For some schools, using zero scores doesn't add up

VIRGINIA BEACH

An old axiom - missed school work means a zero in the gradebook - is being challenged in South Hampton Roads.

In Suffolk, teachers are expected to make "every effort" to get students to make up the missing work, including notifying parents, before giving a zero on an assignment. In Chesapeake, zeros are automatic only when a student has cheated or skipped class. Virginia Beach principals are talking to their teachers about eliminating the zero altogether, and Norfolk schools have formed a committee to reconsider their grading policy.

"We're looking at getting students to complete their work, and do it at a higher level," said Sheila Magula, deputy superintendent for Virginia Beach schools.

Educators have been debating how to grade for decades. But this time, the discussions are leading to new policies.

Chesapeake put its rules on zeros in writing this fall, and Virginia Beach and Norfolk officials are considering whether to do the same. In Portsmouth, avoiding zeros will remain an unwritten practice.

One of the reasons is to reduce the number of failing students.

"If one assignment counts disproportionately, that's not fair," said Hazel Jessee, assistant superintendent for Virginia Beach high schools. For example, one zero averaged with two 100s results in a 66, a failing grade.

Some teachers feel that zeros are an appropriate consequence.

"There isn't any teacher who's going to give a zero because it's fun," said Malia Huddle, president of the Chesapeake Education Association. "We're teaching them not only how to behave in school, we're modeling the behavior they'll need when they leave us. An employer won't give a zero. They'll say 'Don't come back to work.' "

The Chesapeake policy allows teachers to give a zero "after a reasonable amount of time" if the student fails to attempt an assignment.

Ninth-grader Michael Miller, 15, of Virginia Beach said he'd love to see an end to zeros. Michael said he nearly failed an eighth-grade class after missing an assignment while sick. "Zeros just destroy your grade. It's just unnecessary when they could give you a 60. That's already something that can make you fail."

Some teachers substitute a 60 or 50 for all zeros. Others work on a grading scale of zero to 4, or assign letter grades instead of numbers.

At Bayside High School in Virginia Beach, some teachers require students to make up work after school.

Earth science teacher Daniel Keros hasn't given a zero yet this year.

"I've only had to give 20 detentions," Keros said. "Last year they didn't care and just took the zero. Grades are tremendously better than the previous four years."

Melvin Rayman, a sophomore in another earth science class at Bayside, said the "no zero" approach saved his grade. He missed a few homework assignments and a project, but his teacher made him stay late to make them up.

"It gives you a chance to take care of your responsibilities," he said.

He brought a failing grade up to a "C." Now he cares about the class.

"It makes me want to make sure I get a good grade," he said.

Gene Bottoms, senior vice president of the Southern Regional Education Board, said that eliminating zeros refocuses teachers on making sure all students, even the reluctant ones, learn the material.

"It's much easier to fail them than to teach them," he said. Bottoms said he's seen ninth-grade failure rates cut in half at schools that change their grading philosophy. If the student doesn't make up the work, parents are called in for a conference.

Brian K. Matney, principal of Frank W. Cox High School in Virginia Beach, said he never gave zeros as a teacher 20 years ago. He thinks the same approach can work today.

"I knew I didn't want to kill the spirit," he said. "If you get too many zeros and you finish a semester with a 40 average, that doesn't give kids a lot of hope."

Lauren Roth, (757) 222-5133, lauren.roth@pilotonline.com