Sample Response – Secondary
Question A
I heard someone say that the test they took was easier than mine. How is that fair? I want to take the other test.
- That’s true! I give different versions of the test to prevent sharing of test questions between classes. Your friend probably took Form A of the test, and you took Form B. However, neither test is harder than the other. Each test contains the same number of easy and difficult questions. In fact, before I used these tests, they were tried out with other students. Those students took both tests and got similar scores on both tests.
Question B
I don’t think the score that I got on this test is right. Could you please re-score it?
- I appreciate your concern. Having accurate ratings is very important to me as a teacher, as well. I have the anchor papers from a training where I learned how to rate this very same test. If you want, we can go over a copy of the rubric and those papers together, and I can explain how I made my decision.
Question C
Mr. Chon, I was having a bad day, and I know I did not do as well as I could have on that test. Could I re-take it?
- I’m glad you’re so concerned about doing well in this class, but I can’t let you take the test again. This test gives the same result each time unless you have learned something new since the last time you took it. Therefore, your grade probably wouldn’t go up if you took it again. If it did, it would show me that you had studied since you took the test, which is good, but that wouldn’t be fair to the other students! What else do you think you could do to show me and your parents that you know this material?
