Tag: Thomas Guskey

Bookmarked Why Should We Allow Students to Retake Assessments? by Peter DeWitt (blogs.edweek.org)

The question regarding retakes isn’t simply, “Should students get a second chance?” Rather, it is, “How can we use assessments to help students improve?” If we incentivize success on the first assessment by planning enticing enrichment activities and guide students in correcting the learning errors identified on that assessment, we’re much more likely to realize Benjamin Bloom’s dream of having all students, ALL students learn well.

Thomas Guskey responds to concerns raised around offering students the opportunity to retake tests and assessment.

To bring improvement, Bloom stressed formative assessments must be followed by high-quality, corrective instruction designed to remedy whatever learning errors the assessments identified. Unlike reteaching, which typically involves simply repeating the original instruction, correctives present concepts in new ways and engage students in different learning experiences.

He explains that concerns about time and coverage can be overcome by using a corrective process, that this is what real life is like (i.e. surgeon, pilot), and the everyday reality of mastery and fair grades (i.e driver’s license.)

I guess it raises the question, what is the point of feedback, if students are not given the opportunity to act upon it?

Liked How Can We Improve Professional Inquiry? by Thomas Guskey (Education Week – Peter DeWitt’s Finding Common Ground)

Many educators begin the inquiry process with a Google search that identifies every blog ever posted by anyone who ever formed an opinion on the topic. Some may restrict their Google search to “Scholarly articles on …,” but that’s relatively rare.


Others bypass the Google search and start the inquiry process by posting their question on Facebook or on Twitter chats where they receive a myriad of responses from individuals whose firmly held opinions may or may not be based on verifiable evidence. Occasionally Facebook and Twitter chat responders preface their comments with “In my opinion … or “I believe …, but their authoritative tone gives the impression their opinions or beliefs are indisputable truths.