Why Teachers Should Consider Abandoning the Zero

For decades, the standard score for failing to turn in an assignment has been the dreaded zero. Many teachers and administrators feel that the punishment of bad grades can serve as a powerful motivator. However, the practice has not inspired students and indeed often provides an avenue for eschewing work altogether.

Instead of automatically giving students a zero for missed deadlines, perhaps the consequence should be requiring that the work be done, as researchers such as Ken O’Connor, Tom Guskey, and Bob Marzano have suggested. The policy puts the students’ learning before the grades and emphasizes work inflation rather than grade inflation.

In cases where teachers feel absolutely compelled to give a zero, such as when a student refuses to complete an assignment even after having been given multiple opportunities to do so, they must consider the score’s overall impact. On the 100-point scale, even substandard work receives a “D,” or about 60 points. Is failing to do the assignment really six times worse than doing it poorly? The four-point scale used to determine grade-point averages, where a zero is only one point less than a “D,” constitutes an arguably fairer grading system.