Avoiding Zeros

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“Sentences at Siberian labor camps ultimately come to an end, while grades of zero on a 100-point scale last forever. Just two or three zeros are sufficient to cause failure for an entire semester, and just a few course failures can lead a student to drop out of high school, incurring a lifetime of personal and social consequences.”

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Doug Reeves, “The Case Against the Zero” (2004)

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3

1. Missing Assignments
2. Missing Assessments
3. Cheating

What’s common about these 3 uses?

Common Uses of the Zero

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What does a zero mean in your classroom?

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The student has shown no learning of the priority standard(s).

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Here’s what it means in my classroom:

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I’ve established the purpose of grades in my classroom to communicate student learning.

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Here’s why:

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• Missing Assignments
• Missing Assessments

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Common Uses of the Zero

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Premise:

Grades should communicate student learning. (Guskey, XX; Schimmer, XX; Townsley, XX; Wormeli,XX)

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“Absence of evidence

is not

evidence of absence”

-Carl Sagan

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What’s Wrong with the Traditional Percentage Scale?

100: A

99: A

98: A

97: A

96: A

95: A

94: A

93: A

92: A

91: A

90: A

89: B

88: B

87: B

86: B

85: B

84: B

83: B

82: B

81: B

80: B

79: C

78: C

77: C

76: C

75: C

74: C

73: C

72: C

71: C

70: C

69: D

68: D

67: D

66: D

65: D

64: D

63: D

62: D

61: D

60: D

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59: F 49: F 39: F 29: F 19: F 9: F

58: F 48: F 38: F 28: F 18: F 8: F

57: F 47: F 37: F 27: F 17: F 7: F

56: F 46: F 36: F 26: F 16: F 6: F

55: F 45: F 35: F 25: F 15: F 5: F

54: F 44: F 34: F 24: F 14: F 4: F

53: F 43: F 33: F 23: F 13: F 3: F

52: F 42: F 32: F 22: F 12: F 2: F

51: F 41: F 31: F 21: F 11: F 1: F

50: F 40: F 30: F 20: F 10: F 0: F

The Power of the Zero:

w/ Percentage Scale & Averaging

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Alternatives to the Zero

• “Missing” gradebook comment until evidence is found/collected
• Use alternative evidence along with “alternative evidence” gradebook comment

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How do you address cheating without zeros?

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Addressing Cheating

w/o Zeros

1. Address the behavior like other problematic behaviors in your classroom (e.g., student 1-on-1 talk, parent phone call, restorative practices, counselor referral, etc)
2. Teach the desired behavior
3. Apply a non-grade consequence (e.g., reflection, etc)
4. Require the student to do the work

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Using Restorative Practices to Address Plagiarism

Zeros

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Overkill

“Sentences at Siberian labor camps ultimately come to an end, while grades of zero on a 100-point scale last forever. Just two or three zeros are sufficient to cause failure for an entire semester, and just a few course failures can lead a student to drop out of high school, incurring a lifetime of personal and social consequences.”

​

Doug Reeves (2004)

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What does a zero mean in your classroom?

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The student has provided evidence of no learning of the priority standard.

Here’s what it means in my classroom :

2 Big Problems w/ using Zeros

1. It’s an invalid representation of learning at the assignment/assessment level
2. Zeros, when averaged and used in a percentage scale, lead to gross inaccuracies at the report card level

Considering Implications of Zeros

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Unit 3 test was on Tuesday, but several students were absent. Students were given a week to make it up before school, after school, or during lunch. After the week, the Ms. Ruiz assigns a zero for all missing tests.

While grading lab reports, Mr. Keenan notices that a student’s writing seems to be at a college level of sophistication. After a quick Google search, he finds it was plagiarized. Per policy, student was given a zero.

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Alternatives to the Zero

1. Record complete/incomplete
2. “Missing” gradebook comment
3. Use a minimum grade of 50%
4. Use alternative evidence along with “alternative evidence” gradebook comment