Ultimately, if an assessment is created properly, a midterm or a final should assess those same skills present on the earlier assessments. I think that you could take it even further; going beyond replacing a quiz and allowing a high midterm grade or final to replace the lowest test score does not seem to contradict mastery. Students are not conducting surgery of any sort. They are in the learning process. It might take them longer to master something than others. If they prove it later down the road, then why not allow their grade to reflect that?

Remember a final grade is the story of what the student has learned. If the student knows it at the end, that should be his grade. Think of it like a basketball team. If a player does not do well during a game at shooting free throws, does the coach just accept he cannot shoot them and say that is your "grade"? No. The next day in practice, the player will be forced to practice again and again on the free throws until he gets better. He gets to "redo" the skill. The doctor example you gave is nice, but what of that doctor while he was learning his skill? I am sure he learned from mistakes in school that bettered him for the final result of becoming the best doctor possible.

If the student does better on a year end summative assessment in a certain area, then they are deserving of getting the previous grade replaced because they have done the work neccessary to correct their previous mistake. The end goal is that students have grasped the information and achieved the standard by the end of the class or grading period. No, a brain surgeon does not get a redo, but they also are not allowed to perform any surgeries until they show mastery of their craft.

I understand your thoughts on grading and making students accountable for their grades, but you can't compare them to Drs because they are just kids. I give my students the oppurtunity to correct their mistakes on guizzes and give them points for every correction. I have them correct their mistakes on unit tests but do not change score on that test. I do retest them on their areas of weaknesses and will add that to their overall average grade. I want my students to understand their mistakes as well as be accountable for their progress.

When it comes to grade replacement, only you as the teacher can make that call. We as teachers have seen the student's work. We know there weaknesses and strengths. There are some concepts that are not mastered as quickly as others. I use the information on my formative assessments for my summative assessments. If the student scored higher on the summative, I will drop the lowest formative assessment that was a part of the summative test. The other option would be to replace the grade with the higher grade. The end point is that the students learn the material. I even allow a retake on a formative assessment by the student first showing me how they revised notes. Secondly, they will tell me why their answer was wrong before correcting the answer. If the student cannot tell me why the wrong answer was wrong, they do not get credit for giving the correct answer. Again, to me there is more reinforcement with this. Therefore, when they take a summative assessment. The grade is final. There is not a retake or a grade replacement.

You may want to consider giving the graded assessment back to students, without reteaching anything, and allowing them to correct mistakes for partial credit. I do understand this is additional work on the teacher's part however, many students are able to see that they rushed through the assessment during their first try and are able to do significantly better when given the opportunity.

I am a huge fan of reteaching and reassessing. These are children who are learning. Learning is their ultimate goal. We all learn through failure. Sometimes it is the best teacher of all. As an adult teacher, I spend a great deal of my time reflecting and reassessing my own lesson plans and objectives. This is how we all get better. Never allowing or encouraging a child to remediate and retest is sending the wrong message to our students. That is the same as telling them that mistakes aren't allowed.

I think a better way to address the disparity between grades for formative and summative assessments is the way that the grades are weighted in the grade book. If the primary concern is what students walk away knowing at the end of the year, the summative assessments should be very heavily weighted. Additionally, formative assessments can have very low- weights since their purpose is to inform the student and teacher how well the student is grasping the material. Grade replacement seems unnecessary if categories are properly weighted.