Teaching mathematics is so important that most high schools require three years of it to graduate. Students who desire to attend college get pressured to take four years of math. This subject is obviously very important because it teaches students how to: reason, perform mathematical functions to solve real world problems, master critical thinking and decision-making skills, and use a variety of formulas.
In order to teach the skills and concepts within mathematics, teachers have specific activities and problems for students to attempt. Part of the challenges teachers give students routinely extend to homework, but are often started within the classroom. Teachers then discuss the assignments the following day and build upon the skills and concepts by launching into related areas.
Therefore, the importance of these assignments, whether they are activities done in the classroom or assigned for homework, is crucial for gaining mathematical success. Consequently, many teachers mark assignments at a lower amount when they are returned late
How should teachers mark late assignments?
The marking of assignments at a lower amount has become debatable among some educators. If the purpose of the assignment is to demonstrate the ability to perform some strategy or follow some process, does it matter when it gets done by a student? By marking the assignment late, isn’t the teacher simply trying to teach responsibility and mathematics? Is it fair for a teacher to teach both mathematics and responsibility?
The above paragraph is an example of how some educators argue against marking assignments late. They sometimes cite standards-based grading, meaning students are in class to demonstrate mastery of the standards not demonstrate timeliness and responsibility. However, those educators do not fully understand the nature of mathematics as a process of building on skills and concepts. When students fail to work on current skills and concepts, they miss the opportunity to fully understand the next skills and concepts that are taught days later.
Furthermore, one needs to study the opposite argument. Does letting students turn in assignments whenever they want and still gain full credit set up a poor learning environment? If teachers are not supposed to teach responsibility, they certainly are not supposed to teach irresponsibility. Might the practice of accepting late work for full credit teach irresponsibility?
A no-consequence policy for late assignments equates to teaching irresponsibility.
In a word, my answer to the question in the previous paragraph is a vehement ‘yes.’ I believe a no-consequence policy for turning in late assignments teaches students the wrong message about timeliness. It teaches them that timeliness is not important.
Teachers need not break the backs of students who turn in late work by giving them no credit. Instead, teachers should provide reduced credit, thereby sending a message to be prompt because it is important.
Setting up a poor mathematics learning environment is ultimately detrimental to student learning. Accepting late work for full credit will teach students that timeliness is unimportant, which is far from the truth with math education and most other rigorous courses in high school. Teaching students to be irresponsible with their mathematics learning has a chance of teaching students to be academically lazy with other subjects, too. This laziness may also negatively affect students’ work-ethics and hurt their chances of success in the workplace, a place where employers require promptness.
Method One: Accepting assignments late without a penalty.
Wormeli (2006) writes:
"…no evidence demonstrates that assigning zeros helps teach students these lessons. Unless educators are willing to admit that grades are used to show evidence of students’ lack of effort and responsibility, then alternatives to the practice of assigning zeros must be found."
His research specifically mentions responsibility, with regard to assigning zeros when no work is given to teachers. When students do not complete assignments, teachers use zeros to indicate the assignment has not been completed.
Is there something wrong with indicating to students, parents, and administrators about missing assignments? Teachers take great care to assign work they deem to be relevant for learning and dial it in at the correct length and level of difficulty. When the work is not done, it indicates an impediment to learning has taken place. Ignoring the impediment with a non-zero and giving full-credit helps the student solidify the idea that the assignment does not matter.
Nevertheless, Wormeli’s reasoning seems to be a common theme among educators who speak on standards-based grading. Most people would find it odd that the lack of research does not stop a person in education to assert something; but, this did not stop Wormeli.
Might one argue the opposite using the same reasoning? If there is no research to suggest it promotes responsibility, then it is quite possibly promoting irresponsibility. So, this door of irresponsibility remains open for discussion, despite Wormeli’s emotional plea to do otherwise. Zeros are not punishments. Zeros indicate work that has yet to be completed and it reflects accordingly on students’ cumulative grades.
Method Two: Marking points off for assignments that are late.
Dagget’s (2005) rigor and relevance framework models student learning and teacher instruction. He uses quadrants to determine the level of instruction and student learning. The highest quadrant involves the application of knowledge. Generally speaking, it is a business model and timeliness is certainly a requirement within such a model.
