Most students face various time demands, including weekly quizzes, exams, homework and extracurriculars. While every student manages differently, it is wrong to assume that being able to perfectly balance all of these responsibilities is a requirement for high-achieving students. Everyone possesses unique abilities and develops skills in differing ways and time frames. Students should be granted flexibility in their coursework in the form of more testing leniency and alternatives: Teachers can foster academic success by adapting to students’ individual strengths.

In certain cases, pushing students through rigid deadlines and expectations can motivate them to improve their academic performance. However, it’s crucial to consider students’ varying learning styles and personalities. When course policies are molded specifically around students, it creates a comfortable environment where all students feel motivated and are genuinely interested in learning.

Courses that don’t accommodate different learning paces can harm students by increasing stress and decreasing academic performance. This dynamic was seen in a study that measured New Orleans high school students’ stress levels in 2018. Before taking the SAT, which includes long periods of testing with short breaks in between, researchers measured students’ levels of cortisol, a stress-induced hormone. The results showed that students with high cortisol patterns, and therefore more stress, experienced an 80-point drop in SAT scores.

While stress can be self-induced, it is also promoted by course inflexibility and restrictive policies. In the same study, inherently strict testing environments resulted in a decrease in student performance, since test-taking abilities vary among students. A study conducted in 2020 by researchers in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Gondar found that 54.7% of high school students experience test anxiety. Measuring a student’s grasp of the material based on one test is unfair, since students can experience anxiety, struggle to focus in high- stakes environments or face burnout during extended test-taking periods.

To combat this issue, courses can adopt more lenient testing procedures. Allowing students to utilize their learning materials during tests could help them feel motivated to pay attention and take thorough notes.

Students can also be tested in several ways, such as through group projects or presentations. In 2014, Eva Chiriac, a researcher at the NIH, concluded in a study that 97% of surveyed students preferred and felt more comfortable in a group-work setting compared to a restrictive testing one. Group projects and presentations can reduce pressure and cultivate an environment of active learning that’s motivated by genuine interest rather than fear of failure. Test retakes are another way of increasing coursework flexibility: Students are encouraged to truly understand the material and learn from their mistakes instead of disengaging from content due to low scores. Course policies should adapt to students’ differences rather than work against them to foster a community that benefits all learners.

—Written by Claire Jittipun

Many students fall into the comfort of retaking assessments instead of putting in the time to effectively study the first time. Courses should have rigid retake policies and deadlines or offer no retakes on exams to encourage students to take responsibility, motivate them academically and improve their time-management skills.

Stricter retake policies allow students to take responsibility in managing their academic endeavors, increasing their motivation. According to Barbara McCombs, managing director of the Department of Applied Research and Technology at the University of Denver, students have a greater desire to engage in academic activities when they feel a sense of responsibility for their grades. Thus, enforcing stricter policies for no retakes on assessments increases students’ attentiveness to their school work: Instead of relying on a safety net of test retakes, they are more attentive and take charge of their studying to fully prepare for an exam.

Alongside increasing motivation, academic responsibility compels students to manage their time wisely. Rigid deadlines encourage students to stay on track with their courses. Instead of procrastinating on studying, they are encouraged to plan out their time more effectively to avoid an overload of last-minute work. Time management is important because it contributes to a more healthful lifestyle: Effective planning can reduce all-nighters spent cramming and significantly increase how much sleep students get. According to the Sleep Foundation, lack of sleep can decrease attention spans, slow down cognitive processes and cause excessive hyperactivity such as fidgeting, which distracts other students from learning. However, with stricter academic policies, students learn to manage their time and focus on their academics during the day.

Although some may argue that students should be given multiple opportunities to improve their grades to reduce their stress and anxiety levels, some stress can help students perform better academically. Elizabeth D. Kirby, Daniela Kaufer and their colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, conducted a study on the development of brain cells under conditions of stress published in 2013. The experiment showed that the number of brain cells in the hippocampus, which processes learning and memory, doubled under high stress levels for a few hours. The study indicated that this increase in hippocampus brain cells improved memory. Thus, pushing students out of their comfort zones and allowing them to experience some stress can improve their academic skills.

Teachers can help students succeed by offering multiple opportunities for practice before assessments. Practice tests, projects or even games can engage students and prevent them from feeling overwhelmed with information. These steps will allow students to take more responsibility in their academic endeavors.

—Written by Yueun Hong