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Exam season — that annual academic ritual of last-ditch, high-stress cramming — is upon the students of Canada. But as two major universities, York and Toronto, head into finals after prolonged teacher strikes, some students are fretting about a different sort of stress: The possible cancellation of this year’s big tests.

That would mean no risk of choking on exam day, but also no chance to bump up final grades. Either way, it would put any students spared final tests at the leading edge of a movement on campuses, at high schools, even elementary schools — the decline of the exam.

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For all the energy and attention they demand, educators are pushing to marginalize exams. These are not just dying out as an irrelevance, like the slide rule. They are being killed off as an affront to human nature and dignity, like the strap.

“We are in the midst of an educational revolution,” says Stuart Shanker, distinguished research professor of philosophy and psychology at York University and a leading figure in educational reform. “Everything’s going to change now.”