The English department has implemented a new policy for the 2025–26 school year that requires students to complete all of their first-semester major assessments in class rather than at home.
English Department Chair Katherine Dunbar cited increased AI usage in student work as the main reason for the policy. Dunbar noted that while the department did not see a major increase in proven cases of AI use, teachers noticed that student work had become more homogenized, which the department thought was due to AI.
AI “was impacting the English classroom as an unwelcome guest,” she said. “We did not invite AI to sit down in one of our seats in our English classroom, but there it was.”
Dunbar said the department collectively decided to create the policy during their retreat in May. “I had a long, very complicated agenda, and it all got thrown out the window because we started talking about how to take care of our kids,” she said. After the eight-hour retreat, Dunbar spent 20 more hours discussing with the English department before she spoke to administrators about implementing the policy.
Of the three major assessments that will now be completed strictly during class, only one had previously been an in-class-only assessment. Teachers will administer in-class writing assignments during class periods consisting of a series of writing workshops. Dunbar said the fourth will either be another in-class assessment or a hybrid assessment, which students would complete partially in class and partially at home. The hybrid assessment would function as a bridge to the second semester, when students will return to completing the majority of their assessments outside class.
The policy will not affect extended time accommodations. For every 70 minutes of classwork, students with extended time will be allotted 35 minutes in the proctoring room.
Dunbar said the majority of English teachers did not make major changes to their curricula, such as cutting a book from the curriculum, to accommodate the time now set aside for in-class assessments. “If you compared my syllabus from last year to this year, it looks pretty much the same,” Dunbar said. “There might be a 45-minute conversation about a short story and then 15 minutes of scaffolded writing instead of an hour long.”
Junior Parisa Babolian said she was worried about the limited time to complete assignments that students formerly worked on outside class. “I hope that when teachers are grading, they consider the fact that we had a lot less time,” she said.
English teacher Melanie Farmer, who is new to GDS, said she plans to be flexible about how much time she will give her classes to complete their assessments. “How much can get done by a collective of people is hard to predict until you’re in there,” she said. “I may have to feel it out for the first round.” Farmer said that in her previous teaching position, students completed most of their assessments in class, so she is used to providing “at least a day or two” of in-class work time per assessment.
Farmer hopes the policy will aid her in supporting students and providing more feedback about their writing. “I’m hearing a lot of negativity or trepidation about the idea of writing in class, when I think that writing in class should be completely natural,” she said. Farmer said she has heard complaints from students who are nervous about having less time to refine their writing and said she wanted to emphasize the importance of the writing process rather than the final product.
Senior Nura Idriss said they hoped the policy would not take time away from class discussions but was excited to see the policy’s impact on the format of major assessments. Idriss said they were used to “the same structure” of writing papers at home and added that the policy “could be an opportunity to teach us different kinds of writing skills.”
Idriss also questioned whether the policy will prevent students from using AI after the first semester. “After semester one or after they leave GDS, are they going to go right back to old habits?” Idriss asked. “Does it actually change how they think, or does it just change the immediate solution?”
Dunbar said she hopes the policies established in the first semester will suffice in teaching students to abstain from relying on AI during second-semester assessments.
Freshman Tessa Bash said she was concerned about the time constraints that come with completing work in class. “I feel more pressure when I’m in class and I don’t have time to sit down and put all my thoughts together,” she said. Bash attended GDS’ lower/middle school but was not exposed to the high school English department’s previous policy.
Sophomore Farrah Maragh said she liked the policy because students will no longer have the workload of writing assignments outside class. “I would prefer having all major assessments in class because sometimes at home I won’t have enough time, or I’ll have other homework that I also have to prioritize,” Maragh said.
Maragh said she thought the policy would be successful in limiting AI use. “There’s more monitoring with the teacher in the room with you, and I know that Digiexam is usually used, too,” she said. In English classes, students use the Digiexam platform to type their essays. The platform does not allow students to switch tabs while writing, preventing them from using AI.
Senior Anya Finklestein said she thought the policy would not prevent students from using AI to generate ideas for their assessments outside of class. “If people wanted to, they could bounce ideas off of AI and bring those into class,” she said.
Finklestein said she likes that the policy will reduce students’ workloads but does not like the time constraints the policy places on completing assessments. “I do better work writing essays at home, with more time to think,” she said.
Senior Ares Osorio said he thought the policy was too extreme of a measure to take against AI use. “There are other ways to limit AI use,” he said. Osorio said he thought AI-detecting software would be more effective at preventing AI use.
Osorio also suggested the policy only apply to seniors. He said the policy would offer “less pressure” than take-home essay work, since seniors are also writing college essays.
Dunbar said she does not know whether the policy will remain in effect after the 2025–26 school year. “The things we’ll measure are whether we feel like the students are growing as writers and thinkers and readers,” Dunbar said. If the department sees an increase in students’ engagement with the material, Dunbar said they are likely to keep the policy. “I don’t think anyone’s already thinking, ‘Let’s change it next year,’” Dunbar said. “Most of us are thinking this feels really good.”