I am a teacher in Ohio. In my district we are not permitted to give zeros for missing work. In fact, 45% is the lowest grade possible. If a student does not do an assignment, or earns less than a 45%, we enter the grade as “F” and the computer reads it as a 45.

The reason behind this is that if a student earns a few zeros, it is almost impossible to recover from that. It can be very discouraging to earn a 100, then average that with zero, and it’s still an F!

I have also heard the argument that a zero does not reflect what was actually learned. I would respond by saying that, if the student is not doing the work, how do I know what he/she is capable of? Homework provides practice in the skills I teach. If I see that there is a problem on homework, I can fix it before the test. That’s the way it should be. My district just wants me to allow the students to take the tests over and over until they “get it.” There’s not enough time in the year!

I still feel that it is important to teach good work habits! With our grading system, students learn very quickly that they can blow off most of the homework. They just need to barely pass a couple of tests and they have passed the class. What are they learning from this?

I am a high school student right now–though I am not in Spanish.

My school prohibits teachers from giving Zeros for homework probably because of this very issue. So, my old World History Teacher said basically, ‘If I can’t give them a zero, I’m going to give them a one’.

A zero takes a lot out of a grade. If a child doesn’t get it then he should ask for some form of help and at least try to do the work. An irresponsible kid would just blow it off completely.

There is a difference between a student who has trouble understanding the work and getting poor grades despite effort and a student who simply does not care enough to do the work. A student who does not understand still gives an effort. They may need help with organization so they turn things in on time, but they are willing to try to understand when offered help. Those who simply refuse to do the work don’t care, more often than not. They may hate the subject, want to drop out and get a job, or have other reasons for their refusals to work, but I don’t think it’s because they don’t understand what they need to do.

A zero does not reflect the academic knowledge of someone who doesn’t do the work because they aren’t demonstrating any academic knowledge. Why should they get a grade for nothing? Will you get a paycheck for doing nothing at your job? Is this what we want to teach kids? Incentives are great if you have students who respond to them, and most do. But there will always be one or two who just don’t want to do the work no matter what you do to encourage them.

Each student has the right to an education, but with that right comes the responsibility of contributing your best efforts to learning. Students have the right to fail if they choose not to do the work. Failing is the result of the student’s own actions, or lack of them, and can be a huge motivator. I know one 8th grader who is repeating the grade for the second time this year. Last year we had to practically beg him to do anything and his parents didn’t help. This year he works hard and turns things in on time. I have no doubt that it is because he saw all of his friends move on to high school while he remained behind.

Well, if the child does know the work, there’s no reason they couldn’t have turned something in. However, they put in zero effort so they deserve the exact same grade. Respond to a child who is not doing homework exactly the same as you would a child who doesn’t get it… offer tutoring, extra help, etc. My little sister is dyslexic, but she knows she has to turn in ALL homework. If she can’t understand it and we can’t help her, a note is sent to the teacher to let her know that the effort is being made. Schools don’t want to give out zeros because so many kids are failing, and many are dropping out. This looks bad on the schools. Half of all students can’t find the US on a map. Your superintendent is an idiot and a moron. If you would provide her info, I would happily send her an e-mail and tell her so. We can not keep telling kids that they can just make excuses! They must work in order to earn something. Do you think in college, a professor will care if they don’t “get it?” NO. They tell them to make arrangements to get tutoring or something and keep up. As a school teacher, your responsibility is to alert parents to these problems and offer solutions. You can’t force anyone to try them, but that’s the parent’s responsibility.

Your job is to teach the student. Their job is to be willing to learn. I personally think that tutoring should be required for any students failing a class, even if it’s because they won’t do the work. Either way, if the student doesn’t understand, they’re getting extra help, and if the student’s just lazy, they’ll find out laziness is not excusable.

But don’t give out points for nothing. Next thing you know, you’ll be giving out points for wrong answers just because they tried/you’ll hurt their feelings/whatever. We need to reinstitute the concept of making an effort and trying your best.

