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Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)
MCPS Retest policy
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Anonymous
| What do you think about MCPS policy to allow kids to retake any test to try to improve their scores? My child (4th grade doing 6th grade math curriculum) can retake the specific questions that he got wrong after a "reteach" session. His score often improves dramtically. I know this is MCPS policy but it does not make me feel like he really knows the material. There seems to be alot of pressure to get these kids 2 years ahead in math and I feel like they are covering the fact that some of the kids are not ready yet. Curious to know what others think. |
Anonymous
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It's only certain tests, the "formative" ones that don't count for all that much. They cannot retake the "summative" tests, which tend to carry more weight in the final grades.
Also, it's not just in math, it's in all classes - when they get to HS (where mine just started), they can retake history, english, spanish and physics "formative" tests. That said, I'm not sure how I feel about it. It doesn't feel "right" on one level, I agree. In our experience, however, the retakes haven't involved just redoing 1-2 questions and maybe choosing a different answer, knowing that the first answer was incorrect. It involves retaking the whole test, and substantial studying. But this may differ by school, and (after doing private ES), my kids are in MS and HS, so it may be a whole different scene. Also, this is going to sound really self-centered. But when a kid is on the margin between B and A, these opportunities to retake a test can make all the difference in bumping up to an A. At least it's done in a transparent manner (the kid has to restudy and perform well the 2nd time), instead of the old random manner of my school years. With older DC applying for colleges in another 3 years, we welcome all the As we can get. So in the end, I don't know. But if all the other kids are doing it -- and they are - we'd be foolish not to. (Re the math advancement in MoCo, that's a separate debate. My kid did math 2 years ahead too, and does seem to know the stuff, which is put to the test every day at the TPMS magnet. But I can see it wouldn't be good for every kid, and in DC's ES, not every kid is doing math 2 years ahead anyway.) |
Anonymous
| I think the policy makes a lot of sense. If the kids don't do well on a test or on a part of a test, then they haven't grasped the material. Instead of moving on, MCPS reteaches the material, retests and then, when the kids have reached an acceptable level of mastery of the material, they move on. I have a hard time seeing what is objectionable about this. |
Anonymous
| OP, are you questioning the value of the "reteach" session? I can see how it would vary from school to school, and even within schools, from teacher to teacher. At one extreme, it could end up looking like a cram session for a small number of questions on the test. In our kids' experience, it hasn't worked this way, however. |
Anonymous
Do YOU understand each new topic that you encounter for the first time? Even at work, I have time to digest any new information with which I have to work. If I don't get it the first time, I reread it, find out other helpful resources, and/or seek out colleagues for their assistance and expertise. Why do you have a problem with this practice? If your son failed a quiz on plot line in regard to a short story the class read, wouldn't common sense tell you that to move on to more abstract thinking (making inferences), basic plot line knowledge is important to building a strong foundation? You could refuse any offers your son receives to reteach and reassess, but your son would have plenty of gaps in his knowledge and would most likely fall behind quickly, as the curriculum is fairly faced paced and dense at the upper levels. |
Anonymous
Exactly. I am a high school teacher (in private, not in MCPS), and the goal is mastery of the material. When I teach, I tell my students on the first day that I don't grade on a curve in my classroom. Why is that? Because a curve only measures how well each students knows the material relative to his/her classmates, and that is basically meaningless if what you are after is real learning. (Would you want to be operated on by a surgeon who earned As only by virtue of a curve?) I explain to my students that the goal is mastery of the material, and that theoretically every single person in the class should be able to earn As, because every single person should be able to learn what is being taught, and that is the goal. (Just as an example, if you were teaching a foreign language, it wouldn't make sense to move on to the subjunctive if students didn't first grasp the indicative. Similarly, if you were teaching math, it wouldn't make sense to move on to multiplication before someone knew addition.) |
Anonymous
| If it is a test, it should be taken only once. Otherwise, just make it an open book test! Grades 6-12 have a printed policy on retaking tests, however grades K-5 rest in the procedures drawn up by each individual school. Does your elementary school have a printed procedure for retaking a test? I doubt it, they probably think it is a MCPS policy. Check it out and see. |
Anonymous
| When my DC was in 4th grade in MCPS, the teacher let the kids take the tests home to do the re-take! |
Anonymous
Well, that's why she's reaching out to DCUM. She's looking for info. So let's give it to her, instead of criticizing her. |
Anonymous
Is the goal to have a test because it is a one-time measurement? Or to learn the material? I'd say the latter. I personally don't think open book tests are very conducive to learning. But making them re-study, and re-take a test, seems like it would promote learning. |
Anonymous
| OP Here..I think the teacher is is not reteaching the entire concept but the specific question. I think it is fine if there is a concept from time to time that a student or even the whole class needs more work on over the course of a year...but I don't think a child should continually need a reteach to pass the test. I am sure the policy is implemented differently but different teachers and schools..but I don't feel good about it at the moment in my childs class. |
Anonymous
| More from OP..I guess thinking about it more...there is either a problem with the way it is being taught or a problem with my childs reccomended math level..either one is being hidden/masked by this policy IMO. |
Anonymous
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My DC is also in the same math situation - 4th grader doing the 6th grade math class. I was surprised to hear that any child that did not get an "A" was supposed to re-take the test. In my DC's class of 25 kids, 19 had to "re-take" the test.
I can understand giving a re-test if the kids have a really low grade (less than a C), but a "B" to an "A"??? Seems kind of strange. And, I agree with PP that it is definitely reviewing the test - not necessarily re-teaching the material. My DC said that teacher just went over the test in class and then the next day, the kids could re-take it. My DC just sat and read a book during the re-test. |
Anonymous
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I can see how there could be a big gap between the concept behind this, and the implementation. If the teacher is actually "re-teaching" material that kids didn't understand the first time around, this would be a good thing. If what kids are learning is that "answer 'a' was wrong, so choose a different answer next time", then that's pointless and even harmful.
We have two kids in MCPS now, and it seems to work well in our experience. I know older DC had to review ALL of the physics material behind a recent quiz, in order to retake it. |
Anonymous
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"More from OP..I guess thinking about it more...there is either a problem with the way it is being taught or a problem with my childs reccomended math level..either one is being hidden/masked by this policy IMO."
We are experiencing the EXACT same emotions right now about our child in an advanced math class in MCPS elementary. It is very discouraging. |