This is a big debate at our school as well. We must allow students to make up assignments. We have a ZAP (Zeros aren't Permitted) policy. Students must do assignments and if they are zapped, they do it in Lunch Detention. Other than that, we don't have max score that is school wide. However, I do feel that allowing endless opportunities gives students a false sense of security that will bite them once they enter the real world be it college or work.

My biggest concern with this I have in my own district as well. A standards based report card would help tremendously with that as opposed to giving a student a numerical grade. Students have to take responsibility at some point and time, or why bother with the effort of they know they will receive the graded assignment again. You could make 50 the lowest score. That will keep students from hitting the bottom and not being able to find their way out of the hole.

The same is going on in our school. However the method is teach, assess, reteach, assess. If the students still did not show progress then action should be taken of figuring out ways to accommodate instruction to reach the particular student. I'm not sure that this is realistic in the sense that they will not get numerous chances to get it right in the working world or even high school probably. But, the goal is for students to master the information!

I believe that allowing students to revise their work is very helpful. It makes sure that they have mastered the work rather than accepting the bad grade.