I had always known that the concept of redos and retakes existed, theoretically. I only actually employed them in my classroom, though, in exceptional cases –those exceptional cases being large-scale failures or lack of proficiency, signaling to me that I needed to reteach and re-assess. But as a regular practice that was open to all students? Not at all! Can you imagine what my paper stack would have looked like?!
One summer, I went to a session on equitable grading featuring Joe Feldman as the keynote speaker. Lo and behold: he talked about offering redos and retakes to students as a method of being a more accurate, bias-resistant, and motivational grader. I was riveted and thought that I would immediately try implementing redos and retakes that fall at school.
Lemme tell ya: there was no greater learning experience–for better or for worse–than researching this on my own in real time with my students right in front of me. Did students’ grades go up? Yes and no. Was my grading pile high? Yes and no. Here are the top 5 things lessons learned during my time implementing redos and retakes:
#1: Redos and retakes work in concert with other equitable grading practices.
I not only wanted to use redos but I actually needed to use redos. The inclusion of redos allowed the first assessment to serve as a means of granular feedback about where students were in their proficiency. If needed, the redo opportunity was there for them to relearn and to be reassessed. This also allowed me to start implementing 100% summative grading; it took out unnecessary practice work (much of which wasn’t meaningful, honestly) and also reduced ambiguity about who completed any homework I assigned – many of my students had tutors or other support services outside of school time. As a result, every assessment weighed more heavily, but because the redo process was in place, students had the ability to take time and relearn content.
#2: Retakes allow students to actually grow in their learning.
In my context, I made any original scores that were below a 75 (on a 100-point scale) mandated to be retaken while any original scores that were above a 75 were optional for a retake. No matter how students scored on their original assessments, retakes offered the opportunity for them to gain proficiency, enhance their skills, and develop deeper content knowledge. It was absolutely never a waste and never unnecessary. I knew of some teachers who didn’t let students who got above a certain grade threshold take retakes, or they put a cap on how high the grade could become. To that I asked, “Why?” If the students are relearning–meaning they are meeting with me one-on-one to review the original missed content–they are still learning more, no matter where their original knowledge was. If they have a 90 and want to redo it to get something above a 95, maybe they had a personal goal set to get at least a 95 on their assessments that quarter. Or maybe they know that English (my discipline) was an easier subject for them, and they wanted to push themselves to show greater understanding. Allowing students to reassess wherever they might be helps students strengthen their muscle of intrinsic motivation by developing their self-efficacy.
#3: Redos resulted in less grading than expected.
Rather than grade every single word of every single essay when it was re-submitted, I figured out some strategies to efficiently score redos and not extend my grading pile by too much:
I graded the redo side by side next to the original assessment and only graded the areas where they missed the learning. I sometimes also only made the highest value sections of an assessment eligible for redoing, not every single thing, which also helped to reduce the time I needed to spend grading the retake.
I only allowed a limited amount of retakes. I allowed 9th graders two redos, and I allowed my 12th graders one redo. That helped give weight to the initial assessments while still offering the redo as a parachute in case they had a bad assessment.
I only allowed redos within a set timeline of two weeks. During this time, students had to review notes, then meet with me to discuss their new understanding, and finally take the assessment again. They had two weeks to do all of this. This prevented my grading from endlessly extending.
#4: Redos and retakes gave me better (and regular) feedback about my teaching.
Many of us had annual reviews where an observer would(?) watch a structured lesson and give us feedback about what they saw. That’s helpful, but it doesn’t get at so many parts of my regular practice. Offering redos and retakes allowed me to see whether my teaching was effective in a way that did not feel threatening. It just felt like science: trying something; looking at my data; reflecting on the results; and making changes. If a student didn’t improve on a retake, it led me to question other elements of my instruction that I might not have otherwise paid attention to.
For example, a student’s grades going down might mean I needed to reflect on something I did something: was it how I taught the original content, my pedagogical moves? Was it the assessment itself that was a barrier to accurately ascertaining what was in a student’s head? Did the practice work that I assigned sufficiently support their development of the skills we were working on? Did my relationship or interactions with the student impact their learning? I was able to enter into those questions based on the data I got back from the redo results.
What about you: have you ever tried retakes? What have your results been? If you are a person who is curious about redos, what is challenging you? What are you worried about regarding possible implementation? Hearing those questions from so many teachers is why Crescendo Education Group created its new online course, “Grading for a Growth Mindset: Implementing Redos and Retakes.” The course will provide you with strategies to make your implementation of redos effective and efficient.
If you are a classroom teacher, school leader, or education administrator who is looking for more information about how equitable grading practices can transform teaching, learning, and school culture, please take a moment to fill out our contact form here!
