I believe that it is fluffing the grade because it creates a sense of learned helplessness. Specifically, if students know that they can take a test as many times as they need to they will stop valuing the content and will study less. I believe the best option is to allow for test corrections where students can correct the questions they miss, but have to provide an explanation for why the new answer they chose is correct. This will still give students the opportunity to demonstrate mastery and will still put value on the original test. The points they get back should not be the same as what the questions were originally worth.

I believe allowing students to re-test is perfectly fine. The teacher within the classroom should be able to differentiate assessments to ensure that students are able to assess successfully. On top of that, students should have to justify to the teacher that they are ready to reassess. Students can do this by doing extra work on what they struggled on, go to tutoring, or anything else a teacher may require before reassessing. The bottom line is teachers want to see students be successful, and if students can justify to teachers they are ready to reassess, then students should have the right to be able to reassess.

I have given students their tests back, let them use their notes and correct each problem they missed. If they show all of their work, which proves they went back to their notes, and get the right answer then I will give them half of the credit back for the problem. In your situation, I think the highest a child should be able to make is a 70 if they make below that a retest. It is unfair to students who prepared the first time if the students who waited until the retest, get extra time to study and can outscore them. I also think it sets up a mindset of "this test doesn't matter, they'll just let me retake it" with the students which is only handicapping them in the end.

I believe it is. If the overall outcome is to get students to learn then what are the grades supposed to do. I think we should focus on the learning and not the grades. In life the real world will teach them about placement in society because of their time and achievement. In the schooling years I believe that we should merely provide them with the skills to be successful not consequences that do not teach.

I often have students make corrections or give them back previously taken assessments to retake. I do not feel that this is unethical because through this process, the students are being exposed to the content more. Through more exposure, they are more likely to retain and understand the concepts. It is not fluffing if they are working to earn the score.

Maybe a better solution is providing students with a limited number of retests allowed per semester around 1 to 3.

I never thought this was fair, because if student A made a 71 and student B made a 65 then retested and got a 75, it was unfair to student A. This teaches students just to not study because they can always retake it. I would give ALL students the option to retest once, and average the two grades.

In my classroom, I allow my students to make corrections to tests, but they can only earn up to half credit for each correction.

I understand the idea behind the retest, but I'm not sure it should be able to take it more than a second time if they still don't get above a 70. I would also make so the students that are retesting can only get a 70 because to the students that pass it on the first time is not fair to them for the student that retest gets a higher grade. I don't believe that is the right mindset.

This is something that could be argued on both ends. I would say this is ethical ASLONG as it is something that is being addressed with the lesson planning. If your lesson plans are not helping the students retain and understand the information, you can usually tell if the majority of the students are failing the tests. However, you need to have some accountability. If you have the option to retest all the time students might take advantage of this.

Retesting is ethical if it is not forced, or used as a form of punishment. Redemption is not fluffing the grade, it is a reinforcement of knowledge that may have been weak.

I do not see anything wrong with retesting students at least one time. If students did not passed the summative assessment then they did not learn the skills necessary to do so. After the failed assessment, teachers should reteach students using another method. I would not retest several times but just one.

I think a retest could be helpful if the students don’t know a retest is optional before the first attempt. A student could have had an off day or had things going on at home on the sat of the test and didn’t know as well as they could have.

I believe this is a good mindset to have because it gives the students the opportunity to try again and do better.

I dont think it is right for every student to get a retest on every test. This will cause the students to not be prepared as much as they would if they didnt think they were able to retake it. I would say if more than 50% of the students fall below 70% then maybe allow them to retest if they chose.