So the 1st quarter has ended, and I kept hearing the all too familiar, “Do you have any extra credit?” What?! Students are asking you, too. I never give extra credit. Here’s why and what I do instead…

What is extra credit?

To the student (or parent) making the request, extra credit usually means doing some boring and repetitive task to turn their bad grade into a good grade. That is really just a form of penance to punish the behavior that caused the bad grades and does nothing to prevent it from happening again. But how will doing something like a vocabulary word search fill in the learning gaps that are the real cause of the low grade?

I use this analogy. Imagine a top salesperson blows it with a big account at work. Would asking the boss for some chores to do lesson the financial loss the employee’s actions caused? Of course not! Say boss, can I organize the files for extra credit? If the employee isn’t canned, the boss will want the person to have learned from his or her mistake.

When you think about it, extra credit is an oxymoron. When do you ask for an extra helping at dinner? After the first helping, right? So wouldn’t a more accurate description of extra credit be some form of curricular extension that goes above and beyond the written curriculum? And wouldn’t it only be provided after a student had mastered this written curriculum? It’s extra after all.

A better way — Do-Overs!

Instead of extra credit, I let students have do-overs on tests. After all, a good test should fairly measure a student’s level of mastery as measured against the standards. Other than the end of the term, there is no time restriction on my obtaining evidence of learning. For example, will it matter if my algebra student demonstrates mastery of simplifying radicals at the beginning of December or mid-December or the beginning of January so long as the content is mastered? I say no.

For Your Consideration

For that reason, I encourage do-overs. According to Stanford research, early test scores do not accurately reflect a student’s long-term outcome. Many teachers are adopting this practice of do-overs, because they realize there truly is no deadline on learning.

I also allow students to get full credit on their do-overs. Some teachers will do half credit, but consider this real-life example. The bar exam… it’s is a tough test. Many lawyers have had to take it multiple times to pass. Are they half lawyers? Nope. They’re full-fledged lawyers with all the rights, honors, and privileges pertaining to the successful completion. Have you ever asked your attorney how many times it took to pass the bar exam?

Don’t be a Rim Waver

The only catch in my classes? The student must come see me during tutorial period to go over the mistakes he or she made. Otherwise, the same mistakes are likely to be made the next time.

Pedagogy expert Rick Wormeli talks about this in the writings of his experiences. Don’t just re-give a test. He calls this being a rim-waver: standing at the rim of the pit and waving at the failures with those who passed.