Dad wants to see son's tests; Naperville N. says no

As a professional scientist, Bryan Smith is pretty confident he can help his son study for a big test or complete his homework.

The task would be easier, he said, if he and his son were able to review test results at home to identify and work on areas where the teen struggles. But Naperville Unit District 203 has a practice of keeping such tests in its buildings to lessen the opportunities for cheating.

Smith said he has, on multiple occasions, tried talking to teachers and administrators since last year when his son became a freshman at Naperville North High School.

“I've talked to teachers and the principal, and the teachers tell me to talk to the department heads. And the department heads tell me it's up to the teacher,” Smith said. “I've tried reasoning with teachers and I just don't get any feedback. It's a bad practice and it needs to change.”

Assistant Superintendent Daniel Bridges said the practice is consistent throughout the district's high schools, but students are regularly given an assessment of their tests and the tests are reviewed during class periods.

Smith said some teachers ultimately agreed to review the work with him in their classrooms, but only between 3:15 and 4 p.m.

“I'm sorry, I can't leave work three hours early to come sit down and do that,” Smith said. “I get home between 6 and 7 p.m. and that's when I can work with my son.”

He's sympathetic to the district's reasons for withholding the tests but said he thinks there are other ways to prevent cheating or students wanting to get their hands on the tests.

“It's my understanding that rewriting tests is a standard practice,” he said. “It may take a little extra work by the teachers to make a couple of variances in some of the tests, but that would be so helpful to helping these kids study.”

School board President Mike Jaensch assured Smith the district has no policy on the matter, only common practice, and that his concerns would be “taken to heart.”

The practice of withholding graded tests, however, isn't uncommon among area school districts.

In Indian Prairie Unit District 204, which encompasses parts of Naperville, Aurora, Bolingbrook and Plainfield, summative assessments given at the end of the quarter and semester stay in the school.

“These are uniform districtwide tests that are not changed,” district spokeswoman Janet Buglio said. “Formative assessments, (quizzes and chapter tests) can go home. These assessments are fluid and often modified by teachers to best determine if a student grasps a particular segment of what is being taught in class.”

If a parent wants to view a summative assessment, they may meet with the teacher, who will be happy to go over the test and discuss the student's work, Buglio said.

In Lake Park High School District 108, the practice depends on the department.

“Some teachers do give their graded tests back to the students, while others, like the math department, make it a practice to collect them after they are reviewed in class,” district spokeswoman Jennifer Jungel said. “But in classes where the work is collected, students are given comprehensive review packets to use for studying.”

Jungel said the district also gives departments the choice to collect tests to limit students' ability to cheat.

“Specifically we're trying to avoid a scenario where a student may not be in class on test day and all of the other students have graded tests already handed back to them,” she said.