What Do You Do When a Student Misses a Quiz?

One of the most common questions I get about standards-based grading is this:

“What do you do when a student misses a quiz?”

And honestly?

There isn’t a perfect one-size-fits-all answer.

The best solution depends heavily on:

• your school context,

• your schedule,

• your student population,

• your campus policies,

• and your own personal bandwidth as a teacher.

What works beautifully in one school may completely fall apart in another.

So instead of giving a rigid formula, I think it’s more helpful to think about missed quizzes through the lens of flexibility, boundaries, and problem solving.

My Biggest Recommendation

In general:

Treat missed quizzes similarly to how you would handle any other assessment in your classroom.

Standards-based grading doesn’t necessarily require some completely unique make-up system.

The logistics still depend on your reality.

For example, in one school where I taught, it was very manageable for students to simply take a missed quiz in the hallway during class while I supervised periodically.

That worked well in that environment.

But in another school, that would have been completely unrealistic due to supervision concerns and campus expectations.

Context matters.

Options That Have Worked for Me

Over the years, I’ve used several different approaches depending on the school setting.

Some options that worked reasonably well included:

• having students complete the quiz in the hallway during class,

• making up quizzes before school,

• after school,

• during lunch,

• during advisory periods,

• or during intervention/tutorial blocks if the campus provided them.

In some cases, students completed the missed quiz immediately when they returned from being absent.

In other situations, that wasn’t practical because students needed time to catch up on learning first.

Again, flexibility matters.

Sometimes Simplicity Works Best

At one school where attendance issues were more significant, one of the most effective solutions was surprisingly simple:

Students just waited until the next quiz day to make up the previous quiz.

Because quizzes happened fairly frequently in the standards-based grading system, students usually didn’t have to wait too long.

This approach helped because:

• it reduced constant scheduling headaches,

• created predictable make-up opportunities,

• and lowered stress for both students and teachers.

Was it perfect?

No.

But sometimes “workable and sustainable” is better than chasing a perfect system that overwhelms everyone.

There Needs to Be Balance

One thing I’ve learned over time is that missed quiz policies need both:

• flexibility for students,

• and boundaries for teachers.

If we try to make individualized arrangements for every single situation without limits, the system can quickly become exhausting and unsustainable.

At the same time, students are human beings.

Absences happen for many reasons:

• illness,

• family responsibilities,

• anxiety,

• transportation issues,

• extracurricular activities,

• personal struggles,

• or challenges outside of school entirely.

Motivation and attendance are often more complicated than they appear on the surface.

That’s why relationship-building matters so much.

The goal is not simply:

“How do I enforce compliance?”

The goal is:

“How do I create a fair system that supports learning while protecting healthy boundaries for everyone involved?”

Getting to Know Students Matters

In my experience, the best missed quiz solutions usually come from knowing your students well.

Some students:

• genuinely want to make up work quickly,

• communicate clearly,

• and simply need flexibility.

Others may need:

• more structure,

• reminders,

• accountability,

• or support systems.

The better we understand students, the easier it becomes to create solutions that are both compassionate and effective.

Collaboration Can Help

If missed assessments become a major issue on your campus, especially in schools with high absenteeism, it may be worth collaborating with:

• colleagues,

• intervention staff,

• counselors,

• or administrators.

Sometimes school-wide systems help tremendously.

For example:

• designated make-up periods,

• intervention blocks,

• centralized testing spaces,

• or campus tutoring systems can remove a huge burden from individual teachers.

You don’t always have to solve the problem alone.

Keep Multiple Options Available

Probably the biggest practical advice I’d give is this:

Have multiple solutions in your pocket.

Different students and situations require different responses.

What works for:

• a highly motivated student who missed one day with the flu

  
  

May not work for:

• a student struggling with chronic attendance.

The more flexible tools you have available, the easier it becomes to respond wisely without constantly reinventing the wheel.

Final Thoughts

I wish I could give a perfect universal answer for missed quizzes.

But honestly, teaching is more human and complex than that.

In the end, I think the goal is to:

• keep learning moving forward,

• maintain healthy expectations,

• protect your own sustainability as a teacher,

• and remain flexible enough to respond to real student circumstances.

Standards-based grading doesn’t eliminate these challenges.

But I do think the system helps because:

• quizzes are shorter,

• assessments happen more frequently,

• retakes are already built into the culture,

• and the focus stays centered on growth rather than punishment.

Inside our standards-based grading workshop, I go much deeper into:

• quiz structures,

• retakes,

• grading systems,

• classroom routines,

• and the day-to-day logistics of implementing standards-based grading in real classrooms.