Teacher says she was fired for giving zeroes to students who didn't turn in their work

May have nothing to do with liberal policies or trying to "spare feelings," could be linked to money the school gets. Maybe they need to have a certain percentile of grades, and on that curve, the 0%'ers would bring it down. Who knows.. probably a deeper reason than 50% is so that the students don't feel too hurt over it.

originally posted by: fleabit
May have nothing to do with liberal policies or trying to "spare feelings," could be linked to money the school gets. Maybe they need to have a certain percentile of grades, and on that curve, the 0%'ers would bring it down. Who knows.. probably a deeper reason than 50% is so that the students don't feel too hurt over it.

This happens but it's actually a conservative policy. Education funding was reformed in the early 00's to measure improvement over the year. So many schools ended up gaming the system by allowing only certain grade ranges at certain times of the year. So low ranges at the start, and then the numbers would go up during the year.

It's clearly a bad policy, but that's what brings in the money and no one has really come up with a less bad idea yet.

Whaaaat...?

My English teacher freaking crippled me with zeroes when I was a kid. I was writing my own stories rather than doing her assignments. Granted, I grew up to be an author...

But like, no zeroes? If they're not gonna be held to a standard, why bother grading? Why even bother going to school? That's dumb.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Why?

They never will. Because the real world will demand that they actually be able to do things.

Hard to design a bridge, if you can't do the math required, or even write the reports, and/or proposals.

Hard to do neurosurgery if you can't even spell it, much less do it.

No, the real world will take care of that little issue.

a reply to: seagull

High school math isn't really about doing math. The subjects taught, for the most exist in this area where they're not needed for general life skills (besides maybe a little bit of algebra) like doing budgets or paying taxes. At the same time though, it's not taught at a high enough level to set you up for anything more advanced.

As a result, high school math is really more of a game. It's not about what's being taught, but is instead about communication. Learning a process and communicating a way from state a to state b using that process.

Of course, communication skills is a generally weak area among Americans as well.

I think everyone recognizes the grade school system is in very bad shape right now, but I don't think anyone really knows how to restructure it. More specifically, I don't think anyone has come up with a funding model that provides quality education.

Luckily schools where I live are not funded according to grades, but I have heard it does happen in places close by. I have seen the discrepancies in grades between schools from low socioeconomic areas and higher socioeconomic areas and funding them according to grades alone would spell disaster. Language barriers in lower socioeconomic schools are huge and these students are NOT immigrants. They are Canada's ORIGINAL inhabitants, but their language(s) are NOT recognized as one of Canada's official languages. They do not qualify for English as Second Language funding either as they are born Canadians and it is assumed English or French is one of their first languages ... so they fall through the cracks. ... Anyway enough rant and on to the topic of the post ...

I have worked for school districts who have had a no zero policy and there is an easy way around this that is 'win win':

I explain to the student who has not handed in an assignment that I am not allowed to give you a zero so I am going to give you a 1. I then fire up the 'marks' computer software and show them how that 1 affects their grade. I then say, well lets see what happens if you hand the assignment in and say get a 50, and then show them the results. I then show them what happens if you actually put some effort into the assignment and get a 75. I finally show them what will happen if a lot of effort into the assignment and the student gets an 85. Often this will pull their final mark above 50 and motivate them to get a well done assignment handed in.

Getting into a p*ssing match with the school district you are working for to prove your point and going to the media is not a wise career move for this teacher. This teacher has probably been labeled a 'trouble maker' and probably never teach again. (Think about it ... if you were in charge of hiring, would you hire her ???? ) Thinking 'outside the box' a little can produce desired results and be a 'win win' which is important ... most importantly for the student.

originally posted by: amazing

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: amazing

Yeah, in the few years I was in classroom, I taught English/LA. I always started the year with one math lession - what would happen to grade averages if assignments were missed and become 0s.

But that wasn't enough for some kids. I'd have the ones who would slap-dash off answers just so they could turn in work without caring or knowing if the answers were right and get things like 20% or 30% and then get made because they were still failing.

That's always my wake up call as a parent. They have some 0s or missing assignments and we know something's wrong. Do they need tutoring or help organizing or are thy just being lazy or is something distracting them. As a parent, I need to see that zero on a progress report so taht I know they're struggling.

You made an excellent point here. If a kid is repeatedly not turning in work there is some sort of problem and a really concerned parent would rather know that there is a problem and deal with it rather than sugar coating it so everyone is a winner..

originally posted by: pointessa

originally posted by: amazing

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: amazing

Yeah, in the few years I was in classroom, I taught English/LA. I always started the year with one math lession - what would happen to grade averages if assignments were missed and become 0s.

But that wasn't enough for some kids. I'd have the ones who would slap-dash off answers just so they could turn in work without caring or knowing if the answers were right and get things like 20% or 30% and then get made because they were still failing.

That's always my wake up call as a parent. They have some 0s or missing assignments and we know something's wrong. Do they need tutoring or help organizing or are thy just being lazy or is something distracting them. As a parent, I need to see that zero on a progress report so taht I know they're struggling.

You made an excellent point here. If a kid is repeatedly not turning in work there is some sort of problem and a really concerned parent would rather know that there is a problem and deal with it rather than sugar coating it so everyone is a winner..

Yeah. I have a busy life. And sometimes a 50% or a D, although important, doesn't set off alarm bells. A zero or an F do.

originally posted by: starwarsisreal

...

That’s when she says she learned about a no-zero grading policy, written in red in the school’s handbook, stating, “NO ZERO’S – LOWEST POSSIBLE GRADE IS 50%.”

...

Seems like there is an intent to hide the fact that some people are lazy and/or stupid. Can't have that. Because there is zero difference between people.

reply to wrong post

originally posted by: chiefsmom
a reply to: ketsuko
LOL Wow
When I was in school, I had to show my work in math. If the answer was wrong? No point. If I didn't show my work? No point.
If I didn't turn in the homework?
Big ol fat 0

And math was certainly not my strong point.

This is a little off topic, but my school was the same. Don't show your work, no credit, even if it is the right answer. I could do all the work they gave me in my head and yet I was penalized for not liking to write unnecessarily.

I failed my first two terms of algebra for basically not doing the homework. When mid-terms came around they were formatted like this : Do 8 of the following 10 problems in this section. Do 6 of 9 problems in this section, etc. It was the same for the entire test. You could pick which problems you wanted to do. A novel idea, but I liked it. I did all of the problems, just because I like math. We didn't have to show our work on the midterms. I was the first one to pass in my exam.

To say I passed would be an understatement. I got a 118% on my midterms, the highest grade ever recorded in the school for any exam. My math teacher was dumbfounded.....

originally posted by: starwarsisreal

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (WPEC) — A teacher in Port St. Lucie, Florida claims she was fired for refusing to give students partial credit for work that is never handed in.

“I got fired. I was packing my stuff, and I was not going to see the kids,” Diane Tirado said.

Here is what really surprised me:

That’s when she says she learned about a no-zero grading policy, written in red in the school’s handbook, stating, “NO ZERO’S – LOWEST POSSIBLE GRADE IS 50%.”

wlos.com...

After seeing this article, I wonder who the **** put this dumb policy????/

This event reminds of that incident in Evergreen when a bunch of SJWs were demanding that they shouldn't be given homework:

I seriously wonder if the Evergreen kids went to this middle school. This is what happens when we emphasize on too much feelings over logic. No wonder our education system is failing.

Isn't this the norm in the US? If the kids get a fail then the school loses funding and closes down, so they operate on a 'no student left behind/social promotion' basis and give everyone a pass.