The last few days of the quarter are often filled with more tests, essays and homework than usual. Although some teachers do this for the benefit of the students, it often results in more stress for everyone.

“This past Friday I had three assessments and one quiz, plus homework for other classes. I went to sleep at 3 a.m.,” Sebastian Manzo ’15 said.

Many agree that this excess of work towards the end of the quarter is not intentional. “It’s just a matter of how the quarter works out,” English teacher Jesse Bauks said.

Math teacher Ann Didelot agreed that teachers do not bombard students with work at the same time on purpose. “You can’t really just throw tests in because [lessons] follow such a strict curriculum,” she said.

However, she also said that if a test is on the border between two quarters, she fits it into the previous quarter to benefit students. “I feel pressured from students because I feel that they want to raise a grade,” she said.

Even though another opportunity to boost grades is always welcome, it can end up having a negative effect on both students and teachers.

Didelot and Bauks both said that it is stressful for teachers to try and calculate every student’s grades on time. “The teachers are under a time crunch,” Didelot said.

The workload is not only stressful for teachers. “It’s very stressful for the students because it happens in all classes at once,” Amy Perelberg ’15 said.

“I always feel it’s challenging for students when assessments are congregated around the same time period,” Didelot said.

In fact, according to a study done by Richard Walker, an educational psychologist at Sydney University, in countries where more time is spent on homework, students score lower on standardized tests.

Most everyone agrees that whether the increase in the amount of homework towards the end of each quarter is intentional or not, it creates stress for teachers who are rushing to grade assignments and sleepless night for students who are trying to finish their work.