Our Standards-Based Grading Retake Policy (And Why We Still Believe in Retakes)
- May 12
- 4 min read
Few topics in education create stronger opinions than retakes.
Some teachers strongly support them. Others believe retakes lower standards, encourage poor habits, or fail to prepare students for the “real world.”
And honestly?
I think many of those concerns are valid.
Retakes absolutely can become harmful if they are implemented poorly. I’ve seen situations where retakes turned into endless second chances without accountability or growth.
But I’ve also seen the opposite problem.
I’ve seen what happens when students are never given another opportunity after struggling.
That experience is ultimately why I still believe in retakes today.
Why I Offer Retakes
For me, everything comes back to the core values I want students to experience in math class.
I want students to believe:
mistakes are part of learning,
struggle is normal,
and growth is possible.
But early in my teaching career, my grading policies didn’t reflect those values.
When students performed poorly on an assessment, the grade was essentially permanent. There was no opportunity to revisit learning, improve understanding, or demonstrate growth.
As a result:
students gave up more quickly,
perseverance dropped,
and many students mentally checked out after failure.
My policies were unintentionally sending the message:
Mistakes permanently define you.
That contradicted everything I was trying to build in my classroom.
Retakes helped change that.
When students knew they could continue learning and demonstrate growth later, they became much more willing to persevere through difficult concepts.
But Retakes Need Boundaries
At the same time, I don’t believe retakes should become a crutch.
A healthy retake policy should:
encourage perseverance,
maintain accountability,
and require continued learning.
That’s why I eventually developed a structured retake system with clear boundaries.
My Retake Policy
In my classroom:
students may retake quizzes multiple times before the grading period ends,
the highest score replaces previous scores,
and retakes are designed to reward growth rather than punish early mistakes.
However, there are important structures around the process.
The First Retake Opportunity
Students are not allowed to immediately retake a quiz the next day.
Instead, the first retake happens:
on the day we take the next concept quiz.
Typically this creates about 7–10 class days between attempts.
For example:
students might take a quiz over special right triangles,
continue learning new material,
analyze mistakes,
complete spiral review,
and then retake that quiz on the day of the next assessment.
This delay matters.
It gives students time to:
reflect,
practice,
revisit misconceptions,
and actually improve understanding.
Without that space, retakes can quickly become rushed attempts to simply “fix a grade.”
Quiz Analysis Matters
One of the biggest lessons I learned over time was this:
Retakes only help when students actually engage with their mistakes.
That’s why we strongly encourage students to complete quiz analysis reflections after assessments.
These analysis reports often include:
reflection questions,
corrected work,
explanations of mistakes,
and additional practice problems.
Interestingly, I no longer require analysis reports for the first retake.
I used to.
But eventually I realized that requirement prevented too many students from even attempting a retake at all.
And I want students to experience growth.
I want them to see that improvement is possible.
So now:
the first retake is available to all students,
but additional retakes require more intentional preparation.
Requirements for Additional Retakes
If a student wants a second retake (or beyond), they must:
complete another quiz analysis form,
seek tutoring or additional support,
or complete a guided review activity (possibly a video-based practice set) before retaking.
This creates healthy accountability.
It prevents what I call “Hail Mary retakes” where students repeatedly retry assessments without making any effort to improve understanding.
The goal is growth — not guessing until a higher grade appears.
What Happens If Students Score Lower?
This is one of the most common questions we get.
In my classroom:
the highest score always stays.
Even if a student scores lower later, their highest level of demonstrated understanding remains in the gradebook.
For us, this reinforces the idea that:
mistakes are safe,
risk-taking is encouraged,
and growth matters.
I’ve found this policy helps build trust and reduces fear around reassessment.
Do Retakes Get Harder?
No.
Retakes use the same structure and level progression as the original quiz:
proficient questions,
advanced questions,
and mastery questions.
The difficulty level stays consistent.
However, the actual questions are different so students can’t simply memorize procedures.
The goal is to measure understanding, not memorization.
What Retakes Changed in My Classroom
Once I implemented structured retakes, I noticed major changes in classroom culture.
Students became:
more willing to attempt challenging problems,
less afraid of mistakes,
and far more likely to persevere.
Most importantly, the grading system finally aligned with the values I was trying to teach every day.
That alignment matters.
Because students quickly notice whether our classroom systems truly support growth — or only claim to.
Download Our Retake Resources
Here are the resources I use to support retakes in my classroom:
Final Thoughts
I understand why some educators are skeptical of retakes.
Poorly designed retake systems can absolutely create problems.
But I’ve found that when retakes are paired with:
clear expectations,
meaningful reflection,
accountability,
and time for growth,
they can become one of the most powerful tools for building perseverance and deep learning.
Inside our standards-based grading workshop, we go much deeper into:
retake systems,
quiz analysis,
grading practices,
unit structures,
formative assessment,
and the day-to-day classroom systems that make standards-based grading work effectively.
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