The Clarke County School District high schools recently updated their testing retake guidelines so that only students who fail tests can retake them with the opportunity to receive full credit back on the retake. However, students who do not fail the test do not have any opportunity for corrections. “The students that get a 72, I’m very sorry for them because they’re stuck with a 72. But a student that gets a 69 can retake it. It’s very unfortunate for students who get in the 70s,” Clarke Central High School math department teacher Joy Sapp said. Photo by Elena Gilbertson Hall.
The Clarke County School District has updated their testing retake guidelines for the 2017-18 school year.
Over the past year, the High School Instructional Council, made up of representatives from Clarke County School District high schools, reviewed the high school grading guidelines and reformed the guidelines for retaking tests in order to institute greater consistency across schools.
According to the CCSD high school grading guidelines in the failing summative assessments section, “An alternate form of assessment may be retaken after a period of review (or) remediation. The higher score earned on the second-chance assessment is granted. There will be no retake opportunity on final exams.”
Many AP teachers do not give any retests. However, for non-AP classes, students that fail can retake tests for full credit back.
“Other than AP (courses), the school is giving retests if the student fails the test. AP, since it’s a college level course, usually don’t retest. I don’t retest in my AP classes. (But) other kids get a retest if they fail,” Clarke Central High School math department teacher Joy Sapp said.
CCHS math department teacher Adam Osborne was informed of the guideline change by CCHS administrators during pre-planning sessions over the summer.
“It is our understanding, the way that is was explained to (teachers), that in order to be eligible to retake a summative assessment, students have to fail it and remediate. (Classroom) retake (guidelines) comes straight from the district policy from the high school grading guidelines,” Osborne said. “(But) I can tell you that in the meeting I was in, teachers weren’t very receptive (to the new guidelines). Immediately, they saw the holes in this.”
“(The new guidelines) really behoove all of us to be prepared for that assessment as best as we can be, knowing that we may only have one shot and we have to prepare appropriately.”
— MARIE YURAN,
CCHS Principal
CCHS Principal Marie Yuran, a member of the HSIC, believes that the new testing retake guidelines are beneficial to students struggling with the content as well as encourages students to be prepared for assessments.
“(The new guidelines) really behoove all of us to be prepared for that assessment as best as we can be, knowing that we may only have one shot and we have to prepare appropriately,” Yuran said. “It also gives flexibility for students struggling with mastery of content to continue learning so it wouldn’t be detrimental to them moving forward.”
On the other hand, CCHS sophomore Maggie DeMaria is critical of the grading guidelines and believes that the guidelines give an advantage to less hardworking students.
“I don’t like the idea of the (new testing retake guidelines) because it creates a giant loophole,” DeMaria said. “Students who try hard don’t get rewarded for their hard work while students who don’t do anything can get full credit back for something they didn’t do the first time, which is not fair.”
CCHS freshman Anastasia Mack does not have strong feelings about the guidelines but is unsure why testing retakes are limited to students who fail summative assessments.
“If you have a 70 that’s still good so you shouldn’t stress about getting a higher grade but if you wanted to push yourself, I think they should let us do that,” Mack said.
CCHS social studies department teacher Courtney Jones generally supports the new guidelines and believes that the remediation piece is key.
“If we give retakes, it’s just for people who fail and they have to do remediation. We’re not just going to give back the same test and say, ‘Do it again.’. The point is that you obviously need help, so let’s get you where you need to be and see what you need help with,” Jones said. “(The HSIC) may be trying to combat the idea of (teachers) not actually trying to reteach the information but just trying to get (students) to guess again so their grade is better. And if their grade is better, it looks better, but they haven’t actually learned anything.”
“I think if a student was inclined to try to beat the system and purposefully fail a test (in order to receive full credit back on the retake), it’s wide open for them to do that.”
— ADAM OSBORNE,
CCHS math department teacher
Osborne, who will be implementing the new guidelines in his classroom this year, acknowledges loopholes in the new guidelines that may cause students to intentionally fail tests in order to have the opportunity to retake it and get full credit back.
“I think if a student was inclined to try to beat the system and purposefully fail a test (in order to receive full credit back on the retake), it’s wide open for them to do that. Whether it encourages that or not, I think that depends on the individual but the opportunity is definitely there,” Osborne said. “Once I read (the new guidelines) to my students when we were going over the syllabus, they all had the reaction that they should all just tank it. Which of course I discourage them from doing, but they were a little bit shocked.”
On the other hand, Jones believes the new guidelines make grading easier for teachers.
“Teachers are overloaded with the amount of retakes if you allow every kid from a 30 to a 99 do a retake, you are basically going to regrade the entire class. We really want to focus on students who need the help versus those that are just overachievers. (Overachievers) deserve all the love too but we have to prioritize to an extent,” Jones said.
Sapp believes that although it will be an adjustment, students will adjust to the new guidelines and learn to be successful despite the changes.
“We’re all going to follow our directives. (Teachers) will support (the guidelines) but we recognize that the students who don’t qualify for a retest better study the first time,” Sapp said. “Students are just going to have to adjust. It would probably be more fair if (students’ grades) were the average of their two scores, but that’s not our policy. I think that the students are going to rise to the occasion and study and plan to do well on the first test.”
More from Elena Gilbertson Hall
