Here is the short interview I had on CBC Radio Calgary. We talked briefly about no zero grading policies.
Here is the post I wrote on how Giving kids a zero teaches them a lesson, and you can find all of my posts on the folly of grades and other assessment topics here.
You can also read about The Case Against Grades here.
I totally agree. Zeros (and I assume we are referring to homework assignments) are totally unproductive. They amount to super-Fs. More often than not, they are really intended to motivate the parent to make the student do the work. In the end, we overlook the reasons why the child is having trouble with the assignment and create unproductive relationships between the student and the parent, the parent and the teacher, and the teacher and the student. In the end, the child manages the conflict by acting out. We actually reinforce "bad behaviors," by doing this. Kenneth Goldberg, Ph.D. www.thehomeworktrap.com.
ReplyDeleteAfter thinking more about the interview, I decided to post a comment on my own blog. I'm a psychologist, not an educator. In my comments, I address the psychological reasons why Joe's position regarding the destructive effects of zeros makes so much sense. http://homeworktrap.blogspot.com/2012/06/homework-zeros.html.
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