This high school test retake policy is wild

[Anonymous]

Why can't FCPS just have one retake policy? Originally it was so that all kids could learn the majority of work in the class if they needed more time and get a B so that they could say they passed the class and actually have the content knowledge. Now I have no idea what it's for.

[Anonymous]

APS had a similar liberal retake policy last year and it only last a semester bc it created so much extra work for teachers. The new policy allows for retakes only if students get below a B. At the time this was discussed on DCUM I remember all the FCPS parents saying how this would lead to crazy grade inflation. Looks like FCPS didn't learn from APS' mistake.

[Anonymous]

PP above, and the APS policy allows for only 1 retake (if below an 80).

[Anonymous]

Where is this policy posted online?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid just got his first test back and did well, but said most kids are retaking anything under 97 so that they can be sure they are in good shape in case the final ends up being hard.

This seems like it is going to push the highly perfectionist crowd to insanity.

I hope the kids that really need the retakes are doing it too.

+1 This exactly. My DS studied really hard and got a 22/23 on his first history quiz and was agonizing whether he should retake it to try for a 100. He had so much other work and I convinced him it wasn’t worth the time/effort for one extra point. But it absolutely sucks that someone who got a 60 or 70 the first round could potentially get 100 on the second round and seem to be a better student than my son.

Sure. But a person who gets a 60 or 70 the first go around, likely is not capable of 100%.

They normally go up about 10-12 points. (Teacher)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid just got his first test back and did well, but said most kids are retaking anything under 97 so that they can be sure they are in good shape in case the final ends up being hard.

This seems like it is going to push the highly perfectionist crowd to insanity.

I hope the kids that really need the retakes are doing it too.

+1 This exactly. My DS studied really hard and got a 22/23 on his first history quiz and was agonizing whether he should retake it to try for a 100. He had so much other work and I convinced him it wasn’t worth the time/effort for one extra point. But it absolutely sucks that someone who got a 60 or 70 the first round could potentially get 100 on the second round and seem to be a better student than my son.

Sure. But a person who gets a 60 or 70 the first go around, likely is not capable of 100%.

They normally go up about 10-12 points. (Teacher)

And my A students usually only go up about 2-4 points. 5 has happened but is so rare. (Also a teacher)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They need to end retakes completely. It's an unfair demand on teachers and it makes GPAs meaningless.

Everyone on here crying about retakes are the same people who have their kids take the SAT/ACT 2+ times to improve and/or superscore. Is the score meaningless?

Now watch them twist themselves into knots to justify it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They need to end retakes completely. It's an unfair demand on teachers and it makes GPAs meaningless.

Everyone on here crying about retakes are the same people who have their kids take the SAT/ACT 2+ times to improve and/or superscore. Is the score meaningless?

Now watch them twist themselves into knots to justify it.

I'm not anti-retakes, at least for certain grades. But I do think the policy of letting kids scoreup to 100% on retakes, rather than 80 or 90% is entirely unworkable for teachers and creates more anxiety and pressure and kids that will retake a low A just to get a higher A.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They need to end retakes completely. It's an unfair demand on teachers and it makes GPAs meaningless.

Everyone on here crying about retakes are the same people who have their kids take the SAT/ACT 2+ times to improve and/or superscore. Is the score meaningless?

Now watch them twist themselves into knots to justify it.

I'm not anti-retakes, at least for certain grades. But I do think the policy of letting kids scoreup to 100% on retakes, rather than 80 or 90% is entirely unworkable for teachers and creates more anxiety and pressure and kids that will retake a low A just to get a higher A.

SAT/ACT should say you only get 1 chance but if you score below 1340 or 29 you can retake once, but only up to 1340 or 29.

[Anonymous]

A few departments at our HS are only allowing a retake of a "test" once a quarter BUT that retake will include ALL units from that quarter. So if you had 3 units in the 1st quarter, towards the end of the quarter you can do a re take test that covers Units 1, 2 and 3. Thus only ONE test for teachers to re grade per student. I'm not sure how this aligns with the new FCPS test re take rule but it apparently does. Much better for teachers. This will be interesting. Also Summative grades are ONLY major test grades in our HS. Quizzes and anything else is Formative. It will be interesting to see if GPA's drop with this also new grading 70:30 grading policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP above, and the APS policy allows for only 1 retake (if below an 80).

This is what FCPS use to be, for the last few years. WHy on earth would they change this. They also changed the grading policy to strictly Formative 30% and Summative 70%. It appears some HS in FCPS are not actually doing the retake of every test and certainly does not seem that you can re take more than once. What a flippin nightmare for teachers. I guess this will all be reflected in each schools profile for colleges though.

[Anonymous]

A quick additional note, the retakes won’t affect 100pct of the work that contribute to the final grade. Retakes are only allowed for “summative assignments”, typically making up 70% of the total grade for a course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid just got his first test back and did well, but said most kids are retaking anything under 97 so that they can be sure they are in good shape in case the final ends up being hard.

This seems like it is going to push the highly perfectionist crowd to insanity.

I hope the kids that really need the retakes are doing it too.

+1 This exactly. My DS studied really hard and got a 22/23 on his first history quiz and was agonizing whether he should retake it to try for a 100. He had so much other work and I convinced him it wasn’t worth the time/effort for one extra point. But it absolutely sucks that someone who got a 60 or 70 the first round could potentially get 100 on the second round and seem to be a better student than my son.

Sure. But a person who gets a 60 or 70 the first go around, likely is not capable of 100%.

They normally go up about 10-12 points. (Teacher)

And my A students usually only go up about 2-4 points. 5 has happened but is so rare. (Also a teacher)

Sorry, I was referring to the students with the low scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could someone please post a link to the policy?

Google “FCPS retake” and it’s the first link.

https://www.fcps.edu/academics/grading-and-reporting/secondary/grading-assignments-and-assessments

It applies to all classes, including AP/IB. My school has been doing it this way for years. The novelty of retaking a 92% test fades by the end of first quarter. The only kids who retake are low Bs who are usually As, or sometimes Cs who usually get Bs.

A kids basically never retake. A couple think it’s awesome in September then realize how much time it takes. D/F kids rarely retake unless I force them to and spend one on one time tutoring them.

—teacher (including AP courses)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They need to end retakes completely. It's an unfair demand on teachers and it makes GPAs meaningless.

Everyone on here crying about retakes are the same people who have their kids take the SAT/ACT 2+ times to improve and/or superscore. Is the score meaningless?

Now watch them twist themselves into knots to justify it.

I'm not anti-retakes, at least for certain grades. But I do think the policy of letting kids scoreup to 100% on retakes, rather than 80 or 90% is entirely unworkable for teachers and creates more anxiety and pressure and kids that will retake a low A just to get a higher A.

SAT/ACT should say you only get 1 chance but if you score below 1340 or 29 you can retake once, but only up to 1340 or 29.

Surely you can grasp the difference between a test kids take 2-3 times ever and that the testing body is paid for each time kids take it vs the constant year in year out dynamics of HS grades and the added work that pours onto teachers already overworked.