(Re)Testing a Theory

So I did something that I never thought I would do...wait let me rephrase that.... I did something that the old version of me thought I would never do. I gave my students the opportunity to retake a test. Before you get mad at the old version of me, please keep reading.

I consider myself to be a fairly reflective person. If students do poorly on an assessment, I have never placed all of the blame on them. I have to look at myself and fix things about my presentation, explanation, approach, attitude, etc. But at the same time, I also have an extreme sense of fairness (its a problem!) And this is where my dilemma has always been. How much is on me and how much is on the students? And each student has a unique situation so how do I fairly assess what I need to change to help each individual and what he/she needs to change to be more successful?

An argument against re-testing (and one I used to stand by with all of my being) is that if we allow students to re-assess, then what are we teaching them about preparedness, time-management, and study habits? For a long time it was very important for me to have my students prepared by a certain date and time throughout the school year. After all, they have a state test in June that they must be prepared for and must pass on the first attempt. Because if they didn't, that meant that I was not a good teacher, and I was not doing my job!

I also used to say that I would not create another test because I shouldn't have to do extra work if the kids aren't doing what they are supposed to be doing the first time around. (I kinda want to slap the naivete out of myself!) I held on to this mentality for far too long... it is time for a change.

So for the first time in my teaching career I decided to give a make up exam.

Here is what I did:

1) I graded the original test and let the students take notes about what they didn't get full credit on. I allowed them to write all of the questions down on a separate piece of paper and use that to help them prepare for the make up exam.

2) I told the students that the make up test was almost identical to the original...why? Because I wanted them to focus on what was being tested. The review sheet they had was over 25 questions long and the test was only 12 questions.

3) The students could not keep the original test but I allowed them to use it to help them prepare while in lab class (we have an everyday period and and every other day lab set up! Our focus was preparing for the make-up for 2 full class meetings.

4) I gave the students a 3 day window (about 6 days after the original test was given) to make up the test.

5) Students had to find the time to take the test. They were not allowed to make up the test during class time (or lab time) or miss another class.

6) Students had to make an appointment to take the test within the 3 day window.

Here is what I noticed:

1) Not a single student missed their appointment! A small handful rescheduled their appointments, but ahead of time!

2) 32 of my 43 students chose to re-assess. That is 74% of them!

3) of the 32, 7 did worse on the make-up than the original... not great but on the flip side that means 25 of them did better!! (78%)

4) Legitimate studying took place! The students asked good questions, they went back to the videos I created and watched and re-watched them.

5) Students were grateful

6) I was proud of them!

Moving forward, I definitely need a policy in place that has some student accountability and reflection. Luckily some co-workers attended a conference around the time of the make-up test and shared the following diagram with me...

I think this is such a great visual for (me) and the students!

So for anyone even thinking about moving away from the traditional, do it!! I am so happy I did. If you have a policy in place, or a system that you use for re-takes, I would love to hear about it!