Frisco ISD has been finals free for the past five years.

While the district doesn’t administer formal midterm or final exams, teachers may still create cumulative semester exams if they want.

“In terms of Bio and AP classes in general, having a midterm will help them keep pace, so at the midterm point they’ll know how well they’re doing in the course,” AP Biology teacher Chris Ham said. “I personally, as an AP teacher, prefer to have finals because that’s the way it is in college.”

However some teachers don’t think a midterm offers too many benefits, especially if it’s an AP course.

“I honestly don’t think it’s affected the AP students, how well they do on the AP exam, because they’re still studying for the exams, whether they have a final exam in a previous class or not,” AP Economy Teacher Gary Mumford said. “Back when we did have final exams, if you took the AP test, it was before you took your final exam anyway even if you had to take the final exams if you’re in an AP class. Most of the students taking AP classes are taking more than one, so they still get that experience.”