October 29th, 2021
Dear EAMS Students and Families,
One of the topics that will come up as we inch closer to the end of the first trimester is Redos & Retakes. In our K-12 Student/Parent Handbook, you will find the following information:
Middle & High School: The focus of redos and retakes is ensuring students gain the knowledge and skills essential for college and career readiness. Students and teachers will work together to develop and complete a relearning plan prior to redoing or retaking any assessment. Retakes must be considerate of a teacher’s time, schedule, and availability. Retakes must be completed within an agreed-upon timeframe. Retakes and redos hinge on an authentic effort on the previous assessment, therefore retakes and redos are a privilege and teachers reserve the right to determine whether a student has earned this privilege or has not. Extra credit and bonus points will not be awarded.
In short, we encourage redos and retakes because a student's grade should be reflective of what they know and are able to do. If a student would like to redo/retake, that is a positive academic behavior. The only exception to that would be if a student did not put an authentic effort into the first attempt in learning, and the reason for that is to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the plan.
Some feedback from students and families has been that the redo/retake opportunity is confusing because it varies from teacher to teacher. Assessments from class to class will vary greatly as they address different skills, so it is to be expected that the redo/retake opportunity will vary. However, in an effort to streamline the process, each classroom will soon be outfitted with a redo/retake bin. This bin will contain the request-to-retake form for that classroom. Hopefully, this will help students in organizing this process.
