Retesting is a concept almost everyone is familiar with, even if not everyone has participated in it. It gives you the opportunity to redeem yourself after failing a test, allowing your grade to be raised up to an 85. At least, that’s the case here at LTHS. Many other schools allow retesting all points back on major grade assignments, which increases competition here at LTHS and could affect the student experience negatively. 

Students at Lebanon Trail should be allowed to retest for up to 100% based on performance to create uniformity within the school district. 

Other Frisco schools such as Emerson, Liberty, and Independence allow their students to make up to a 100 on their retests. This can put Lebanon Trail students at a disadvantage compared to students in other schools, as their grades are not inflated as others’ are. The environment here already tends to be competitive between students in areas like ranking and overall grades. Constantly vying for a higher rank with dozens of other students creates a challenging and draining environment for people aiming to rank. This creates a very different environment at Lebanon Trail than other Frisco schools, one where a 95% rather than a 97% on a test can be the difference between ranking in the top 10% and not. 

In addition, the variation in retest policy between schools increases competition within the district. Students who can retest up to 100% have a better chance of achieving a higher average, while a limit of 85% can limit the amount that a student improves. Competition between schools is already high, especially in subjects like sports and the arts. Having a disparity between grade averages creates even more of an unfair advantage for students here and at other schools that cap retesting grades at 85. Students and even teachers shouldn’t have to worry about measuring up to students from other schools when given a disadvantage when it comes to grading.

Those against retesting up to a 100 say that being able to retest up to 100 puts students who put the effort in the first time to get a 100 at the same learning speed and grading standard as those who may have failed the first time and then made a 100% through retesting. While this is a fair argument, retesting should still be uniform across the district in order to reduce competition between schools. If all schools have the same ability to retest, whether it is up to an 85 or 100, it will reduce competition districtwide, and even the scoreboard in terms of test grades and average class scores. 

Retesting is an important element of almost every student’s educational journey. Therefore, the grading policy should be uniform district-wide in order to make the school environment better for everyone and represent FISD as a better community on a state and national scale.