Teacher who doesn’t offer retakes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of the best teaching methods (or learning methods) is taking a test. You know the material better, remember it more deeply, than you did before taking the test. So if you didn’t do well on a test, the best way to learn it better is to take another test - it forces the brain to store and retrieve the information in memory. So, if the point of school is to learn, and not to achieve grades or rank kids, retakes should be available.

Yes, missing a question on a test burns it into your brain, provided that you go back to learn the correct answer. I always allow re-takes (for half points), but this necessitates allowing kids to take their corrected exams home to use for study, so most systems will never gain the benefits of this method.

[Anonymous]

I always thought retake culture was a scam in awful schools to inflate grades and keep annoying parents and kids off schools’ backs.

But then an elite local private Dean said he believes in retakes, so idk what to believe anymore.

[Anonymous]

I can't imagine why you'd need this option in elementary school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of the best teaching methods (or learning methods) is taking a test. You know the material better, remember it more deeply, than you did before taking the test. So if you didn’t do well on a test, the best way to learn it better is to take another test - it forces the brain to store and retrieve the information in memory. So, if the point of school is to learn, and not to achieve grades or rank kids, retakes should be available. [/quote

I hope that posters lamenting that only "special snowflakes" are somehow crying for retakes (because they didn't study, supposedly) can read the post above and understand what this PP is saying.

I also think those PPs will change their tunes and embrace this attitude when their kids are in high school. Some classes in our HS do have retake policies, with time limits (you can't retake a test weeks or months later) and sometimes limits on the maximum points a retake can earn. Kids aren't handed easy retakes, or an unlimited number of retakes. Or retakes in every class. But retakes in HS can help kids be better prepared for the next unit of learning, because each unit builds on the previous one, and as this PP notes, retakes can help students get the information more solidly in place before moving on.

[Anonymous]

I teach kindergarten. When a student doesn't do well in an area, I reteach the concept. I reteach it whole group, small group or individually. For major concepts, I give them the chance to retake the assessment until they master the concept. There's no sense in giving an assessment if it doesn't affect my future teaching or if I don't give kids a chance to learn the concepts in a different way. That goes for K-college. There is ONE goal in education....student learning. Nothing else matters.

I do understand that at some point, you get what you get. But mid year on a math test in 4th grade? That isn't that point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's what I figured PP. So, because students aren't preparing for assignments, the teachers are given up their lunch time to reteach. Insanity! All because today's special snowflakes can't/won't prepare for their tests/quizzes, etc. My friend is a teacher and she gets 30 minutes for lunch. If she shoves the food down her mouth, she has time to run to the bathroom, answer an email or make a quick phone call. She said she is constantly in meetings during her planning time. There is no way in hell I would allow my child to take up any of a teacher's precious little time because he wanted a Take 2.

"Giving," not "given." No retake for you.

I'm a PP, btw, and I agree with you.

[Anonymous]

There's no need for retakes.

[Anonymous]

I teach middle school math, and I love the effect of retakes. Students actually care about their grades now. Before retakes, a kid would fail a test, trash it, and walk out of the room and forget about it.

Now, they fail the test, and immediately ask what they did wrong, if they can have extra practice on the topic, and what I suggest they do to prepare for the retake. My after school sessions are packed with kids trying to solidify their learning. It's not free points--they have to do a remediation assignment, and retake a second version of a full length test after school. They are learning. My end of year state scores are higher than before, study habits are improving, and kids are more engaged.

[Anonymous]

Are retakes allowed through 12th grade? If so, I wonder how college professors feel when students ask them about retakes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I teach middle school math, and I love the effect of retakes. Students actually care about their grades now. Before retakes, a kid would fail a test, trash it, and walk out of the room and forget about it.

Now, they fail the test, and immediately ask what they did wrong, if they can have extra practice on the topic, and what I suggest they do to prepare for the retake. My after school sessions are packed with kids trying to solidify their learning. It's not free points--they have to do a remediation assignment, and retake a second version of a full length test after school. They are learning. My end of year state scores are higher than before, study habits are improving, and kids are more engaged.

My math teachers would always offer a certain number of lunch periods per week for extra help. I would show up frequently because I didn't totally understand a concept. This was prior to the test though. Why aren't students realizing they don't understand something and doing something about it then? How do this work in college when they are no retakes? Aren't students just being conditioned to not study and prepare ahead of time?

[Anonymous]

If students were properly assessed with a pre-test before the unit and quizzed throughout the teacher would realize if there were concepts that were not making sense to students. The big, end of unit test is to be a final assessment, so if a student studied they should be okay.

If anything, it seems students and parents want the assessments to be spoon fed. Students get upset if the test doesn’t look exactly like the study guide or if a question is in a different format than in the study guide. This is so sad to me as students should have higher level thinking! But instead the focus is on spoon feeding.

Retakes are encouraging students to not work to their fullest potential at the get go — as illustrated by the PP math teacher who has interested students after the test.

[Anonymous]

"Retakes"?? As in, don't bother studying or trying to actually learn anything, just keep sitting the test until you pass it by fluke?



These things never used to be necessary. So what's the problem nowadays? The kids are dumber, or the teachers are dumber? Or both? And why?

I used to teach at a well-ranked university and I would have laughed my head off if a student had seriously expected a "retake".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I always thought retake culture was a scam in awful schools to inflate grades and keep annoying parents and kids off schools’ backs.

But then an elite local private Dean said he believes in retakes, so idk what to believe anymore.

What makes you think an elite local private wouldn't want to inflate grades and keep annoying parents and kids off the teachers' backs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a third grade teacher and I don’t offer retakes.

I'm betting you are over 50, OP.

The idea of a rigid "sink or swim" approach to childhood education is very Old School. Is the goal to evaluate performance or to gain mastery of a concept or idea?
If your goal is mastery, then retake-retake-retake UNTIL mastery is the name of the game. If it's just to tick the Pass/Fail box and give a gold star to the kids who got it on the first go (either by studying or b/c they didn't need to!) then that is a completely different system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I teach middle school math, and I love the effect of retakes. Students actually care about their grades now. Before retakes, a kid would fail a test, trash it, and walk out of the room and forget about it.

Now, they fail the test, and immediately ask what they did wrong, if they can have extra practice on the topic, and what I suggest they do to prepare for the retake. My after school sessions are packed with kids trying to solidify their learning. It's not free points--they have to do a remediation assignment, and retake a second version of a full length test after school. They are learning. My end of year state scores are higher than before, study habits are improving, and kids are more engaged.

THANK YOU for all you do to invest in actually educating our children and helping them invest in their own learning and see that they CAN learn and improve. Retakes play a huge role in underscoring that one bad day, one failed attempt, one careless mistake is not the end of the road!