What are your thoughts on "retakes?" What works? What doesn't work? Do we want to have a school-wide policy or do we want to allow each educator to make her/his own choices regarding retakes? Please contribute your suggestions, ideas, and experiences.
I usually don't allow "retakes" but do allow for certain assignments to either be dropped (established beforehand as either lowest grade dropped or something along those lines) or that students do a different type of "make-up" assignment. The "make-up" does not completely overwrite the original grade (as I am a big believer in timeliness and the impact of a poor performance), but it can significantly alter the grade (original worth 1/3 to the retake's 2/3). However, the make-up's value and date need to be hard so the student knows what is at risk. I find some students will blow-off studying if they know a retake is offered, so set the precedent early that a poor performance means more effort toward the subject, not just another go at it. But that's just my bad way of teaching.
ReplyDeleteHi all,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad this came up. I did notice last year some of the girls asked about retakes before they would even take a test or a quiz, so it seems to be a part of the school culture.
For me, at least, retakes have to show commitment to improvement, so mine require receiving extra help on the math the girls did not understand and resubmission of a "corrected" original quiz/test. Then they receive the average grade for the retake plus the original. It works well for math, but it may not be the right fit for other subjects.
I would love to see us create some sort of consistent policy that has a little "wiggle room" for folks to tailor to their own courses, but I would have to say I agree with Chris about not replacing the original grade. We want the girls to know they can work for better understanding, but we don't want to give them a magic eraser that gives them false security.
I like both Chris' and Amy's ideas. I do like the idea that out of all quizzes or tests you take away the lowest grade. I also like that if you do have a retake that one must go for tutoring or do some extra work showing they have studied for the test/quiz before the retake. I do not think that the first test should be thrown away, I saw too many times girls wouldnt study because they knew there would be a retest and that is a easy way to see whats on the test so then you know what to study even more.
ReplyDeleteI also think that there are certain circumstances that you would have to take into consideration about the retesting.
Hi Guys!
ReplyDeleteIn high school and college many of my teachers and professors used the method that Chris had mentioned about dropping the lowest grade. I like this method but I think some teachers just drop the lowest grade and that is that. I think it is really important that if a student receives a bad grade that it is not just dropped, but also reviewed with the teacher and student together. If a teacher just drops the lowest grade the student is never going to learn the material. At the time that the assignment is passed back neither the student nor the teacher know if it is going to be the lowest grade so I think it is important to go over all low-grade assignments, like Amy said earlier.
Also, I have never used the method that Chris mentioned about the original test being 1/3 of the grade and the retake being 2/3, but I really like that idea because an assignment is not being dropped completely!
As far as a school wide policy on retakes, I think that would be great, but as Amy said there should be some flexibility because of the variety of age groups and subjects at the school.
As everyone has said before, an important learning experience is lost if a student is consistently allowed second chances. I also think it is extremely important for a consensus to be reached, as it would be very easy for educators to become labeled as pushovers if they allow it, and others as sticklers if they do not. Always, there should be wiggle room, but a policy that we can all follow would make it easier on everyone!
ReplyDeleteHello Everyone,
ReplyDeletePerhaps the real questions are what is the purpose of the learning, to what extent is a test grade an indication of one's understanding and are tests truly the best measure of learning?
Difficult questions that are necessary to consider to improve the ways we assess!
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of the learning should determine the type of assessment. This requires thoughtful preparations on the educators part. First we have to determine the objective by asking, "what do we want the learners to know and be able to do?" Then, we can determine the assessment by answering "how can they best demonstrate this knowledge/ability?" (the process of backwards design) Sometimes tests can be the best measure of learning. However, I don't use them too much because I have found other ways to assess (and I'm continuing to work on this.) And if we continue to use tests (will we? could it be possible that we completely turn to alternative assessments? who knows?), then I agree on a school-wide retest policy to maintain consistency. Like the others said, the new grade should not replace the old. I support the grades being averaged or the Lynett method.
I have many thoughts on second chances, purposes of learning, and measuring learning but I am finding it difficult to put into words on a blog. I hope to discuss these issues further during orientation.
I think whatever method we choose whether school whide or educator specific, I really believe we need to scale the impact of retakes throughout the grades. If we do offer retakes to the 5th graders,for example, I think it is fair to give them a retake policy they can understand.
ReplyDeleteI usually like to give the retake as another assignment. I do not like to give another test or the same test to a student because perhaps that is not the best way that they can show their knowledge at a particular time. I would give a writing assignment, an oral assignment, etc. It might take a little time, but I am much more concerned with helping fill the gap in learning.