Many schools across the U.S. have grading policies that reflect penalties for late work. This is less of a need for change than it is educators who impose rules reflective of the values of their communities. The Palm Beach School District in Florida uses a Marzano Framework for assignments. It suggests, “Outline[ing] the maximum number of late assignments you will accept, along with penalties and time limits for late work” for teachers.
Are no-penalty assignment policies lowering the standards?
There are two camps here. Some parents want all participants of a sport to receive an award at the end of a season. They think it heightens motivation. Some other parents feel awards should be used for athletes who achieve something, not merely attend games and possibly play poorly. They believe handing out awards to everyone diminishes the drive to achieve and may hurt a teams’ overall performance in the long run.
Educators have been playing around with these variables, too. It is a motivation versus performance model. How much do education systems motivate, while sacrificing standards to do so? Cynics might say that educators lower the standards in order to allow more students to pass certain tests and show school success.
It turns out, these people are not really skeptics. The New York Times (2009) reported on a federal study. The study cites ways schools snuck around NCLB requirements. One could view this no-zero, no penalty for late work as a similar strategy. How? Schools that increase their graduation rates look more favorable (provide sufficient 'growth') to education overseers (Kingsbury, 2008).
One method for helping students graduate is via grade inflation. It has been measured. According to the American College Test (n.d.), grade inflation has occurred at 12.5% over a 12-year period from 1991 to 2003. Colleges cannot look at high school grades any longer to determine what students actually know with any true reliability.
Conclusion
There are great forces in play regarding assessment. Pushes for standardized tests have caused education systems to flat out cheat (Karadimos, 2013). Teachers are under great pressure to pass students, which has resulted in grade inflation (DeVries, 2009) for several years now (Bauder, 1994).
The big picture is not a good one, gone unchecked. Schools may continue down the road of reduced standards if no-zero and no-consequence policies are applied to assignments. Of course, schools will inform their communities of heightened standards, yet the situation is clearly visible to those who follow the research. However, if convoluted research can continue to drive the ‘high standards’ push while students are held to low standards or no standards, who will be to blame when future generations cannot calculate, reason, or make decisions for themselves?
Most people would consider the label 'high standards' to be irresponsibly used to describe students who have diminished abilities. If education leaders are not going to actively do right by students and their future lives by actually instituting high standards, then no-zero and no late assignment policies will be commonly adopted. They will grope to find some other equally deplorable strategies to cling to while the public accepts such improper limits.
Educators can allow degraded societal forces to shape education policy or they can demand better from their learning communities. It is their choice to determine if responsibility or irresponsibility is taught.
Research
ACT (n.d.) Are High School Grades Inflated? Issues in College Readiness. Accessed Online April 22nd, 2013 at: http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/issues.pdf
Bauder, D (1994) Union says Teachers Pressured to Inflate Grades, Cut Homework. Associated Press via Google News. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wBYxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=IeEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2048%2C475009
Dagget (2005) Achieving Academic Excellence through Rigor and Relevance. Accessed April 22nd, 2013 at: http://www.leadered.com/pdf/academic_excellence.pdf
DeVries, L (2009) High School Grades Hit By Inflation. Accessed online April 22nd, 2013 at: http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-201_162-538000.html
Dillon, S. (2009) Federal Researchers Find Lower Standards in Schools. Accessed online April 22nd, 2013 at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/education/30educ.html
Karadimos, M (2013) Testing for Transformational Education Systems. Accessed online April 18th, 2013 at: http://gigagod.blogspot.com/2013/04/testing-for-transformational-education.html
Kingsbury, K (2008) No Dropouts Left Behind: New Rules on Grad Rates. Time. Accessed online April 22nd, 2013 at: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1854758,00.html
Palm Beach School District (n.d.) Establishing Rules and Procedures: Recognizing Adherence to Rules and Procedures. Proactive Classroom Management Strategies: The Marzano Framework. Accessed online April 22nd, 2013 at: http://wilkeshq.wikispaces.com/file/view/Marzano6-7Handouts.pdf
Wormeli (2006) Accountability: Teaching Through Assessment and Feedback, Not Grading. American Secondary Education 34(3), Summer 2006. Accessed online April 22nd, 2013 at: http://mymassp.com/files/GullenHandouts.pdf
