A really great conversation started on Twitter between @druinok and @russgoerend.  Twitter allows (encourages?!) those of us lurking on the outside to unashamedly join the conversation with a few clicks of the mouse, so I did.  It started something like this:


Context:
  1. You're giving standards-based grading a try for the first time this year, OR
  2. You're continuing to tweak the standards-based grading system you used last year...
...and the majority of your students bomb the assessment which will ultimately be entered into the gradebook.  It might be the first or second (or third or fourth depending on your system) time you've asked your students to demonstrate understanding of XYZ standard and they still aren't "getting it."  According to your SBG plan, it is now up to the students to re-assess on his/her own schedules. 

My thoughts:
  1. Does it make sense to move on?  
  2. Does it ever make sense to move on when students don't understand the big ideas?   
  3. Should re-assessments always be optional?  In other words, if our magic number is two assessments, why not a third?
I think both tweeps in the conversation contributed meaningful points about making re-assessments optional.  Add in your two cents in the comments.