A blog from the Washington Post is asking the question: Are final exams necessary and effective?  Most educators would automatically respond yes on both accounts.  Why?  Mostly out of habit.  We are accustomed to assigning final exams, making a big deal out of them, and using them to determine a student's academic worth (or at least part of it).  But is this really accurate? 

Most final exams are defined by their cumulative nature which, assumingly, allows educators to know whether or not a skill has been mastered during the course of study.  Some educators would argue that the paper and pencil standard for cumulative exams is not necessarily the most effective tool for evaluating mastery. Those teachers would most likely develop a final project, performance, etc to serve as their evaluation. 

Do you see a theme?  Educators desire to measure a student's mastery or achievement at the END of their time together.  Final exams, projects, performances, presentations, etc all serve the same purpose.  I'm not sure there is a way around the concept of a final evaluation.  But do they necessarily have to be cumulative?  Do they have to be in the exam form?  Do they need to count so much towards a student's final grade?  These are all important questions that should be left up to each individual educator to answer for his or her class.