'No zero' grading raises concerns in Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTH

At I.C. Norcom High, some students caught cheating or who skip class and miss a test get the same minimum grade as everyone else - a 50.

That's the practice that several of the school's teachers said they were told to follow in a meeting with Norcom's principal. The teachers also cite a school newsletter that states "50 is the new 0."

Norcom Principal Lynn Briley said her instructions may have been misconstrued. She began the grading practice last spring semester to help more students graduate and to do so within four years of starting school as freshmen. At 27.3 percent, Norcom has one of the highest dropout rates in the state.

"It's part of our school improvement initiative to improve our pass rate," she said.

Briley said it will take more than two years to reach a clear conclusion of the program's effectiveness. That's when the group of first-time freshmen who started high school in fall 2008 is scheduled to graduate.

The no-zero practice has caused friction for Norcom teachers who think it's unfair to students who follow the rules. Portsmouth's other two high schools don't mandate no zeros.

Earlier this year, Norcom teacher Lucinda Harris spoke before the School Board, telling members that no-zero grading is unreasonable to most of the school's teachers. She said students take advantage of it: Some kids say, "Just give me a 50," Harris said.

Dotty Dray, an English and journalism teacher at Norcom and a former president of the Portsmouth Education Association, agrees that most Norcom teachers don't like the practice. Dray said she bases her assessment on conversations she's had with other teachers, comments made in faculty meetings, and what she's heard has been said in departmental meetings.

Dray said the practice teaches students they can get something for nothing. "To give them 50 points to turn in nothing, not even their name on a piece of paper, does not reflect the real world," she said. "No employer is going to give them a paycheck for doing nothing."

Dray said borderline as well as honors students take advantage of the practice. She's had students skip assignments because they've figured out they can still pass or get a good end-of-semester grade with a 50 or 50s averaged in, she said.

Though that's not the intent, Briley said, she knows some students have taken such advantage.

A 50 is supposed to be a grade that can be replaced when a student finally does an assignment or takes a test, she said.

Even more disturbing to some Norcom teachers is that they think they're supposed to give a grade of 50 even if a student is caught cheating.

Dray, the English and journalism teacher, lamented giving no less than a grade of 50 to students caught cheating on an assignment. She said she felt she had no choice. She recalled a faculty member asking Briley what to do if a student is found cheating. She recalled that, in response, Briley said no grade below 50 should go into grade books.

Angela Bell, a Norcom teacher and a Portsmouth Education Association representative, said she heard Briley say the same thing at the meeting. In interviews, several other teachers concurred that they had, too.

In an interview Tuesday, Briley said she did not recall discussing student cheating in the faculty meeting. She said she personally believes a student who is caught cheating should get no credit for the work, but it's up to teachers to decide how to handle the situation.

At a recent School Board meeting, Briley told board members that most teachers at Norcom do not share concerns Harris brought before them. In the interview Tuesday, Briley said she doesn't know how most teachers feel, but if they have problems with the grading practice, "I think they would have addressed it with me or the school improvement team."

Briley said about 10 teachers have expressed concerns over the grading practice. The school has about 85 instructional staffers, she said. At the end of the school year, she said, teachers will be polled on the practice.

Briley, who began with the Portsmouth division as a teacher in 1971, said she doesn't believe teachers are giving students "something for nothing. We're just adjusting the grading scale."

She introduced the idea of the grading practice after many years of reading on the topic and learning about it at educational conferences and workshops, she said. In her presentation to the board, she noted that zero s don't reflect what students have learned. Further, she said, a 50 is still a failing grade, but a student has more room to recover from it.

In an interview, she gave an example of a student who has earned two grades of 80, but then gets a zero, leading to an average of 53.

The student has shown he or she can do C-level work, Briley said, but is now faced with a failing grade average that does not reflect what he has learned. The failing average can hurt his motivation to continue to do schoolwork, she said.

"So the kid stops working," Briley said. "They have a 'What's the point?' attitude. I've already failed."

At a March board meeting, board member Jean Shackelford asked Briley whether some students are taking advantage of the grading practice, while board member Costella Williams said she liked the idea of giving 50s as a means of giving students some new hope. Board member Mark Whitaker, himself an educator, said it was clear from Briley's explanation of the program that it benefits borderline students.

Portsmouth's schools has no divisionwide policy on omitting zero s from grade books, and the city's two other high schools don't require teachers to do it.

In an e-mail, Churchland High Principal Susan Bechtol said she likes the idea of eliminating zeros "but absent the support of a PPS (Portsmouth Public Schools) policy I did not mandate it."

Some other school divisions in South Hampton Roads discourage grades of zero.

In Chesapeake, for example, zero s are to be given in specific instances only, including when students cheat on an assignment. In Norfolk, 61 is the lowest grade that can be given unless a student puts forth no effort or does not turn in work.

In Norfolk, the practice is under review by a committee made up of teachers, parents, administrators and students who are working with the schools chief of academics.

Briley said Norcom's school improvement team will retreat this summer to evaluate how students' grades have been improving under the practice. She said they'll assess whether the grading practice helps borderline students get more D's and C's.

If that pans out, she said, "this is something that we will consider continuing."

Cheryl Ross, (757) 446-2443, cheryl.ross@pilotonline.com