Webster Groves High School implemented a new, controversial retake policy for the 2023-24 school year. This policy changes the requirements for an assessment retake, differing from the 2022-23 school year.
During the 2022-23 school year, students were allowed two retakes per semester per class. The grade on their original assessment did not matter. The retake score was to replace the original score.
Now, students are only able to retake an assessment if they scored below 70% on their original assessment. A student will either get to keep the better of the two scores or receive an average of the two scores, assuming that it will be below 70%.
A reassessment committee for Webster Groves met months prior to discuss the retake policy. It established “pillars” that all of the high school departments had to follow. This committee was made up of assistant principal Dr. Tony Gragnani and teachers from all the core departments: math, science, English and social studies. A counselor was also included in the discussions.
“It was a very long process. Lots of students were brought in as well. We will review the policy further into the school year and see if changes need to be made,” Dr. Gragnani said.
Gragnani stated teachers reported that they repeatedly saw students trapped in an endless cycle of wanting to retake a test but also wanting to save their retakes. He explained this policy was supposed to encourage students to use their retakes when needed.
According to Education Week, the modern notion of retake policies was created in the 1960s by Benjamin Bloom. He theorized that the best learning happens not during the assessment, but rather through the corrective work after it is taken.
“To bring improvement, Bloom stressed formative assessments must be followed by high-quality, corrective instruction designed to remedy whatever learning errors the assessment identified,” Education Week said.
While the new retake policy is designed to encourage students to retake tests more often, it is also taking away possible learning opportunities. When wanting to retake, almost all departments require students to show proof of improvement and understanding. Students who do not typically score below 70% on these assessments are now not able to retake this assessment and truly go back and learn the content if they do not understand.
While 70% is the basic level for proficiency, students typically strive to push themselves into the next level of learning. Only allowing below-proficient scores to be considered for this process is taking away students’ abilities to learn the content above what is considered proficient. In some ways, it even teaches the students that they should only strive for proficiency, and not try and achieve that next level of learning and understanding.
Rather than harming the achievement of students and their mindset toward improvement, the policy should be altered to allow students to earn at least an 80% on a test after retaking or it should be reversed to what it was in the 2022-23 school year.
Scoring 70% or lower on a test falls below a proficient score so students will not be encouraged to relearn material if it would not have any effect on their grade. Instead, if the policy is changed to 80%, students can earn an average grade and still feel like they made an improvement while putting the effort into learning the tested materials.
Retakes are designed to teach students to go back and master material; however, this policy will do the opposite until it is changed.
See Also: Letter to the Editor: Retake policy should be revised
