Retaking tests in high school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To me it is far better than allowing random extra credit to bring up a grade..

No. It's legalized cheating. The kids will never learn how to study for a test if you continually give them second and third chances. My MCPS friends are always complaining about the new dumbed down curriculum. Sad.

[Anonymous]

Who said any thing about third retakes. Most classes offer one retake of a quiz per quarter. I know a kid in Arlington who got extra credit for bringing tissue boxes in the class!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who said any thing about third retakes. Most classes offer one retake of a quiz per quarter. I know a kid in Arlington who got extra credit for bringing tissue boxes in the class!

I would much rather my kid be accountable for the test the first time and let him get a couple extra bonus points on a test, or extra credit like a box of tissues. The idea of not being accountable for knowing material for a test is just to enabling.

[Anonymous]

Again. These are not tests. They are the weekly quiz category. Some school drop the lowest grade which is even more forgiving. I would rather know my child has conquered Al! The material than was a tissue contributor. Everyone has their own priorities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who said any thing about third retakes. Most classes offer one retake of a quiz per quarter. I know a kid in Arlington who got extra credit for bringing tissue boxes in the class!

Exactly, at my DS highs school they are allowed one retake of quiz per quarter. That's it. I have no idea which schools in the county are allowing multiple re-takes. It sounds like someone is making up their own rules and it's very unfair to their peers in other schools. By the way though, my DS will sometimes tell me that lots of people in the class did poorly on a test or quiz because they didn't understand it or the teacher did not cover it thoroughly. That's not right either. If a significant portion of the class (IMO 25% or more) don't do well on a test/quiz than as far as I'm concerned it's the teacher's obligation to re-teach that material.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not enabling. Enlightened teachers and school districts allow this. If you are an educator and at all up on modern educational theory, you'll know that the focus is enabling a kid to learn material, even if it takes multiple tries.

The problem is the inconsistency; some teachers do, some don't.

[Anonymous]

I think your stance on this really comes down to what you think the purpose of school and testing is.
If you think school is designed to teach children material, and tests are designed to ascertain whether they have learned such material, then retakes make perfect sense. They show the child has learned the material.

If you think that schools are designed to identify and reward the "smartest" kids and tests are designed to rank children, then retakes are akin to cheating.

In any case, I've never understood the comparison to the work world. I absolutely revise and redo work at work. I'll complete preparation for a presentation, and then sleep on it and revise it the next day. Should I be punished because it wasn't perfect the first time? Additionally, we have extensive peer reviews before major products are distributed or presentations are given. We are far more focused on getting the best product at completion than judging each other on their first draft.

It's school with the "here's your one and only shot at learning something" that isn't the "real world"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think your stance on this really comes down to what you think the purpose of school and testing is.
If you think school is designed to teach children material, and tests are designed to ascertain whether they have learned such material, then retakes make perfect sense. They show the child has learned the material.

If you think that schools are designed to identify and reward the "smartest" kids and tests are designed to rank children, then retakes are akin to cheating.

In any case, I've never understood the comparison to the work world. I absolutely revise and redo work at work. I'll complete preparation for a presentation, and then sleep on it and revise it the next day. Should I be punished because it wasn't perfect the first time? Additionally, we have extensive peer reviews before major products are distributed or presentations are given. We are far more focused on getting the best product at completion than judging each other on their first draft.

It's school with the "here's your one and only shot at learning something" that isn't the "real world"

Well then if you let kids retake tests to improve their scores, then don't call them tests. It becomes more of a work in progress as opposed to a measure of mastery of material. By giving the option to retake, you are basically saying that mediocrity is ok the first time around. I much prefer my child be in an environment that demands excellence.

There are plenty of opportunities during the school year for kids to be able to improve their mastery. I have no problem with a chance to resubmit a project after getting feedback. Even peer editing is a good thing. Homework assignments also...no problem with redoing those for a better grade.

Bottom line, a test should be treated as a test. When you kid gets to college, he won't be able to retake tests, trust me.

[Anonymous]

As stated several times before tests are actually not repeatable..only quizzes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think your stance on this really comes down to what you think the purpose of school and testing is.
If you think school is designed to teach children material, and tests are designed to ascertain whether they have learned such material, then retakes make perfect sense. They show the child has learned the material.

If you think that schools are designed to identify and reward the "smartest" kids and tests are designed to rank children, then retakes are akin to cheating.

In any case, I've never understood the comparison to the work world. I absolutely revise and redo work at work. I'll complete preparation for a presentation, and then sleep on it and revise it the next day. Should I be punished because it wasn't perfect the first time? Additionally, we have extensive peer reviews before major products are distributed or presentations are given. We are far more focused on getting the best product at completion than judging each other on their first draft.

It's school with the "here's your one and only shot at learning something" that isn't the "real world"

Well, I certainly hope the surgeon who is doing my surgery next month doesn't subscribe to this philosophy.

[Anonymous]

I on the other hand hope his med school let him keep trying till he had it right rather than just moving on to new concepts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I on the other hand hope his med school let him keep trying till he had it right rather than just moving on to new concepts.

Yeah, but med school is not the real world. It is med school. The surgeon has one chance to get it right. We should all be going into any important project with this attitude rather than thinking we will do it all over again if it is not good enough. But you public school parents go ahead and keep justifying the dumbing down of your children. I feel sorry for you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I on the other hand hope his med school let him keep trying till he had it right rather than just moving on to new concepts.

Yeah, but med school is not the real world. It is med school. The surgeon has one chance to get it right. We should all be going into any important project with this attitude rather than thinking we will do it all over again if it is not good enough. But you public school parents go ahead and keep justifying the dumbing down of your children. I feel sorry for you!

I had a feeling it was a private school parent or parents who were voicing most of the angst...thanks for confirming. We went from one quiz retake to someone talking about retaking a test three times and now you are talking about important projects being redone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


Well, I certainly hope the surgeon who is doing my surgery next month doesn't subscribe to this philosophy.

Really? If there is a complication - which DOES, of course, happen - you want your surgeon to just get a bad review and then move on to the next surgery? Or would you rather he fix his errors and keep working until he has mastered the issue?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


Well, I certainly hope the surgeon who is doing my surgery next month doesn't subscribe to this philosophy.

Really? If there is a complication - which DOES, of course, happen - you want your surgeon to just get a bad review and then move on to the next surgery? Or would you rather he fix his errors and keep working until he has mastered the issue?

I'd rather he get it right in the first place. If he screws up, I sure won't be going back to see him.