West Windsor-Plainsboro school superintendent released a letter Friday linking district changes to stress in students.
WEST WINDSOR - A report of "frighteningly high levels of stress" in the West Windsor-Plainsboro school district prompted the administration to change the way students are evaluated this year, according to a letter from the superintendent sent out Friday.
"The grade has become the end part, not the learning," Superintendent David Aderhold wrote in the letter, which was distributed to parents via email last week.
The letter was written in response to parents' concerns after the district did away with final and midterm exams this year.
"The only thing they see is the change. (The letter) is the why behind the change," Aderhold said.
That "why," Aderhold explained in the letter, lies with a stress-ridden student body.
He wrote that the school district employed a team of experts in gifted education from Ball State University last year to do a formal evaluation of the district's program for gifted and talented students. The experts spoke with over 120 middle and high school students who reported high levels of stress, according to the letter.
Sixty-eight per cent of high school students reported feeling stressed all or most of the time.
In the evaluation, the students also anonymously wrote down some of their feelings about the district - writing that going to school was like "prison" and saying that grades were "more important than anything," according to the letter.
"You guys need to fix the system as soon as possible," one student wrote, according to the letter.
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After getting the results of the evaluation, district officials decided to change some core elements of their educational system.
"I cannot help but think that we may be failing (students) by reinforcing an educational system that perpetuates grades at the expense of deep and meaningful learning," Aderhold wrote.
In the letter, he detailed the different ways the district is making changes, which include redesigning certain classes, doing away with midterm and final exams in favor of testing throughout the semester, and continuing to establish designated "no homework nights."
He also elaborated on the reason for doing away with midterms and final exams, writing that students often only got a grade - not feedback - after completing the exams. Additionally, he wrote that many students would study for the specific test rather than absorb information from the course as a whole.
The joint goal of the various initiatives is to focus on supporting the "whole child," a term that refers to the social, emotional and academic development of each child, Aderhold wrote.
Some of the initiatives like no homework nights, were already put into effect last year with positive results, according to the district's website. Others, like doing away with finals and midterm testing, are just being implemented this year.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.
