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A teacher here in Canada has recently been suspended for giving zeros for unsubmitted work, which is against the school’s policy. I know people have strong opinions on topics like these and so I’d like to open things up. Here’s the link to the full article: Teacher Suspended for Giving Zeros.

Alberta Teacher Suspended

I think we’ve all been frustrated when we seem to care more about a student’s learning and grades than they do. When we’ve catered to their learning needs, extended deadlines and then extended them again. When we’ve turned tests into “take home” assignments with the hopes that some work will get completed and submitted…when we’ve done all of this… at what point are we actually setting our children up for failure, when they realize that the real world doesn’t work like this? The real world has deadlines and we don’t get to choose those deadlines. In the real world, if I don’t write lesson plans, or sub plans, or tests – for that matter, I’ll get reprimanded. My behavior will be met with a consequence. I’ll be in big professional trouble!

I know that giving a zero doesn’t truly give me a picture of what the student has or has not learned. I have every student’s best interest at heart and I try my very best to make sure that all of my students have success – as I’m sure most of you do. However, I just can’t help but wonder what sort of citizens and work force we are creating, with the “no zero” type of mentality – if there is no other policy in place, such as “incompletes”. I am conflicted by the story of this teacher, because I can see both sides. What are the policies in your schools? What do you think about this whole thing?