Test grading for home high school courses

[cintinative]

If your child did not do so well on a test, do you:

• grade it, mark the correct answers, and it is what it is. Hopefully they will do better on other tests, or other work will improve the grade.
• mark the wrong answers and make him/her fix them for no points
• mark the wrong answers and give some partial credit for fixes
• some other alternate answer?

If your child did well (got an A, for example), would you do what you stated above, or something different? 

I realize some do not test on here. Just asking about a course with testing.  😃 

My youngest is still in the learning phase for studying and I am trying to assess this for him. My oldest is doing fine.

 

Edited September 18, 2020 by cintinative

[freesia]

For some classes, I have just marked it and moved on.  If they did so badly it didn’t show mastery, I have retaught and retested. (I-replaced the grade if I felt part of the lack of understanding was on me.)

For a few classes I gave half credit back for fixed answers. This was a math class and for AP psychology.  I felt the looking back and finding the answers led to better learning. The AP psychology was multiple choice, so they had to say why each wrong choice was wrong and why each right answer was right.

I might not do that for a child who refused to study or check over his answers. 

I would not have them redo if they got an A.

[EKS]

17 hours ago, cintinative said:

If your child did not do so well on a test, do you:

• grade it, mark the correct answers, and it is what it is. Hopefully they will do better on other tests, or other work will improve the grade.
• mark the wrong answers and make him/her fix them for no points
• mark the wrong answers and give some partial credit for fixes
• some other alternate answer?

If your child did well (got an A, for example), would you do what you stated above, or something different? 

I realize some do not test on here. Just asking about a course with testing.  😃 

My youngest is still in the learning phase for studying and I am trying to assess this for him. My oldest is doing fine.

 

I'm a very hands on teacher even with older teens, so it is not often that my students (my own sons and my bonus students) completely bomb a test (note that I am thinking mostly about math here) since I don't give tests until I'm fairly certain the student is ready for it.

That said, it has happened.  If there were multiple conceptual errors, I would reteach the material most likely using a different resource/approach and then retest using a different test.  I believe this has happened only one time in 12 years of teaching at the high school level.

Multiple silly errors would be a sign to me that the student isn't as fluent with the material as I would hope.  This would result in them correcting their mistakes on the test and me assigning more practice work in the future.  I would either give half credit for fixed problems or have them take a second (different) test if the grade was going to impact their grade in the course in a way that didn't represent their actual achievement.  This has happened only a handful of times in 12 years.

No matter what, I always go over each and every missed item with my students to make sure they understand where they went wrong.  If it is just a smattering of silly errors (and it usually is), the score will stand. This happens with every test unless the student has achieved a perfect score.

Edited September 18, 2020 by EKS

[cintinative]

In this case, I think it was a failure to study well.  He got a C.  If it is in quizlet, he does okay, but he is still learning how to study from notes or a text.

[Doodlebug]

We are facing the same issue this week.  I test in three subjects.  Latin is one of them and happens to be a strength for DS.  However, he bombed a test this morning because he did not give his weekly work the kind of attention it required.  So the grade stands.  (I do drop the lowest test score of the semester.)

Before our semester began, I determined that accountability in Latin would be driven by weekly tests.  DS knows what Latin requires and we're at the point in the semester where the easy As aren't just gonna happen by banking on what he already knows. 

ETA: This is my first subject in which I'm expecting this level of accountability from DS.  I'm hoping the grade he received is the feedback he needs... but man, I'm worried if it isn't.  🙂

Doodlebug

Edited September 18, 2020 by Doodlebug

[cintinative]

I hope it works out for you @Doodlebug!   When we did Latin, the grade stood regardless and there were a couple of cruddy test scores. In the end, they rallied and improved their grades.  

[Doodlebug]

6 hours ago, cintinative said:

I hope it works out for you @Doodlebug!   When we did Latin, the grade stood regardless and there were a couple of cruddy test scores. In the end, they rallied and improved their grades.  

I think DS is going to rally.  

It's just me looking at that grade and needing to separate myself from it.  Ah the travails of a home educator!  

 

[Reefgazer]

I  mark the wrong answers, grade accordingly, and make him/her fix them for no points.  If the student does not understand the wrong answers, we review then together.   If there is a major not understanding issue, we re-do the unit and re-do the test.  I do this whether the student got an "A" or not; we always review incorrect asnwers.