test make-ups so that all students can be in a quiet testing environment that is distraction-free.

Two of the most common places to make up tests are the social studies office and the math office. It is extremely convenient for teachers to have their students to just meet them at their desks, and ensure that there will be a teacher in the room to proctor the students and keep an eye on everything. Although this may be favorable for the teachers, it is usually every student’s worst nightmare. More often than not, students will find themselves surrounded by endless distraction.

Whether it’s peer tutoring, teachers of the department conversing with each other, or students just hanging out during a free period, it can feel impossible for one to concentrate on their own thinking over the extremely loud sounds of everything else. This then causes the students to receive a lower grade than they typically would, and lowers their confidence in their knowledge of the subject. An easy solution to this common issue is for there to be one room accessible for students to be able to make up tests in a calming, distraction-free testing environment.

Therefore, The Schreiber Times believes that aides or teachers who are typically scheduled to monitor the hallways can spend time proctoring the students in the testing room instead.

This would be an effective solution because there are already so many teachers on hall duty at a given time, and because teachers could still do their work while proctoring. The proctors in charge of the room can create a schedule of what periods the room is open for students, and then students can plan when they will take their test based on that.

They can go to check in with their teacher in his/her office first, and bring the test down to the testing room to take it there. Each student who utilizes this room will have the same testing environment as students who took the test on the scheduled day, and have the same opportunity to do well.

Establishing a separate room that is designated for making up tests will ultimately benefit all students and teachers.