Following the lead of the state test (if you can’t beat ‘em. . .), which must be taken again and again until passed, I’ve instituted a policy that all small tests and quizzes must be passed by 70% of the class or they will be taken again by that class the following week, and, if necessary, the following week, etc. Tests are modified slightly, or have the questions rearranged, to discourage cheating on subsequent sittings. The most dramatic success was my sixth period, which on one test went from about 20% passing the first time to 100% passing the third. No class has yet gone more than three tries on the same test. Astonishingly, every class has improved its test performance even on the first try. I had expected improvements on the second and third tries, as they study more to make the damn thing go away, but what accounts for the improvement on the first try? Are they studying in order not to be blamed by classmates for forcing a retest? On one occasion, exceeding or falling short of 70% depended on the performance of a student who had been absent when the test was given. I tried not to let on to that fact, but the class figured it out, of course, and the pressure on him was immense, especially since he’s not a particularly studious student. He got 100%.
This procedure also creates some competition between class periods. Students in classes that pass on the first or second try ask how many other classes are still taking it. Many of them want to be the first class to reach 70% passing.