New & Hopefully Improved Retest Policy

After much thought and consideration, I've made changes to my retest policy.  Last year, I just had straight test corrections.  I have an organized form for students to fill out and re-work problems.  I have a list of error codes for students to analyze their mistakes and a to-do list for students to make sure the form is complete before they turn it in.  I gave students half the points that they lost on the test back through test corrections.

The problem with test corrections was that students wouldn't follow the rules.  They would only re-do the problems that they wanted to, they wouldn't write in the error codes, they would write down any multiple choice answer that they did not use before, and if they actually checked their work over with another student, they didn't stop there, they would actually copy that student's answers.  I didn't have the time or energy during the year to address any of these things to fix my policy.  I didn't have the time to find better solutions.

This year, I want to incorporate a retest component.  I will still use the same test corrections form.  I will not accept the form without everything being completed correctly.  Since there really is no way to deter copying, students will have to complete a retest to earn a higher grade.  Students will not be eligible to retest until they complete the test corrections form.  This will ensure that students are accurately assessed for the skills that they have, not the skills that they've copied.  Once students have completed the retest, I will average the grade on the original test with the grade on the retest for the final test grade.  (Unless of course they somehow score lower on the retest.)

I know that this will be more work for me overall.  (By the end I will have graded the same assessment three times.)  I'm hoping that it will be worth it.  I'll try it for a year, and we will see how it goes.

Want my test corrections form?  It's for sale on TPT.