Literature Review

While being introduced to the concept of a 60% for missing assignments at a staff meeting, many staff members began to laugh at the idea while others began to get angry. Rick Wormeli, a well known author on the subject says, “… This is a very understandable conclusion on the part of the teachers, but it’s incorrect (Wormeli, 2006).” Wormeli bases his arguments on the discrepancy of the mathematical intervals of a 100 point scale and that the students grade would not be reflective of meeting mastery or not. Although the 60% concept may be a difficult concept for many teachers to understand, measuring what students have learned is the key. If a student knows the material and excels on the test, then what does it matter if they complete the daily homework assignments or not? If a student gets a zero for not completing a homework assignment, teachers need to take the time to make sure the student gets their work done. A senior vice president of the Southern Regional Education Board in Viginia had this to say about allowing zeros “…eliminating zeros refocuses teachers on making sure all students, even the reluctant ones, learn the material (Roth, 2008).”
The bulk of the literature that was found was for allowing zeros. The best resource that was found was the book written by Rick Wormele, Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessing & Grading in the Differentiated Classroom. Wormele dedicates a chapter on grading issues in the classroom, and the power that a zero has is the first topic that he discusses. Wormele does not list any support materials in the chapter which leaves the reader wondering how valid his opnions are instead of having data to support his claims.
Another quality resource that was found was written by Thomas Guskey in an Educational Leadership article from 1994. In it, Guskey states, “… assigning a score of a zero to work that is late, missed, or neglected doesn’t actually depict learning (Guskey, 1994 ).” Guskey does not want grades to be used as a form of punishment if work is not completed. He advocates that all teachers take the time and try to force students to complete the work.
In an article that he wrote for the Educational Digest, Guskey writes, “Many teachers see zeros as their ultimate grading weapon, using them to punish students for not making adequate effort of failing to show appropriate responsibility (Guskey, Are Zeros Your Ultimate Weapon?, 2004).” His arguments behind not allowing zeros is three fold; zeros do not show what a student has learned, the effect of a zero is magnified by a typical 100 point grading scale, and there is no research that shows that zeros are an effective way to punish students. The main idea behind this movement is to not allow students to get away with not doing their work. Students need to be held accountable for their work, if they do not complete it, re-teaching or study halls need to be provided in order for the student to complete the assignment. There are many other resouces that advocate for not allowing zeros and requiring students to make up the missing assignment after school or in a Saturday school session.
Various school districts across the country are no longer allowing zeros for students, Lehn Middle School in Port Byron, New York, Dallas Independent School District in Texas, and Collier County School District in Naples Florida are some examples of schools with similar policies on zeros (Friess, 2008).” The movement behind not allowing zeros is growing and starting to spread across the country.
Finding scholarly journal articles that refute the no zero concept proves to be a difficult task to complete. Most of the information that was found was located in newspaper articles, and the comment sections of the newspaper articles. This was the most interesting aspect of the research, reading the comment section underneath the various newspaper articles (click here to see an example). The no zero concept does not create the furor that the 60% for not doing the work concept creates. Although finding published research that refutes that idea is difficult.


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/
Friess, S. (2008, May 21). At some schools, failure goes from zero to 50. Retrieved June 28, 2009,
from USA Today : http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-05-18-zeroes-main_N.htm
Guskey, T. R. (2004). Are Zeros Your Ultimate Weapon?. theEducationDigest , 31-35.
Guskey, T. R. (1994 ). Making the Grade: What Benefits Students? Educational Leadership , 14-
20 .
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.