Retake Policy
| CHANGE | RATIONALE |
|---|---|
| Retakes may be given on summative tests | Summative tests typically require students to demonstrate mastery of content in one class period of time. Papers and projects, on the other hand, are generally worked on for multiple days with teacher conferencing and guidance. Therefore, it is appropriate to provide a retake opportunity for summative tests as opposed to papers and projects. |
| Retake opportunities will be limited to one per class per semester. (Exceptions will be allowed per teacher discretion) |
This allows students to learn from poor preparation efforts and provides them the opportunity to revise their study strategies to better master the content being tested. However, with a limited number of retakes, students will not be able to rely on the retake opportunity and will (hopefully) consider their preparation efforts more carefully. *This is a suggested guideline in order to prevent reliance on retakes. Teacher’s professional discretion is to be used on a case-by-case basis. |
| The retake test score will replace the original test score. | This rewards the improved preparation efforts of students, while simultaneously helping them understand how they could have achieved this success with similar preparations for the first assessment. Students will only retake the portion of the summative they did poorly on. |
| All formative work must be completed prior to the retake. | Most students need formative practice and feedback in order to successfully master content prior to a summative test. Therefore, this requires students to complete this formative practice to emphasize the importance of these tasks as a part of preparing for a summative test. |
| The retake should be taken within a reasonable amount of time after the original test is returned to the student. (A firm deadline should be established by the teacher and the student.) | A suggested guideline is one week’s time in order to prevent students from falling behind in their class work. This provides students ample time to meet with the teacher for reteaching and continue to prepare outside of school for the retake. Teacher’s professional discretion is to be used on a case-by-case basis. |