Chillicothe Schools Consider No-Zero Grade Proposal
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No-Zero Grades
The Chillicothe school board is considering a proposal to change the grading scale so that no student would receive a zero.
The Chillicothe school board is considering a proposal to change the grading scale so that no student would receive a zero. The lowest grade would be 50 percent.
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio —The Chillicothe school board is considering a proposal to change the grading scale so that no student would receive a zero. The lowest grade would be 50 percent.
Assistant Superintendent Jon Saxton proposed the idea of a no-zero policy to get students to do their school work.
Chillicothe Board of Education and administration say not all students are aiming high and they want to change that by removing what they consider a harmful practice.
“We look at the practice of giving students zeros for work that’s not completed and it’s punitive, as it, it’s like an F to the sixth degree, because the grade that’s given for a zero is six times greater than the work that’s poorly done,“ Saxton said.
Incoming freshman Emily Gray said she thinks the no-zero policy is a good idea because it will help students to pass their classes.
“It might be better for some of the kids because they, kids who get zeroes, it might bring their grades down lower and they might not be able to pass grades,“ Emily Gray said.
Gray’s father however, disagrees because he thinks students who don’t do their work shouldn’t receive the same grade as students who put forth more effort.
“But a zero is a zero and a 50 percent is a 50 percent and if you receive 50 percent for doing zero, I don’t think it’s a good way to teach a child,“ said Mark Gray.
Administrators said they’re trying to prevent zeroes from piling up.
“As a result of that, students get frustrated. They miss school. They create disciplinary problems,“ Saxton said.
“The whole policy is about encouraging them to do their homework. We want it done in a timely manner to teachers’ standards, but the bottom line is, we want them to do their work,“ said Randy Drewyor, Chillicothe Board of Education member.
Drewyor said the no-zero policy would be fair to all students, making an F just 10 points below a D.
He says it would provide equal intervals between each letter grade.
Supporters said they’re not holding anyone’s hand. They just don’t want students to give up once they get a zero.
The vote was tabled until July 22.
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Reader Reactions
Great Idea!
So a baseball team that scores no runs gets 50% - and the match is a draw.
And a student who does another’s homework for him gets 150% - even better.
As they say “Only in America!“
So, after reading the arguments here I’m left with two sides: the side that thinks it’s a good idea and that everyone else is taking it out of context (very minority), and the side that thinks the whole situation is a crock of BS…
Well, my conclusion based upon that is this: If grown adults time and time again see this plan as something that merely awards points for non-activity, how will the children react when they receive the points? “So what mom!? I can’t get less than a 50% on this so why bother? I’ll do next week’s work and it will be ok”
And before you go off and say that not every kid is like that, let me remind you that your kids are FAR more sneaky than you would love to imagine. They have brains. They have their own thoughts and form their own opinions.
This country has done enough to hinder the generation of children coming up. If you don’t do the work you shouldn’t receive any points. There is nothing fair about this. If the children do not do the work then they shouldn’t receive a grade. What does this say to the students who do complete their work and put some effort into their education? What message does this send to them? And where are the parents? MY parents used to sit me down at the table or living room or where ever and told me no video games until the homework is done. Or no hanging out with friends until homework was completed. I work full time, am a member of a reserve unit and go to school full time. My college instructions do not give me partial credit for not completing an assignment. This country is raising children to be wholly inadequate to handle the real world outside of school. Your boss at work is not going to say, “it’s ok that your project didn’t get done, you’ll only get half your bonus this year. But good try.“ I would love to know what planet these administrators are from because this idea is an absolutely insane idea and a spit in the face to the children who do their work. I hope that this education system in this state do not set such a precedence for the rest of the nation to look at. Stand up and say we expect more out of our children and will not reward the those who fail to live up to the standards set before them to build up their self esteem. Give them the tools to succeed, THAT will build their self esteem. NOT padding the grade book.
How did this conversation get to WWII and the absurd conspiracy theory that the US government was involved in blowing up the World Trade Center?
