MCPS policy on not returning quizzes, tests and exams to students

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Just wanted to add that my kid said that they are told well in advance when a test/quiz will not be retakeable, so that they study accordingly.

I don't have the slightest interest in my kids retaking a test. I just want to see the test and find out what my son got wrong and where he needs help. This is how people learn.

So far at Hoover MS I have not been able to see any marked up tests or quizzes.

If you read the retake process, you would see that reviewing the mistakes on the prior test/quiz, correcting them, and practicing similar questions are all part of that process. That presumes that the students (and parents) are getting the prior tests back, and are getting feedback on what could be done better, and practicing the very things that were not solidly understood the first time. Although you may just want the quiz back, the retake process is vital because it reinforces the learning process. Maybe you should tell the folks at Hoover what they're doing at Pyle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Just wanted to add that my kid said that they are told well in advance when a test/quiz will not be retakeable, so that they study accordingly.

I don't have the slightest interest in my kids retaking a test. I just want to see the test and find out what my son got wrong and where he needs help. This is how people learn.

So far at Hoover MS I have not been able to see any marked up tests or quizzes.

Why does the parent need to see the test if the teachers go over them with the students at school? Don't the kids have study materials such as handouts or books or notes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
My kid says that there is also a retake policy in place for other classes like science and language, and that while summatives and county-level formatives are not returned to be kept in student binders, they get them back in class, go over them, and get feedback. They give the county tests back to the teacher after reviewing them, but it is not true at our kid's MS that no feedback is ever given to the students. My kid tells me they get all the non-county formative assessments back (I see them in my kid's binder, along with marked up and graded past homework), and expressed surprise that anyone would say they are not permitted to see their quizzes, tests and exams, or that the students get no feedback or have no idea how they are doing.

Really, is that what your "kid" says? Or is that what you say?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My kid says that there is also a retake policy in place for other classes like science and language, and that while summatives and county-level formatives are not returned to be kept in student binders, they get them back in class, go over them, and get feedback. They give the county tests back to the teacher after reviewing them, but it is not true at our kid's MS that no feedback is ever given to the students. My kid tells me they get all the non-county formative assessments back (I see them in my kid's binder, along with marked up and graded past homework), and expressed surprise that anyone would say they are not permitted to see their quizzes, tests and exams, or that the students get no feedback or have no idea how they are doing.

Really, is that what your "kid" says? Or is that what you say?

Really, that's your argument? That I've got an imaginary kid? The fact is that I asked to see a copy of the retake process and my kid's past quizzes, and then asked my kid the questions that were posed here, thinking (perhaps foolishly) that people here were wanting to know what the true policy was on returning tests and quizzes in MS. I guess you're less interested in getting the facts about what is happening in at least one school, than about proving your own viewpoint about MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Just wanted to add that my kid said that they are told well in advance when a test/quiz will not be retakeable, so that they study accordingly.

I don't have the slightest interest in my kids retaking a test. I just want to see the test and find out what my son got wrong and where he needs help. This is how people learn.

So far at Hoover MS I have not been able to see any marked up tests or quizzes.

Why does the parent need to see the test if the teachers go over them with the students at school? Don't the kids have study materials such as handouts or books or notes?

NP here. I honestly can not believe there are people that defend NOT getting all of their child's work home to evaluate and see. ESPECIALLY major tests. This county will never have to change because there are just so many "who really cares" parents that don't give a crap at ever looking at one of their kid's unit tests. Do you honestly think half of a 45min period where a teacher quickly goes over some key points on a test where 30 kids got various answers wrong is a true review? And even if you say it is, you think the parents shouldn't see it because the kid saw it and that is good enough? I am really just shocked at how people justify complete laziness. The point is as others stated. MCPS makes a county wide test (which already is ridiculous) and each teacher gives that test, quickly shows the kids the grade and does a max 30min review of it and then it is never heard from or seen again. A parent needs to contact the school and sometimes multiple times in writing to be able to see their child's own test/grade. As a working mom, it is absolute torture for me to do this. I shouldn't have to take personal time off a job to see a test my child took. Ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Just wanted to add that my kid said that they are told well in advance when a test/quiz will not be retakeable, so that they study accordingly.

