When I was first introduced to the idea of allowing test retakes, I’m pretty sure I laughed out loud. Unlimited retakes? In high school chemistry? It sounded like a disaster waiting to happen. But once I actually implemented a retake policy in my classroom, everything changed: my students’ work ethic, their mindset, and the overall climate of my room. And now I can’t imagine teaching without it.
(This post is adapted from a podcast episode you can listen to here.)
Why I Changed my Mind About Test Retakes
Like many teachers, I used to think retakes meant:
- students wouldn’t study the first time
- grades would become meaningless
- I’d spend all my time making new/duplicate test
But the reality is that traditional testing often measures timing and circumstances more than learning. Students get sick. They have bad days. They misunderstand one concept and it tanks their whole grade. If our goal is mastery, shouldn’t we allow another opportunity to show it?
That question is what pushed me to try a new approach.
And when it really came down to it, I had learned that test retakes happen all the time in the “real world.” The SAT, your road test… heck maybe even your teacher certification exams are things that you can take again and again until you pass or improve your score.
My Simple Test Retake Policy.
My policy is really straightforward:
- Students can retake any test within the current grading period
- There is no time limit on when they take that test (doesn’t need to be within X number of days)
- The can retake as many times as they want
- the highest score repalces the previous score
- they must fill out a test reflection form (this is a small yet simple barrier to entry that keeps students from retaking over and over without actually studying)
That’s it. No complicated point system. No averaging. No weird hoops to just through. And surprisingly, my students didn’t abuse it.
What Actually Happened When I Allowed Retakes
Here’s what changed almost immediately:
1) Students Took More Ownership of Their Learning
Instead of asking, “Can I get extra credit?” students started asking, “Can I come for a retake?” They moved from chasing points to focusing on understanding. If you know me, you know I love to push responsibilty on to my students. When we’re about two weeks out from report cards, I print out each student’s gradebook page. I force them to look at their average and their test scores. If they are unhappy, it’s time to review that material and retake the test. I’m not going to be held responsible for a failing test score if this student had an opportunity to improve it, and chose not to.
2) Parent Phone Calls Were Easier
“Why is my child failing? What are you going to do about that?”
“Absolutely nothing, ma’am. Your child has had 8 weeks to schedule a test retake with me, before school, after school, during luch, or during study hall and chose not to. I’d suggest you have a conversation about the importance of seizing opportunities, and prioritizing their education.”
It also helps to have this policy written into your syllabus. If you add this in midyear, send out a teacher announcement via email, or have a signed “syllabus addendum” homework assignment to make parents aware.
3) Test Anxiety Dropped Dramatically
When students know one test won’t permanently define their grade, the pressure decreases. A lot. When anxiety drops, performance improves. Students walk in on test day feeling calmer and more confident. Read more about improving student confidence in chemistry in this blog post.
4) My Classroom Culture Became More Positive
The biggest change wasn’t their grades. It was the relationships I had with my students. They knew I was a teacher who wanted to see them succeed. Not somebody trying to catch them on a bad day. That trust changed EVERYTHING. (Even for the kids who NEVER came in for a retake. Just having that option made all the difference.)
5) Retakes Didn’t Create More Work than I Expected
This is the part that teachers worry about the most. Not every student even comes in for retakes. It’ll likely be a handful of your students that take you up on the offer. Many retake only once. (Who wants to take a chemistry test after school when they could be doing something else…?) Most students actually improve both their scores and knowledge, which helps them out later in the school year for midterms and finals.
The teacher workload is manageable. Especially when you compare to the benefits. You can literally administer the same test if you like. You can give your student a different version of the same test. You can change from a 30 question multiple choice test to a 5 free response questions. This is the RETAKE afterall. You don’t have to follow the same rules. Heck, you could even make it a lab report if that aligned with the original content of the test!
Does Allowing Retakes Lower Rigor?
Sure doesn’t. In fact, it may even increase rigor. Students are required to keep working until they understand the material. And keep up with the current material at the same time. That persistence builds deeper learning? Read more about balancing rigor and grace.
What about Students that RELY on the Retake?
When I tell the kids that I have this retake policy in the beginning of the school year, I make sure to let them know that it doesn’t mean that they should do nothing while we’re learning and rely on the retake in two months. Because if they don’t know it now, they’re probably not going to know it in two months. And during that two months of time, we are going to be accumulating more and more content that they need to know and understand. That kind of scares them into learning it the first time around, because they don’t want to have to rely on the retake.
A Minset Shift that Matters
I want the students to be able to show me that they learned whenever they learn. I don’t really care if it happens “late.” And I know that there are some people out there who were going to say, but what about the kids who learned it the first time around?
What about them? Lucky them that they learned at the first time around that all of the pieces lined up so that they were able to learn it the first time. I don’t think that we should be penalizing kids because they learn a little bit slower or a little bit later than other kids. At it’s core, this test retake policy tells your students this one powerful message: Learning matters more than the timing.
And when students believer that improvement is possible, they try. It’s not a DOA situation for their chemistry score if those first few weeks give them a run for their money.
If You’re Considering a Retake Policy
If you feel like you can’t offer unlimited retakes and you just want to be able to offer one, there’s other options, or ways to ease into it.
- Have your students come to a required tutoring session prior to the retake. Maybe that’s coming to your classroom during lunch or afterschool for some extra help.
- Have your students complete a reflection sheet that highlights the things they do and do not understand.
- Require them to correct the original test first. Maybe that is the “proof” they’re ready for a retake so you don’t have to do an extra work creating a new test that won’t change anything.
- This post really isn’t about test corrections and getting points back, but you could do that instead. But I don’t think it has nearly the same impact.
- Offer an alternative assignment that would demonstrate that they learned the same information but showcased in a different way. This could be a written paper, a lab report, or a packet of worksheets on the topics on the test. My quick practice worksheets would be a great alternative!
- Shrink your retake window. If a student wants to retake a test, it has to happen within two weeks, or 30 days. Maybe don’t start out with the entire marking period.
- Allow only one retake. See how it goes. Then upgrade to unlimited retakes. (All the cool teachers are doing it! – I’m kidding. That’s peer pressure, because I can’t go back to no retakes.)
Holding Students Accountable and Giving Grades Truly Based on Learning
I think that when kids are given the option, there are a lot of kids who will work really hard to get a better grade. And there are a lot of kids would just will take whatever grade they have and then that’s it. Even if they fell asleep during the test claiming, “I’m just going to retake it in two weeks!”
When it’s the end of the marking period and the kid isn’t proud of their grade, you have the ability to say that it’s on them because they didn’t utilize the retake window. You have the opportunity to say to a student that they were the ones who forfeited this chance, they didn’t take advantage of it.
And then, more or less, you are in the clear for giving a kid a grade that they actually deserve. All of those typical excuses go out the window as soon as you start offering retakes.
