Research Introduction and Background

Patrick Diemer
Research Proposal Introduction

There has been much discussion about the power of a zero and its effect on a student’s grade in our high school this year. Our failure rates the last four years have been increasing which is hurting our progress for AYP. One thought to increase student achievement and to try to prevent or slow down class failures is not recording a zero for missing work. Although not a new concept too many people in education, the power of a zero is a new concept for most of the teaching staff at Pennfield High School. The topic was first brought to the staff’s attention by our new Superintendent and the conversation has continued with our building Principal at various staff meetings. The conversations have been heated at the staff meetings, in the break room, and in the hallways. This paper is designed to answer what effect a no zero homework policy would have on student achievement and graduation rates for students at Pennfield High School.
When first introducing the idea of the power of a zero, few articles were given to the staff members to read and discuss. The three articles that were given to the staff were given the day of the staff meeting and due to time constraints, most teachers were not able to review the articles before the staff meeting. Luckily three years ago, I was attending meetings on how to redesign high school, and I was introduced to the no zero idea then. This gave me the opportunity to listen to the arguments at the staff meeting with a calm mindset unlike the first time I heard about it.
After reflecting on the meeting and the idea behind the power of a zero, it was decided that more research needed to be done on this idea to get a better understanding of the process and how this idea can change the environment at Pennfield High School. After my initial research attempt, I was only able to find one scholarly journal article and a handful of newspaper articles that discuss this idea.
Rick Wormeli is considered a leader in the discussion of the power of a zero and has written a book, Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessing & Grading in the Differentiated Classroom, that discusses the impact a zero can have on a grade. Wormeli says that “Zeros skew the grade to a point where accuracy is distorted. Teachers using the 100-point scale who do not replace a zero with a fifty, sixty, or seventy to equalize the influence of all grades earned end up recording inaccurate grades (Wormeli, 2006).” He then goes on in a later chapter and discusses the impact that a zero can have on a student psychologically and the possibility of using a 4 point scale in grading homework. Wormeli then goes on to say, “The only thing that counts on a report card is how students do on assessments (Wormeli, 2006).” This is the main argument for his reasoning behind not giving a zero for missing work.
Other articles that were found were newspaper articles that discussed if the policy is fair and which schools started to follow the concept. At Bayside High in Virginia Beach, they have implemented the no zero policy with great success. One of the reasons for starting this policy was to ensure that students learned the material “…eliminating zeros refocuses teachers on making sure all students, even the reluctant ones, learn the material (Roth, 2008).”
A school district in Collier County Florida, implemented a no zero policy for all their elementary buildings. Their rational behind this was to make sure that students were not going to take the easy way out and not complete their work. “The consequences of not doing an assignment are doing the assignment, whether it is at recess, after school or at Saturday school (Albers, 2008).” The fact that this was implemented in an elementary building raises a red flag for a high school teacher.

Bibliography

Albers, K. (2008, December 5). Collier School officials: Much research went into eliminating "zero" grades. Retrieved May 23, 2009, from www.naplesnews.com: http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/dec/05/collier-school-officials-much-research-went-elimin/
Roth, L. (2008, October 5). For some schools, using zerod doesn't add up. Retrieved May 23, 2009, from http://hamptonroads.com: http://hamptonroads.com/2008/10/some-schools-using-zero-scores-doesnt-add
Wormeli, R. (2006). Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessing & Grading in the Differentiated Classroom. Portland: Stenhouse Publishers.