I don't have the slightest interest in my kids retaking a test. I just want to see the test and find out what my son got wrong and where he needs help. This is how people learn.

So far at Hoover MS I have not been able to see any marked up tests or quizzes.

Why does the parent need to see the test if the teachers go over them with the students at school? Don't the kids have study materials such as handouts or books or notes?

NP here. I honestly can not believe there are people that defend NOT getting all of their child's work home to evaluate and see. ESPECIALLY major tests. This county will never have to change because there are just so many "who really cares" parents that don't give a crap at ever looking at one of their kid's unit tests. Do you honestly think half of a 45min period where a teacher quickly goes over some key points on a test where 30 kids got various answers wrong is a true review? And even if you say it is, you think the parents shouldn't see it because the kid saw it and that is good enough? I am really just shocked at how people justify complete laziness. The point is as others stated. MCPS makes a county wide test (which already is ridiculous) and each teacher gives that test, quickly shows the kids the grade and does a max 30min review of it and then it is never heard from or seen again. A parent needs to contact the school and sometimes multiple times in writing to be able to see their child's own test/grade. As a working mom, it is absolute torture for me to do this. I shouldn't have to take personal time off a job to see a test my child took. Ridiculous.

If the point is for the child to learn the material, then the child should be studying from books, handouts, and class notes. Many teachers also prepare a study guide outline for students to work from. I don't see the need to use a test to learn the material properly.

In some areas cheating is a problem, so it makes sense to keep the tests at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Just wanted to add that my kid said that they are told well in advance when a test/quiz will not be retakeable, so that they study accordingly.

I don't have the slightest interest in my kids retaking a test. I just want to see the test and find out what my son got wrong and where he needs help. This is how people learn.

So far at Hoover MS I have not been able to see any marked up tests or quizzes.

Why does the parent need to see the test if the teachers go over them with the students at school? Don't the kids have study materials such as handouts or books or notes?

NP here. I honestly can not believe there are people that defend NOT getting all of their child's work home to evaluate and see. ESPECIALLY major tests. This county will never have to change because there are just so many "who really cares" parents that don't give a crap at ever looking at one of their kid's unit tests. Do you honestly think half of a 45min period where a teacher quickly goes over some key points on a test where 30 kids got various answers wrong is a true review? And even if you say it is, you think the parents shouldn't see it because the kid saw it and that is good enough? I am really just shocked at how people justify complete laziness. The point is as others stated. MCPS makes a county wide test (which already is ridiculous) and each teacher gives that test, quickly shows the kids the grade and does a max 30min review of it and then it is never heard from or seen again. A parent needs to contact the school and sometimes multiple times in writing to be able to see their child's own test/grade. As a working mom, it is absolute torture for me to do this. I shouldn't have to take personal time off a job to see a test my child took. Ridiculous.

If the point is for the child to learn the material, then the child should be studying from books, handouts, and class notes. Many teachers also prepare a study guide outline for students to work from. I don't see the need to use a test to learn the material properly.

In some areas cheating is a problem, so it makes sense to keep the tests at school.

Seriously? You must be on the board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Seriously? You must be on the board.

It is possible for somebody to have a different opinion from you about something related to MCPS, without that person being a MCPS administrator or a Board of Education member. These constant accusations that PPs must be MCPS administrators etc. are tiresome.

-not a MCPS administrator or a Board of Education member or a MCPS employee

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Just wanted to add that my kid said that they are told well in advance when a test/quiz will not be retakeable, so that they study accordingly.

I don't have the slightest interest in my kids retaking a test. I just want to see the test and find out what my son got wrong and where he needs help. This is how people learn.

So far at Hoover MS I have not been able to see any marked up tests or quizzes.

Why does the parent need to see the test if the teachers go over them with the students at school? Don't the kids have study materials such as handouts or books or notes?

