As a former Orange County Public School (OCPS) teacher, corrupt educational practices consciously reduced my passion and pushed me out of the teaching profession. One major issue, which I found alarmingly destructive was often disguised as productive and “good for the students,the No-Zero Grading Policy.
Grades not only reflect how well a student is performing, but determine how effective a teacher and to a greater extent, a school is. The No Zero Policy, is a school-wide grading policy where students no longer receive grades lower than 50%. For example, a student who completes 30% of their work, and is due a 30% in the marking period, would be manually given a 50% at report card time. While a student, who receives a 55% or 65%, does not receive any special additional points or waivers of grade performance. In the short term, this policy helps students performing poorly, improve their grades through make up assignments at a drastically faster pace. In the long run, this policy produces a fictitious school-wide reflection of how well a student body is scholastically performing. Eventually, this leads to lower tests scores on Standardize tests and even a substandard curriculum which is used to constantly adjust to the abilities of the students.
In Orange County Public Schools, the biggest racket is the grading policy. Schools who institute the No Zero Policy are routinely graded and compared to schools who do not institute the No Zero Policy. Thus, giving an fictitious air of superiority to schools with A grades, and consequences to schools with D or F grades, most likely not instituting the No Zero Grading Policy. However, studies show, these school do not perform any better on State Standardized Tests. The difference is the willingness of school officials to cave into pressure from State and District Officials, who pressure the Principals, who in turn force teachers to turn in their grades with nothing less than a 50% or be reprimanded.
As a Senior Intern in 2008, I sat in a Teacher faculty meeting where the Principal handed down this new policy. And I never imagined that the “No Zero Policy” would spread from that middle school cafeteria to each of the five different schools that I taught. The policy remains fraudulent, an enabler of poor performance in students, and the primary reason, meeting education standards will continue to dwindle in the state of Florida.
Say No, to the “No-Zero Policy.”
Written by Mr. Cowan Amaye-Obu former Howard Middle School Teacher, OCPS Charter School Teacher
http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/TTR-MET-Rothstein.pdf