Would those of you who believe in the World Trade Center conspiracy theory please contact me. I have several acres of prime swamp land, I mean development land, in Florida that you should buy.
Get A Clue,I admit I didn’t know what I should of about our actions in the rest of the world back then(first gulf war),but I educated myself quickly.I freaked when my brother was sent over(in the first wave)and was constantly attacked while setting up U.S. encampments in Saudi Arabia.I said-why do these people hate us?
I never even learned in school that the U.S. and Great Brittain took the land that had been Palestine for 2000 years(after WW2) and gave it to the Jews!Practically committing genocide in the proccess.
I then looked at Grenada and a few other questionable actions and realized that we the people are fed propaganda(even in our schools)and we have absolutely no control over what our government does.When you aren’t given all the facts,you cannot make an appropriate decision.
That is why I am a libertarian and choose the best person for the job.I hold strongly to what our forefathers intended when they drafted the constitution-including esp.separation of church and state.
Patriots - Your right - we have gone after Osama for 9/11 albeit 1/2 heartedly - the problem is, is that the Republican party (your own George Bush) said that Iraq was involved with Osama and the trade towers and THAT was why we had to go into Iraq - that and they had weapons of mass destruction - BOTH BIG FAT LIES. Instead of concentrating on the REAL terrorist - Osama….Your Republican Party leaders at the time Bush/Cheney decided that they would take on Iraq - Why? The only thing there is OIL. Both the Bush Family & Cheney have their hands in the oil business. They used 9/11 as a cover-up. Since 9/11 our country should have been focusing on finding the real terrorist (Osama and his cronies) instead of focusing on how they could get their hands on Iraqi oil. Think about this…How many countries HATED us during the Bush administration? I’m not saying that ALL Republicans are “bad” - I’m just saying the liars and thieves that have been representing the party for 8+ years need to be ousted and there should be repercussions for their actions. I also feel that a “good & true” Republican would denounce the actions (lies) of their party and look for better people to represent them. I am not Republican, Democrat OR Independent - I have voted all 3 ways - BUT I can tell you this….If someone I put into office lied about something that big, where thousands of our own military and thousands of innocent civilians were killed, I’d be thinking twice if that was a party I’d want to be involved with and if I did what I could do to make sure they were removed as quickly as possible from office.
I’m a college professor who teaches in a Big 10 university’s School of Education. I’ve got to say that this is a ridiculous idea. Homework should be meaningful and students should be held accountable to what teachers assign. I will say, however, that there should be every effort made for teaching to be meaningful in the classroom and for homework to enhance the learning in the classroom. If homework devolves into meaningless busywork, it should be reevaluated or discontinued.
Students have to learn responsibility at some point for their actions. Giving them 50% of a grade they did not earn in no way advances that goal. I have no problem with weighting homework significantly less than other work but I do take issue with giving 50% of a grade that was not earned.
Of course (and I won’t get into it here), I truly think we should totally reevaluate the grading policy in the US totally anyway.
Fyi, I never associated the 2 as being the same. Didn’t we go after Osama Bin Laden for 9/11?
People should be able to choose their own parties, religion, etc. for their own reasons without being called names from narrow-minded people just because they have different views.
Exactly Laura - We made our own war and terror by putting our good men and women in service in harms way all over oil. How many have dies senseless deaths?? It’s sad too - there are still so many out there that believe that 9/11 is linked to the trade towers and they feel that our men and women in service are doing this for the tower and plane victims. If they actually looked into the information, read all there is to read they will see that there is NO link and that their party made fools of them and the rest of the world.
Patriots - Got your head buried in the sand and believe Iraq was involved with 9/11? If so then you fall into that bunch I’m refering to. If not well then good for you - I’ve met very few Republicans that are not clouded by that specific (9/11 = Iraq) set of lies by their party. But then again with as many that have moved across the isle and have switched parties, I also see that many, many have seen what the leaders of that party we’re - bold face liars.
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