NP here. I honestly can not believe there are people that defend NOT getting all of their child's work home to evaluate and see. ESPECIALLY major tests. This county will never have to change because there are just so many "who really cares" parents that don't give a crap at ever looking at one of their kid's unit tests. Do you honestly think half of a 45min period where a teacher quickly goes over some key points on a test where 30 kids got various answers wrong is a true review? And even if you say it is, you think the parents shouldn't see it because the kid saw it and that is good enough? I am really just shocked at how people justify complete laziness. The point is as others stated. MCPS makes a county wide test (which already is ridiculous) and each teacher gives that test, quickly shows the kids the grade and does a max 30min review of it and then it is never heard from or seen again. A parent needs to contact the school and sometimes multiple times in writing to be able to see their child's own test/grade. As a working mom, it is absolute torture for me to do this. I shouldn't have to take personal time off a job to see a test my child took. Ridiculous.

PP at 23:06 here. I'm not sure if you're the same person who accused me of creating an imaginary child to explain what goes on at our local MS (and I am not the PP you accused of being a BOE member), but if you have a MS student, have you talked to him? Is he saying the test review is brief and inadequate? Does he say he still doesn't understand the material? Is he saying he never gets back his quizzes and homework? Or is he just not bringing it back home? Does your school use Edline? Have you tried emailing the teacher? Your posts raise a lot of general complaints that do not jive with what is happening at my kid's MS and then if someone expresses facts or opinions different from yours, you go on the attack. Not productive. Also, are you saying county-wide exams meant to ensure that kids are meeting county standards are themselves ridiculous?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Just wanted to add that my kid said that they are told well in advance when a test/quiz will not be retakeable, so that they study accordingly.

I don't have the slightest interest in my kids retaking a test. I just want to see the test and find out what my son got wrong and where he needs help. This is how people learn.

So far at Hoover MS I have not been able to see any marked up tests or quizzes.

Why does the parent need to see the test if the teachers go over them with the students at school? Don't the kids have study materials such as handouts or books or notes?

NP here. I honestly can not believe there are people that defend NOT getting all of their child's work home to evaluate and see. ESPECIALLY major tests. This county will never have to change because there are just so many "who really cares" parents that don't give a crap at ever looking at one of their kid's unit tests. Do you honestly think half of a 45min period where a teacher quickly goes over some key points on a test where 30 kids got various answers wrong is a true review? And even if you say it is, you think the parents shouldn't see it because the kid saw it and that is good enough? I am really just shocked at how people justify complete laziness. The point is as others stated. MCPS makes a county wide test (which already is ridiculous) and each teacher gives that test, quickly shows the kids the grade and does a max 30min review of it and then it is never heard from or seen again. A parent needs to contact the school and sometimes multiple times in writing to be able to see their child's own test/grade. As a working mom, it is absolute torture for me to do this. I shouldn't have to take personal time off a job to see a test my child took. Ridiculous.

If the point is for the child to learn the material, then the child should be studying from books, handouts, and class notes. Many teachers also prepare a study guide outline for students to work from. I don't see the need to use a test to learn the material properly.

In some areas cheating is a problem, so it makes sense to keep the tests at school.

That's so stupid. Of course the kid needs time with his own test to figure out why he got something wrong. Not in class where he has to be embarrassed to raise a mistake and where there isn't tell to go over everything anyway. This is obvious. Parents are there to help with these things. To deal with cheating issue create a new test each year. This isn't rocket science.

[Anonymous]

This policy is nuts. When I was in school studying for tests/finals I would go over old tests, focusing on the problems that I got wrong.

What on earth could be the rationale for this?
Don't have to write new tests?
Teachers don't have to write comments?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
That's so stupid. Of course the kid needs time with his own test to figure out why he got something wrong. Not in class where he has to be embarrassed to raise a mistake and where there isn't tell to go over everything anyway. This is obvious. Parents are there to help with these things. To deal with cheating issue create a new test each year. This isn't rocket science.

I'm trying to imagine my parents helping me with tests in middle school and high school, and I can't. I just can't. For the tests that they could help with -- why would they do that, when they were my tests? And then there were the tests that they couldn't help with.

I mean, what happens when my kid takes chemistry, for example? I took chemistry in high school and college, but I don't remember much these days. Do I have to relearn high school chemistry, so that I can help my kid with my kid's high school chemistry class, because otherwise I'm a slacker and it will be all my fault when my child ends up folding shirts at Target?

