Friday, January 15, 2016

The Power of the Zero


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In Douglas Reeve’s 2004 article "The Case Against the Zero" published in Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 86, he presents readers with the argument that a zero used a 100-point scale has devastating effects on a students and their grades. I have now read this article half a dozen times.  


Let me summarize Mr. Reeve’s case: On a 100-point scale A, B, C, D are on 10-point intervals, and an F ranging from 0-60, often assigned to a student that failed to complete or turn in an assignment, is up to 6 times more impactful to the overall grade. He explains that using a 4-point scale with equal intervals offers a proportionate opportunity for students to improve if a zero is given for non-compliance. If using a 100-point scale, he suggests using a 50 as the lowest grade to maintain the equal intervals between the traditional A-F letter grades. And he challenges readers to consider appropriate consequences for students that do not complete assignments. His recommendation aligns with Power of ICU authors, Danny Hill and Dr Jayson Nave: require the assignment to be complete.


I have done a great deal of reflection on this and my stream of thoughts have flowed along these lines: alright, don’t give a zero, give a 50; but a 50 let’s them off the hook; those students that were okay with getting zeros (since grades didn’t motivate them in the first place) are now okay with getting a 50; I have had some turn in a measly attempt at an assignment or assessment because they knew the lowest I could assign was a 50 and that wouldn’t “hurt that bad”; got it, now I’ll use a 4-point scale, but my online grade program makes a C look like 50% which confused the parents; so I turned of the percentage column on the online gradebook and parents were confused as where the overall grade came from; and students still chose to not do work because they could “recover” if it were just one or two; but to me those one or two where extremely important to their overall learning and mastery of the concepts in my class.


Whew! So where am I now? Well, you may remember that I employ standards based learning and grading in my classroom. I use a 4-point scale. However, these numbers to not translate to the traditional A-D, and a zero is not an F. A zero is used to communicate that the student has not YET been assessed on the learning standard.  In April 2014, Reed Gillesepie reitterates Mr. Reeves’ case and addresses an extremely important point that was misinterpreted by many teachers and administrators in his article “The Case for the Case Against the Zero” on Brilliant-Insane.com. He makes six strong arguments for a No-Zero policy with which I could not agree more or state more clearly.


  1. If it’s worth assigning, it’s worth requiring students to do it.
  2. Work completion is often influenced by home life, learned behaviors, economic standing, etc. It’s not fair to punish students for factors beyond their control.
  3. Punishing students for failing to complete an assignment doesn’t motivate them. In my experience, low grades are more likely to discourage students from making greater efforts.
  4. Often a handful of zeros doom the student for the entire term, causing students to simply quit.
  5. The students we most worry about losing (those who are often deemed lazy or are below grade-level are labeled at-risk) are most harmed by zeros.
  6. Zeros distort final grades, which should be an indicator of mastery.


So where does that leave the zero? Well, coincidentally I have zero zeros in my grade book today. Students complete the work that I have intently selected for them to practice that depicts concepts directly tied to the learning standards of my courses. They are assessed on the standards, and their grade is determined not by their completion of one hundred point assignment, but instead by their proficiency on the 16 learning standards.  If a zero is used in my grade book, it is a means of communicating that a standard has not been assessed and must be assessed before a grade can be determined. In my class, a zero does not have a numerical weight on a student’s grade: it might as well be a sad face emoji indicating that I have yet to see if a student has learned.  

How are zeros used in your gradebook? Is a zero too powerful in your current system? I encourage you to review your “zero” policy.


Share you comments and thoughts below, email Aric and Megan at stemflowerlc@gmail.com or visit stemandflowerlearning.com.



STEM and Flower Learning Consultants


4 comments:

  1. Good recap of the Reeves article on zero in grading, and I share your thoughts on not using 50 or 60 as an average floor. A lot of my thinking on zero in grading can be found at https://repairman.wordpress.com/category/zero/ .

    Most of what I have learned is traceable to the influence of Ken O'Connor, Tom Guskey and Jane Bailey and Lee Ann Young, and Doug Reeves, pretty much in that order.

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    1. Those are certainly some heavy hitters in the assessment world. Thanks for reading and for commenting. If you would like to receive our free newsletter, please visit stemandflowerlearning.com

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  2. I think at least a partial answer is the development of assessment plans that indicate the body of evidence that a student is responsible for producing to be considered for a grade. Such a plan might indicate at least x (say 3-5) pieces of evidence on each standard or x of y assessments with some identified as critical (say 6 of 9 including the 3rd, 5th and 9th).In this scenario, no matter how well the student did on the assessments they completed, if they didn't do at least 6 or missed any of the 3rd, 5th and 9th they don't get a credit.

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    1. Some kind of fundamental change in how we look at the task completion vs. performance paradigm is certainly needed for us educators to have ethical, appropriate, accurate grading practices. Your plan seems to make a lot of sense and is in alignment with our thoughts. Thanks for reading and for commenting.

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