Banning the "Zero" in Grades. Dog Ate Your Homework? No Problem!

The Wake County (NC) public school system is evaluating whether to eliminate giving students a "zero" grade when work is not turned in on time. Students would be guaranteed the right to turn in late work for credit and retake exams to get higher scores. The logic behind this thought is that the current system allowing students to get zeros is "too punitive." The lowest score students would be able to receive under the proposed guidelines would be a 50, even if they don't turn in the work. Fortunately, some members of the Wake County School Board don't think it's a good idea. Member Jim Martin was quoted in the (Raleigh) News & Observer that "not giving a zero protects a slacker." Hear hear Mr. Martin! What kind of signals are we sending to students who will have to face deadlines and expectations once they enter the workforce? Mr. Martin is also quoted saying “Turning in your work is frankly a behavior of your job that you need to do.” Sure a zero can wreck a grade average really quickly, but if students don't face the consequences of not turning work in on time, instead turning it in "when I feel like it," is not teaching them what they need to know later in life. I know that if I had received a zero on an assignment in school, it would have been my first and only one! let's teach our kids some responsibility and make them accountable. They will thank us later.