"No zero" strategy gets a failing grade
By Donna C. Gregory NEWS EDITOR

Zeroes would become a thing of the past if schools adopt a "no zero" strategy previously mentioned in the school system's six-year plan.

Some county teachers say a "no zero" strategy included in the school system's proposed six-year strategic plan could end up generating a bunch of failures in society.

Around seven teachers - most from Thomas Dale High School - lined up to talk about the Design for Excellence strategic plan last week during a public hearing before the Chesterfield County School Board.

The top issue was the plan's reference to a "no zero" strategy, meaning teachers could not give students a "0" grade if they didn't complete their school work. Opponents of the strategy like Ryan Abbott, a teacher and coach at Cosby High School, said it could set students up to fail in life because it doesn't "teach accountability" and "gives an unrealistic idea of the real world."

School officials are now trying to clarify why the strategy was in the plan. "If you looked at the six-year plan, the elimination of zeroes is just an example of a [possible] practice. It's just a strategy," said Debra Marlow, director of community relations.

The school system is not committing to enacting a "no zero" policy system-wide. "It was just an example of what would be studied in terms of the instructional policies we currently use and the effect on self-direction," said Lin Corbin- Howerton, director of school improvement and instructional support.

Parents and others might be surprised to know that some county schools already use a "no zero" policy. Monacan, Meadowbrook and Thomas Dale high schools all use the "High Schools That Work" educational model, which supports a "no zero" policy. The model will also soon be implemented at Clover Hill High School.

"High Schools That Work is a very well-researched model for whole school reform [created by the] Southern Regional Educational Board. The model includes components that fit the research they did about what it takes to be successful as a school," explained Corbin- Howerton.

Research on the "no zero" policy, called the "Power of I" in the High Schools That Work model, indicates that when a student receives a zero on an assignment, he or she then loses interest in subsequent class work.

"One zero and they can never make a grade that is going to have them pass the course, so they check out," explained Corbin-Howerton. "In a High Schools That Work school, [the student] is required to go spend some time with someone supervising him to do that work, so the school can figure out if he just didn't do the work or if he didn't understand it."

In other schools, teachers deduct a letter grade from the assignment for every day that it's late. The theory is that even if an assignment is turned in three days late, "you can dig your way out of a 'D,' but you can't dig your way out of a zero," said Corbin-Howerton. "Eventually though, if the student doesn't do the work, I think you have to give a zero."

Corbin-Howerton said some county teachers have been informally using a "no zero" policy for years.

School officials say the High Schools That Work model that includes the "no zero" strategy is just one of many educational models that schools can choose to adopt. A systemwide adoption is not planned.

Still, several teachers, including some from Thomas Dale where the model is being used, spoke out against the "no zero" strategy mentioned in the plan. "I do not want [my children] to fail because their schools have told them it's not important to meet deadlines," said Rebecca Hodell, a parent and Thomas Dale teacher.

Peter Barringer, another Thomas Dale teacher, said the "no zero" strategy is unfair to students who complete their assignments on time, and it requires more work from teachers, who then have to track assignments that haven't been turned in. "What is the incentive for the student to do anything we ask of them?" he asked. "Life is not about do-overs-not in college and not in the real world."

Thomas Dale Principal Rob Stansberry defended the model, saying it has been successful at other schools, including a prior school in which he worked. When teachers at Thomas Dale were asked last year to vote on whether to implement High Schools That Work, Stansberry said 60 percent were in favor of using the model, 20 percent opposed it and another 20 percent didn't vote at all.

The school system has since deleted references to the "no zero" strategy and other educational models in the plan that appears on its Web site. "We won't have examples in the final document," said Marlow.

Honors courses

Some speakers also opposed part of the strategic plan that suggests the school system could possibly eliminate high school honors classes. James River High School recently eliminated its honors classes in English and history, choosing instead to focus on AP coursework where students can earn college credit.

Honors coursework is more rigorous than the traditional curriculum, but it's not as difficult as the college-level coursework found in AP classes. "The goal is to move kids into the most challenging work and to have them really doing the work for the level of credit they are getting," explained Corbin-Howerton.

But parents like Elizabeth Cross feel eliminating honors courses would limit student choice. She asked board members to delay action on the six-year plan saying, "Please allow us time to become informed. The average person doesn't watch meetings or go to the [school system's] Web site."

Plan highlights

Other highlights of the Design for Excellence plan include:

• Offering at least one world language at each elementary school.

• Developing alternative elementary schools "that provide choices for students to develop strengths and talents beyond traditional gifted identification."

• Extending the length of the school day. Adding 30 minutes per day has been discussed, indicated Corbin-Howerton.

• Actively recruiting more minority student participation in specialty centers and advanced studies.

• Expanding the number of English Language Learning (previously known as English as a Second Language) centers from two to four high schools.

• Exploring the possibility of offering genderspecific physical education classes.

• Studying the feasibility of reinstating physical education/health as a required course for all eighth-graders.

• Establishing employee recruitment goals that emphasize workplace diversity.

• Developing a mentoring/outreach network for minority employees.

• Exploring the possibility of creating an education specialty center at one of the county's high schools to promote careers in education.

What's next

The school board is expected to discuss the community's input on the strategic plan at a work session on Dec. 7. Members would then vote on the plan at their regular meeting on Dec. 11.

For more information on the Design for Excellence plan, visit www.chesterfield.k12.va.us and click on the link on the home page.