Math department prepares to roll out revised retake policy for second semester

After a full semester of experimenting with a new retake policy, the math department will soon begin again with revisions aimed toward improving student learning. In first semester, students could fall back on the luxury of unlimited retakes. Under the new policy, while it will still be easier to be eligible, students will be allowed a limited number of retakes in second semester.

For over a decade, the West math department used the same retake policy. Students had to have homework done before the team test, and failure to do so resulted in not being team or retake eligible. This approach consistently yielded results above and beyond averages around the state of Wisconsin. Over the summer, however, everything changed, resulting in mathematical chaos. A district initiative regarding eliminating penalties for late work and expanding retakes altered the paradigm and caused confusion.

While the new policy had student best interests and mental health in mind, a significant number of students were quick to abuse this lenient approach. Their lack of preparation led to math teachers toiling endlessly to re-teach students and prepare them for retakes one-on-one. The time required by this process quickly proved unsustainable.

Trigonometry and Pre-Calc teacher Kenneth Levine felt overwhelmed with the first semester policy. He also felt bad that students putting forth little to no work were repeatedly rewarded at the same level as students hitting deadlines with full effort.

“Normally in one semester, I would give 15-20 retakes to all five classes combined. Last semester, I would say that I gave easily close to 200 retakes,” he said. “I’ve always had a bunch of kids coming in during my open periods, but before it was always proactive stuff. Now it was me re-teaching things that kids had multiple chances to learn previously. The drawback to that was there were a lot of kids who wanted to get help for an upcoming test, but I didn’t have time since I was too busy working with kids for retakes who weren’t super responsible the first time.”

Math Department Chair and algebra teacher Travis Miller agrees that the first semester policy failed to encourage responsible behaviors amongst students, many of whom were taking advantage of the changed homework policy permitting full points for late homework.

“In all the previous years, you had to have your homework completed before the original assignment in order to be allowed the retake, and that had students practicing the problems,” he said. “With that really not being the case, there are a lot more students doing poorly the first time through because they’re not getting the initial practice that they should.”

Levine noticed a change in his student’s grades, as well as their performance in class. The policy’s safety net became too secure for students.

“There are some kids who do absolutely nothing until they bomb the test, and then they decide it’s the easiest time to learn because they know exactly what’s going to be on the test. It’s really not good for their retention long term,” he said.

While lazy students favor the first semester policy, those who prepare and execute skillfully on tests have not been rewarded for the time spent devoted to learning math material.

“Some kids still did exactly what they’re supposed to and were ready for the test, but some kids did nothing, bombed the test, and then got to be retaught the material so that their grade went up,” Levine said.

Students recognized that they could spend less time studying and still maintain passing grades, while teachers worried about the effect these habits would have on their futures. Philosophically, Levine felt initiating the policy weakened West’s integrity as a whole.

“Part of our school district’s motto is to get students college, career, and community ready, and I don’t know that in college or in a career you can just not do your work, and have second/third chances to retake everything and redo everything with no penalties,” he said. “I think it’s very harmful to kids because it’s not helping them create those good habits.”

Like Levine, some students recognized that the first semester retake policy set standards for students far too low, yet anxiety over grades still makes the policy desirable. Senior pre-calculus student Laura Baker is disappointed to see the retake policy go before the new homework policy.

“I think the homework policy should change, but I don’t think the retake policy should change because sometimes people just aren’t that good at taking tests,” she said.

Like it or not, the math department fought to change the retake policy with students’ best interest in mind. They brought the issue to Assistant Principal Aaron Herm, who encouraged Central Office to revise the first semester policy.

“We’re going back to a bit more similar to what we did for the past decade, where we’re going to have a certain number of retakes per semester instead of an unlimited number of retakes,” Miller said.

Algebra students will be allowed four retakes, geometry three, trigonometry two, and pre-calc one, which is the biggest change as previous pre-calc students were allowed zero retakes to be best prepared for college. Levine noted other changes that he feels diminishes student success.

“For the policy second semester, you don’t have to do any of your homework on time, but you’re still eligible for the retake as long as the homework is done before the retake. That is completely idiotic because why not prepare for the test the first time, which is what the homework helps you do,” he said. “Homework shouldn’t be looked at as something you get points for or get penalized for, it should be looked at as a chance to learn and be better at something.”

by Jazmine Blustin

Published January 29 2024

Oshkosh West Index Volume 120 Issue IV