Annotated 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/

This article describes the reasoning and logic why elementary schools in this district are no longer allowed to give a grade less than 50% for any assignment. The article then goes on to explain why some community members are not pleased with the decision and why the district felt compelled to do so. School board members, administrators, teachers, and students are interviewed and given a chance to discuss the issue.

Dunham, L. (2008, January). Why zeros should not be permitted! Principals Leadership, 62.

Liz Dunham makes arguments against the policy of schools allowing students to not turn in homework and take a zero for it. She has a background being a middle school principal and lists examples of schools that have used different programs that allowed for after school remediation for students who chose not to complete assignments. Although a short article, it provides a quality argument against allowing zeros in school.

Guskey, T.R. (2004, October). Are zeros your ultimate weapon? Principals Leadership, 49.

Guskey makes arguments against the use of zeros in order to try and dissuade student behavior that is deemed negative. He then goes on to talk about the importance of quality grading practices that will be more fruitful for students and teachers. His main argument is that schools need to figure out what purpose grades are going to serve and then the issue of zeros can be addressed. He states that staff may be more open to accepting a 4 point grading scale instead of some of the other options.

Guskey, T.R. (2000, December). Grading policies that work against standards and how to fix them. NASSP Bulletin.

This article points out four grading policies that are working against standards. Grading on a curve, selecting a valedictorian, using grades as punishment, and using zeros in grading. Guskey argues that zeros do not show what students have learned and also allows students to get off the hook of completing quality work that they are capable.

Guskey, T.R. (1994). Making the grade: What benefits students. Educational Leadership, pp.14-20

An outstanding article that lists the history of how grades have been figured, the struggles that teachers have had with them throughout history, and lists examples of what grading systems benefit students and encourage learning. Gusky also provides arguments for what grades should not be used for and how damaging they can be to students and their level of success in school.

Reeves, D.B. (2004). The case against the zero. Phi Delta Kappan, 324.

This article was great to read, Reeves uses humor and wit to describe why zeros should not be allowed in schools. He refutes his critics and uses math and logic to do so. He argues that grades should not be used to punish students and provides other ways to make sure students complete the work and learn the content.

Reeves, D.B. (2008). Leading to change/effective grading practices. Educational Leadership, 85.

This article gives a great argument why zeros and unfair grading policies (like the 100 point scale) should not be allowed in schools. The author used prior research to support his claim that zeros should not be permitted and listed many different areas in schools that will improve. He uses research to make the argument that dropout rate, the number of students skipping classes, and overall school climate will improve as grades improve.

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

This article discusses the power that a zero has and why teachers and administrators are looking at ways to use a no zero approach to encourage their students to work at a higher level. Most of the arguments for getting rid of zeros are based around the harmful psychological effect that can be inflicted on students if they receive a zero. The comment section of the article shows how passionate some people are against this idea.

Wormeli, R. (2006). Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessing & Grading in the Differentiated Classroom.

Portland: Stenhouse Publishers.

Wormeli writes about the concept of 60% for a zero in his book about assessment. He also writes about 5 other burning issues that deal with grades in this chapter. He uses a mathematical approach to try and dissuade teachers from allowing and recording zeros for missing work. This chapter should be one of the best resources that will be used for this research.