No more Extra Credit

Just Another Bad Practice

Maybe Extra Credit in Needed

My experience has shown me that extra credit helps establish an attitude that tells many students early on that someone will bail them out when they perform poorly. 

This begins in the early grades but no grade is immune. Extra credit as a practice is so ingrained in our schools that it is taken for granted. It is so prominent that parents often ask teachers to give their children extra credit. It’s just another way of saying, “Ms. Smith, please help my son avoid his responsibility so he will think the world is a better place.”

Little research exist on whether or not extra credit is a good or bad practice. I have to confess that my concerns are based primarily personal observation in my experience as an educator. My experience tells me that too many teachers offer extra credit assignments that are designed to simply raise a grade without considering whether or not the learner truly learns something relevant to standards.

Is there anything wrong with pulling a student’s grade up? Well, yes, if the assignment is given solely for that reason, and especially if it doesn't address the standards failed in a way that will help the student learn. To say that any and all extra credit is wrong may be extreme, but teachers should be forewarned regarding the practice. If all you want is for a student to get a higher grade, then give a higher grade – grading is not nearly as objective as we pretend anyway. If your goal is to assure quality learning, design an activity that addresses specific standards that are not being mastered. Will a time-line on a poster serve to teach the issues surrounding the Civil War. Will a couple of pages of fill-in-blank items serve to make the contributions of Ancient Greece clear?

Another "Teaching" Method with no Real Purpose

Extra credit is a practice that has been around for as long as I can remember. It's a perfect exampleI’m not sure if I ever received an extra credit opportunity, but I recall it being offered as early as the third grade to those who had performed poorly on a spelling test. Our commitment to the practice is so enduring that some teachers post their extra credit policies on the internet. The assortment is too large and diverse to discuss here, and really isn’t necessay. May it suffice to say that clearly there are no consistent policies that govern how or why extra credit is dispensed or why.

The practice is another example of teachers inventing rules for a policy that is assumed to be part of sound educational practice. We continue to create an expectation among students that they can pull themselves out of a academic hole through some silly, irrelevant assignment without necessarily knowing what they need to know. Extra credit is particularly malignant when it is used to avoid developing a plan to individualize instruction for a child who may be at-risk and require lots of extra effort by the teacher, or when it used in a discriminatory manner– i.e., kids who are cute and well-mannered might get chances for extra credit but the kids who behave badly and smell bad don’t. I know it happens, and it’s wrong.

Assessment Retakes

Actually, I did give a type of extra credit. Students were allowed to take another version of quizzes and tests that they failed. Some of my cohorts complained that this was not fair. The practice, they said, treated failing students differently by giving them a second chance. So what? School is about teaching and learning, and if I can find a way to get a student to learn what he is supposed to learn, then everyone benefits. Teachers are allowed to “individualize.” Besides, taking the test over is a lot more equitable than bringing a grade up by giving students an easy assignment that they are not likely to fail. The oft heard complaint that real life doesn’t offer second chances, and we must prepare students for real life is nonsense.  Life offers numerous second chances. E.g., adults can take all kinds of tests over: drivers’ license, SAT, AGT and GED to name a few. You can survive serious illnesses, you might goof up on the job and the boss forgives you– truthfully, we couldn’t survive without second chances. And if school is about getting students ready for the real world (and I agree that it should), then why aren’t schools more like the real world experience?

I’d like to say that my retake method was a glowing success, but it wasn’t. Usually the students who needed another go at it were the ones who rarely showed up. The students who were the best performers were the ones who took advantage of the policy. That shouldn’t surprise anyone, since high achievers have learned to like success and want to keep that good feeling that goes with it. I was told that allowing my students to retake tests did not help them develop responsibility. Yet those who usually showed up were among the most responsible students I taught.

When the school decided to adopt a retake policy, it wasn’t a big success. The students who decided to retake were most likely the students who wanted to keep their grades above average. Students with poor study habits and low grades (I.e., those who would benefit most from retaking the assessment) took least advantage. Also, there was a belief among many teachers that students in general did not study diligently for the first test or quiz because they knew that they could always retake it. I emphasize that this Announce on day one that you don’t offer it, but you will allow them to take another version of an assessment.