With less than one week of school, many students find their motivation to succeed and focus on education decreasing. Daily, students are complaining about certain teachers continuing their lesson plans with new curriculum to be taught, while other staff have changed the focus to be directed at reiterating previously taught material in preparation for final exams. Although learning new material up to the last academic day is tedious, it is extremely beneficial in more ways than one for students who remain attentive.

Deeper learning is the concept that educators provide an in-depth educational experience for their students.

The American Institutes for Research (AIR) conducted a survey that found that students engaged in deeper education attained higher scores on their standardized test scores, gained “higher levels of collaborative skills, academic engagement, motivation to learn and self-efficacy,” and were more likely to enroll in four-year colleges following graduation (air.org).

The teachers who continue their classroom education until the last academic school day are displaying confidence. They are focused on teaching their students for the enjoyment of learning and not for the concern of success on the final exam. Not to say that those teachers aren’t concerned about their students’ success, but rather they have faith that their lesson plans from the semester are enough for their students to achieve their best in the class.

Reviews are helpful to students, but treating the final exam like any other test and continuing new concepts up until the last academic day is better. While one-day reviews are a great way to recall information from the beginning of the semester, anything much longer than that implies the information wasn’t effectively taught the first time. Retention of information is the most accurate depiction of education. Spending days or weeks of review infers students didn’t comprehend the first time, or at the very least they memorized for the test.

Although some students disagree with the complete use of academic days during the year, the benefits of said education plan are extensive.