The one week of school students are supposed to have for themselves, to prepare for finals, graduation, jobs, internships or just to have a break from school is referred to as dead week. Tests and assignments are supposed to be nonexistent. This is not always the case.
Some teachers schedule quizzes, exams or tests for the week.
Many more set deadlines during the week. Both are counterintuitive actions. After a hectic semester of school work, students often are hit with the realization summer is almost upon them. Dead week is supposed to provide them an opportunity to complete many of the tasks they have neglected all semester for the sake of school work. For many, it fails to do so.