Teachers Distrust Grading Reforms (for Good Reasons)
The first time I encountered “no-zeros” grading, I was still a teacher. To demonstrate how to use a new data entry system, our technology coordinator plugged a zero into the software, and to everyone’s surprise, the online gradebook rounded up to 49.9 percent. He’d accidentally exposed a yet-to-be-announced grading policy (the “fifty-percent” rule).
The teachers in the room were apoplectic. To them, giving half credit to a student who turned in no assignment or bombed a test was an insult to their expertise, unfair to other students, and an act of deception to parents. Blessedly, the district reversed course even before it rolled out the policy.
A decade later, “no-zeros” grading and other so-called “equity grading” reforms have gone viral. Stories abound of schools in Virginia, Oregon, California, New York, Georgia, and Nevada implementing no-zeroes grading, unlimited retakes, no late penalties, no homework grades, and no grades for participation.
But data isn’t the plural of anecdote. So, to determine the prevalence of these grading reforms, researchers from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute recently partnered with the RAND Corporation to conduct a representative survey of teachers on the topic. Their topline finding: over half of teachers report that their schools have implemented at least one of these policies.
That sort of number suggests grassroots support. Yet, with few exceptions, teachers express contempt towards grading reform. A full 81 percent oppose giving partial credit for no work, with 51 percent—including 54 percent of teachers of color—labeling this approach “very harmful.” Majorities also oppose the abolition of late penalties and support grading homework and participation.
An open-response question on the survey unearthed some spicy comments. In the words of teachers, the reforms are “ridiculous”, “terrible”, “a disservice to students”, and a self-serving attempt by districts to “improve graduation rates” while achievement drops.
These reforms are, of course, well-intentioned—meant to be nice, considerate of student feelings and circumstances, and fair. Giving a student a zero for a major missed assignment, for instance, might lead him to give up on the course entirely. Better to keep him in the game.
But as this survey demonstrates, what far more teachers suspect is that exacting standards push students to fulfill their potential. And, while they may be immature, they aren’t stupid. If they can get away with completing little work and waiting until the semester’s end to hand in assignments, that is precisely what many will do.
What little research we have interrogating grading practices validates these teacher suspicions. In a recent review of the literature, one professor acknowledges that (while the qualitative research on grade reforms is extensive) “empirical studies are few.” In other words, there are plenty of papers explaining why equity grading and other policies could work, but almost none showing that they do work in practice.
On the flip side, there are several studies that support rigorous standards. For example, a 2020 study found that students assigned to “teachers who graded more strictly” went on to show “greater test score growth.” Another study found that in classes where students “expected a ‘C’ in their class, the studied about 50 percent more than students who expected an ‘A.’”
As that summary suggests, there is simply no evidence that making grading easier does anything but depress academics. What looks fair, generous, and humane in “the literature” crumbles when it hits the brick walls of a real school. If homework isn’t graded, why do it? If minimal work earns a passing grade, why not put in effort for the first few weeks and coast thereafter? If there’s no penalty for late work, why not light up in the bathroom today and deal with assignments tomorrow – or next month?
I watched this play out in practice numerous times across my career in schools. Once, a young man rushed a major essay and spent the rest of class playing games. I nudged him to keep improving it, offered feedback, encouraged him to have friends and parents read his essay, provided exemplars and rubrics, and suggested help during lunch. He refused and, in the end, received a poor mark.
Crestfallen, he committed to improving. Later that year, on a similar assignment, he requested feedback, worked and reworked his essay, visited me during recess to talk through his writing, and spent every minute of class time working for a good grade. In the end, he received one. In the long run, his effort resulted in far more learning and a far greater sense of achievement.
When schools implement “equitable” grading, students learn that actions have no consequences, that they will be rewarded regardless of effort, and that excellence isn’t worth the trouble. They deserve a better message: That the school expects excellence from them and cares enough to hold them to that standard.
