Not interested in getting into a debate on the topic, but curious about where international schools stand on the issue:
Does your school give students grades of zero for incomplete work?
Zeros
Re: Zeros
Formative grades can receive a zero. Summative grades cannot. This is from an American school in Kuwait. We just established this new rule at the end of last year. Most teachers are on board with it, and there have been relatively few issues.
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shadowjack
- Posts: 2140
- Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am
Re: Zeros
At my last school they tried a 50% cut off/minimum C and staff revolted. My present school allows 0, but being IB, if work is submitted later, then it will be assessed and that assessment entered.
Response
It depends what you mean by a zero. Can you issue a zero as in a circle around the square in the grade book, sure. A permanent zero, no. You cant really issue a zero. If you do it will eventually be changed, either the student will have a right to makeup work, or submit extra credit, or retest. Parents will get something worked out with the admin. Its not uncommon for an admin at mid tier and lower tier schools for an admin to just tell you to change a grade. Even then you dont control the transcript. A couple years from your grade, the admin at the time can put whatever they want on the transcript.
Re: Response
PsyGuy wrote:
> It depends what you mean by a zero. Can you issue a zero as in a circle
> around the square in the grade book, sure. A permanent zero, no. You cant
> really issue a zero. If you do it will eventually be changed, either the
> student will have a right to makeup work, or submit extra credit, or
> retest. Parents will get something worked out with the admin. Its not
> uncommon for an admin at mid tier and lower tier schools for an admin to
> just tell you to change a grade. Even then you dont control the transcript.
> A couple years from your grade, the admin at the time can put whatever they
> want on the transcript.
I've issued "permanent zeros" before, without receiving any heat from admin. I justified it with my professional judgement.
My school's policy is this: zeros go into the grade book at the end of the year (or term).
> It depends what you mean by a zero. Can you issue a zero as in a circle
> around the square in the grade book, sure. A permanent zero, no. You cant
> really issue a zero. If you do it will eventually be changed, either the
> student will have a right to makeup work, or submit extra credit, or
> retest. Parents will get something worked out with the admin. Its not
> uncommon for an admin at mid tier and lower tier schools for an admin to
> just tell you to change a grade. Even then you dont control the transcript.
> A couple years from your grade, the admin at the time can put whatever they
> want on the transcript.
I've issued "permanent zeros" before, without receiving any heat from admin. I justified it with my professional judgement.
My school's policy is this: zeros go into the grade book at the end of the year (or term).
Reply
@klooste
Your experience is atypical. The vast majority of ITs would take heat over a permanent zero. Your schools policy is nothing more than an arbitrary decision at a specific point in time. Theres nothing to say that policy cant change, and what goes on a transcript when a student leaves is up to the admin, not you. You may not even be there when it happens, but years down the road that year nine/MYP 4 maths course can easily be changed at the insistence of a parent, or a new HOS or senior admin. As teachers we like to think our evaluation and assessment is incontrovertible and etched in stone, but really the transcript and the students marks are whatever the admin who process the transcript says it is.
Ive had admins tell me when I was a junior admin after a teacher left the school to modify an entire group of course and form grades up one.
Your experience is atypical. The vast majority of ITs would take heat over a permanent zero. Your schools policy is nothing more than an arbitrary decision at a specific point in time. Theres nothing to say that policy cant change, and what goes on a transcript when a student leaves is up to the admin, not you. You may not even be there when it happens, but years down the road that year nine/MYP 4 maths course can easily be changed at the insistence of a parent, or a new HOS or senior admin. As teachers we like to think our evaluation and assessment is incontrovertible and etched in stone, but really the transcript and the students marks are whatever the admin who process the transcript says it is.
Ive had admins tell me when I was a junior admin after a teacher left the school to modify an entire group of course and form grades up one.
Re: Zeros
i don't think i've ever heard of a case where a zero would stand, anywhere, even at uni. it's percentage points per day. blanket zeros are pretty hard to defend as an educator - unless there is a recorded and consistent behavior and lack of work.
of course zeros were popular 30 years ago, but teaching has changed, assessment has changed, the "business" side is amplified and parents/students are more consumer-like than ever. seeing students and parents as consumers changes the dynamic quite a bit. my prime example would be korea. kids are committing suicide over c grades!
i suppose you could rely on professional judgement, but it's a rare thing where a zero would be allowed to stand unless you did everything you could to help that student.
from what i've seen, kids whose work ranks close to zeros have parents whose income include several zeros at the end!
my school certainly would challenge zeros and though i haven't heard a case of a zero being given (because of modern philosophy of education and assessment mostly) i doubt it would stand in the end. transcripts have been known to sprout different letters and percentages after the final exams.
v.
of course zeros were popular 30 years ago, but teaching has changed, assessment has changed, the "business" side is amplified and parents/students are more consumer-like than ever. seeing students and parents as consumers changes the dynamic quite a bit. my prime example would be korea. kids are committing suicide over c grades!
i suppose you could rely on professional judgement, but it's a rare thing where a zero would be allowed to stand unless you did everything you could to help that student.
from what i've seen, kids whose work ranks close to zeros have parents whose income include several zeros at the end!
my school certainly would challenge zeros and though i haven't heard a case of a zero being given (because of modern philosophy of education and assessment mostly) i doubt it would stand in the end. transcripts have been known to sprout different letters and percentages after the final exams.
v.