I am a teacher. The homework in my classroom is approximately 10% of each student’s grade. This simply means that, if a student gets an A on everything but does not turn in homework, that student would receive a B in my class. When I first began teaching, homework was worth more in my students’ overall grades. However, I had too many students with D’s or F’s. This is why I changed my system. This way, students who do have the knowledge and skills are still getting good grades. They just aren’t AS GOOD as they would be with the homework turned in.

I know you’re talking about middle and high school but I have a child going into 5th grade who had so much homework last year that she would be working on it from the time she got off the bus until dinner time. She would do the work but not always turn it in. I tried meeting with the teacher once a week before school to make sure the homework was being turned in and find out how she was doing in class. After the first couple of times the teacher had “meetings” or was otherwise to busy to talk to me for 5 minutes. I tried changing days of the week with no luck, and no more meetings.

I don’t think homework should be a major part of a students grade. The information needs to be taught during school hours, and homework is supposed to be review.

My daughter would come home with math problems she didn’t know how to do, and there would be no examples on the worksheet. If we were lucky my son who was in 7th grade could help her, but there were times when none of us could figure out the new math terms. We’d have to tell her to ask her teacher to explain, but were never sure if she did ask. (Because the teacher wouldn’t meet with me.) Once in a while we’d get an e-mail from the teacher saying homework was missing, but by then it was almost the end of the school year so it was to late to make a difference.

Why aren’t the teachers teaching?

I think it’s “feel good” teaching and that your superintendent is more interested in how the statistics look in your district, than in how well the children are actually doing. Part of a grade IS about being able to do the work that is assigned. If they are not able to turn in assignments, they don’t deserve a grade for them. Of course, there ARE other grades to consider — classroom participation, test grades and the like. I hate the idea that so many grades are “padded” these days. Tests are supposed to assess their “real academic knowledge”, but that is all we are requiring of students, please test my daughter and jump her up 2 or 3 grades. She already has the required academic knowledge for her grades. Hopefully, she is learning something more.

Dumbing down our students and lowering our expectations of them isn’t the answer. If you don’t turn in an assignment, you have earned nothing….take your zero.

(Parent of 2)

It’s a very good incentive to get the homework done but there are always going to be circumstances where a student has a good excuse for not having teh assignment done. I’m a senior in college and my school’s policy is that a letter grade is dropped for every day the assignment is late. Assignments turned in later than 3 days (unless given more time by the instructor) receive a zero but still must be turned in in order to complete the course.

as a parent, i would want more than a zero for not turning in homework. i should be notified if my child is not completing assignments. if given this information, i would have an opportunity to find out if my kid is slacking because of laziness or misunderstanding. also after a certain number of incompletes, a conference should be set up between me, my child , and a school counselor. if the curriculum is too hard, then my child should be moved to a class thats more appropriate. but to move my child, it should be a group decision involving me & my child, along with help from the school. my main motivation for a conference after so many undone assignments, is that many parents dont know our kids arent doing the work, and others just dont care. it can force involvement.

my 5 yr olds school (she just started K) sends a red folder with EVERY CHILD EVERY DAY. in it any school employee can put a check for any rule infraction, incomplete homework, talking etc. every night you have to sign this folder. if the child goes 2 days consecutively without a signature, the parent has to come to the school for a conference. therefore, forcing involvement. though personally i would like to see some more positive places to put checks (your child was a pleasure to teach, creative, etc. ) i do appreciate the fact that they are staying on top of things.

I agree with the system of giving zeros for not turning in work. Yes there are cases where students just do not get it, so they don’t try, however the student should try and approach a teacher and ask for help. Yes its a hard pill to swallow, but education is too important for it to be ignored like that

Of course teachers should be trying to help students to get those grades that they are capable off, since its their job. But it is also up to the student to at least attempt at work so that teachers can them have a good look and help the student understand where they need it