[Anonymous]

WHen I was in HS, exams were returned. I had a friend with a sibling 1 year older. He had many of the exams we were taking since it was a smallish school. Trust me returning exams is not really a great idea...and that was before the error of standardization. Unless the county is going to rewrite the exams every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WHen I was in HS, exams were returned. I had a friend with a sibling 1 year older. He had many of the exams we were taking since it was a smallish school. Trust me returning exams is not really a great idea...and that was before the error of standardization. Unless the county is going to rewrite the exams every year.

Anyway, we are talking about two different kinds of tests, which people keep conflating. As noted above in the Pyle retest policy, kids do get their old non-county tests and graded homework back so they can study to retake it if desired. Parents are required to participate in this process if the kid wants to retake the test for a better grade or to reinforce the learning. So if you want to review old tests and help your kid prepare for the summatives, this is your chance.

There are separate tests that are standardized countywide. The kids get these back and review them in class, but they cannot keep them. Parents can ask to see them, but can't keep them. For those saying it is inadequate to have the kids go over them in class, what do you think class time is for if not to go over concepts they're supposed to learn? For those saying it is wrong for parents not to be able to keep the tests, do you avail yourself of the opportunity to review the noncounty-level tests? If not, why? If it's because the teacher refuses to share school-level tests and regular HW assignments, I agree that's wrong. But I agree with PPs that have explained that there is a need for standardized tests to ensure that students are meeting standards (which people here regularly complain are slipping) and that rich kids or kids with older siblings can't finagle a way to game through cheating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I can't keep track of what does and doesn't count.

All you need to keep track of are the words "middle school". If anyone has a child in MCPS middle school and their child is able to take their tests home, I would love to hear about it.

As others have said there does not seem to be a uniform policy for elementary school as to whether tests or marked-up homework comes home. But I have not seen anyone say that their MCPS middle school allows it.

I don't know how to take a picture of something and post it here, but I have in front of me a document that all Pyle MS students get and keep in their binders. I'm sure that anyone can ask for a copy from Pyle if s/he doubts this is for real, but I can say that my kid has followed the process to retake formative assessments and I have copies of the original and retaken quizzes, both reflecting what was wrong and feedback on how to improve.

"Pyle Math Department Formative Assessment Retake Process

Some formative assessments in each math class will be available for reassessment (and some will not). Students will be told prior to taking the assessment whether it is retakeable. In order to retake an assessment, the student must:

* Complete an error analysis, practice problems, and the retake assessment within one week of the date the assignment was returned.
* Take the reassessment prior to the end-of-unit summative test and within the same quarter of the original assessment.

Please remember:
1. Some courses may jave additional requirements or deadlines.
2. Appointments for retakes MUST be scheduled ahead of time by the student.
3. Reteaching during TAG (or by teacher appointment) is always available prior to the retake date, but it is the student's responsibility to schedule the reteaching with the teacher.

To retake a formative assessment, the student is required to follow the following steps:

Step 1: Error Analysis -- Student must redo all questions he/she answered incorrectly on the assessment.

Step 2: Practice Problems -- The student must write, solve, and check three similar problems for each type of problem missed. These practice problems can be obtained from sources such as:

* your textbook
* previous homework sheets
* the textbook website
* created by the student/parent/peer.

Step 3: The student must schedule an assessment retake time with his or her teacher, and arrange a time for reteaching if needed. (Be aware of deadlines to reassess)

Step 4: Parent Signature -- The student must have a parent sign their original quiz acknowledging they have seen it. Then, the student should staple the original assessment, corrections, make-up work, etc. together with the original quiz on top."

My kid says that there is also a retake policy in place for other classes like science and language, and that while summatives and county-level formatives are not returned to be kept in student binders, they get them back in class, go over them, and get feedback. They give the county tests back to the teacher after reviewing them, but it is not true at our kid's MS that no feedback is ever given to the students. My kid tells me they get all the non-county formative assessments back (I see them in my kid's binder, along with marked up and graded past homework), and expressed surprise that anyone would say they are not permitted to see their quizzes, tests and exams, or that the students get no feedback or have no idea how they are doing.

If your teacher doesn't return *any* old tests or graded homework for study purposes, refer them to this policy and ask them why not. County-level formatives and summatives are one thing, but school-level quizzes and HW should go home.