Fair, or is it Equal?

In education, the concept of inclusion is quickly on the rise. Education is rapidly evolving and schools are adjusting to fit the needs of others. In one of my education classes, a discussion brewed about assessments and inclusion. It is evident that certain students dominate summative assessments while other students atrociously fail them. As teachers, our job and ultimate goal is for students to learn the material. But what do we do to make tests fair and equal for all? If we give students all the same test it is equal, but it isn’t fair. What happens when a student fails an exam? Some schools have policies that you can take an exam over and over and over again until you get the grade you desire. Is that fair to the students that studied originally the first time? Some colleagues proposed giving students options such as giving students the choice between a project or a test. Personally, I feel for the students that struggle taking exams for I have always been a slow test taker and rarely do I ever finish an exam on time leaving me frustrated and with a lower grade. I don’t believe we should reward students with infinite opportunities because while they are there to learn, isn’t their ultimate goal to be prepared for the real world in the future? Everyone deserves a second chance. However, we need to teach students to be obedient as bad as that sounds. Things will be expected out of them, but I firmly believe in re-do’s and test corrections. As a math teacher candidate I personally would let them do corrections once and get up to 80% on an exam. What do you think about this whole situation? What is fair? What is equal? Hmm….