Webster’s newly-instituted retake policy, which took students entirely by surprise on the first day as there was no mention of it in the student handbook, is counterproductive.
The two tenets of the policy are as follows: that retakes will only be available if a student gets a 70 or below on a test, and that, once the test is redone, it won’t register as greater than a 70 no matter the raw score.
Who does this policy help? It’s opposed to the real learning process that’s supposed to be at work in a school, the much-cited refrain that “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Grades aren’t everything, and a student’s mastery of the material may not be defined by a test grade.
However, as long as letter grades are the measure by which success is judged, there should be an option for students to prove that their grasp of the material is well above “proficient.” Naturally, there will be students who wish to retake tests and students who don’t.
Instead of equalizing the playing field and telling all students that they aren’t defined by their test scores, this policy only takes away the option to amend mistakes.
Anonymous
See Also: New retake policy should be changed
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