Social studies department teacher Tyler Graves sits at his desk in Room 287 on April 1. Throughout this semester, Graves has worked to help students in his US History class prepare to take the End of Course exam in May. “(I) try to make sure (my students) cover everything, because (the test can contain) anything that’s in the standards. With that in mind, we try our best to stick directly to the standards,” Graves said. “If it’s not (a) standard, it’s not gonna be tested. The time I spend on (non-planned topics) takes away time from things that would be on the EOC, so we try our best to stick to the standards as much as possible. That’s the key.” Photo by Janie Ripps
The CCHS administrative team has begun preparing for student’s End of Course exams which will begin on May 9.
As the second semester of the Clarke Central High School 2021-22 academic year comes to a close, preparations for upcoming End of Course exams have not only started in classrooms but among the CCHS administrative team as well.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students in the 2020-21 school year had the option to opt out of EOCs. Contrary to this, exams this year are required and scores are 20% of final grades. Now that students are back to in-person school, faculty will be trained to create a safe testing environment at CCHS.
“Anyone who is going to administer an EOC has to have formal training (from) me,” CCHS Assistant Principal Latinda Dean said. “Usually that takes place via Zoom. Test tickets are only printed by administrators so teachers do not have access to those test tickets until the actual EOCs. At that time they come and check them out from (an administrator) depending on which content area it is.”
According to Dean, every detail counts toward a smooth running exam season.
“We are very methodical and (we make) sure that we have all the materials accounted (for). (They) have to (be counted and signed) out (to teachers and) they have to sign everything back in down to the pencils,” Dean said. “If something is coming up short in terms of numbers, we then have to investigate (to) figure out what happened to it because that would be a testing irregularity. All of those things are also locked up in a secure location so that no one has access to them outside of (testing).”
An infographic displays the dates for the End-Of-Course exams taking place at Clarke Central High School. Testing will be administered from May 9 to 17. Infographic by Janie Ripps
According to Dean, every detail counts toward a smooth running exam season.
“We are very methodical and (we make) sure that we have all the materials accounted (for). (They) have to (be counted and signed) out (to teachers and) they have to sign everything back in down to the pencils,” Dean said. “If something is coming up short in terms of numbers, we then have to investigate (to) figure out what happened to it because that would be a testing irregularity. All of those things are also locked up in a secure location so that no one has access to them outside of (testing).”
The courses scheduled to have EOCs are Algebra 1 and 2, Biology, American Literature and US History. For social studies department teacher Tyler Graves, preparations have already begun in his classroom.
“It’s tough because (for) US History, we have an overwhelming amount of content to cover in one semester, so (we) try just to get through all the content (and) make sure we just expose them to everything,” Graves said. “We (are trying) to build in time to review things throughout the semester and also connect that to the new content that we’re learning.”
