“Official” failures

“Don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t waste energy trying to cover up failure. Learn from your failures and go on to the next challenge. It’s ok to fail. If you’re not failing, you’re not growing.” -H. Stanley Judd

Grades. The make or break of most teenage lives during high school, and moreover, life.

As of late, Virginia Beach Public Schools (VBCPS), in an attempt to remain “Ahead of the Curve”, is considering a consistent change, throughout Virginia Beach, in the current grading policy that will prohibit teachers from giving students any grade lower than a 50 percent, even if said student does not complete the assignment at all.  Thus, the school board is currently searching for a way to lessen the impact of low grades on students and on themselves.  Seemingly, they have found a potential resolution to the issue, the “No-Zero” policy. 

Implementing a “No-Zero” policy in a school system such as Virginia Beach would not only lower the expectations for students to excel, but would absolutely create a new breed of student who takes no responsibility for their own education or their actions in general.

First and foremost, the new “No-Zero” policy completely contradicts the VBCPS mission statement found on vbschools.com, which states that the main focus is on teaching and assessing those skills our students need to thrive as 21st century learners, workers, and citizens. All VBCPS students will be… globally aware, independent, responsible learners and citizens.  

In other words, this new policy is supposed to give students the upper hand in their education by enabling them to choose to complete or not to complete assignments to the best of their ability.  After all, the worst possible outcome for students would be a 50 percent. And, because not all students are the same, those students who do not complete assignments will receive at least half of the same credit as a student who consistently completes the same assignment on time and to the best of their ability. 

According to vbschools.com,  VBCPS Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence believes that the “No-Zero” policy will keep students responsible. If a student doesn’t do his or her work, he believes that the teacher normally just hands them a zero and lets them fail. This technique is not helping to hold students accountable for learning, but with this new policy, students will be encouraged to give classes and homework their all and therefore be able to be viewed as a responsible citizen of the school.

On the other hand, the policy does deal with high school students. And, one thing that high school kids do best is find loopholes, which they have already done with this “no-zero” policy.

This policy would not reprimand those who do not complete their work, or even attempt do their work. In fact, it would do almost the opposite, as they would receive half credit for little to no effort. It seems as if the school board has given up on trying to help students understand one of life’s most fundamental lessons about failure.  Those who never fail, never, truly succeed.

However, it would seem that not every member of VBCPS agrees with the “No-Zero” for the same reasons as Spence.

According to a 2014 pilotonline.com article, former Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Schools George Parker stated that the problem with zeros was that it only takes a few of them to drag a student’s grade so far down that it seems like it will never see the light of day again. When that happens, the students’ average no longer reflects whether they’ve understood the material or not.

This reveals that the real problem behind this so-called “No-Zero” policy, is the actual learning going on, and whether students are truly learning or just retaining information until they are assessed.

An idea that should be considered in lieu of the aforementioned policy, is focusing on the students who are failing overall, instead of simply focusing on the failing grade. While it is important to work with less successful students by re-teaching, giving extra time, and encouragement, we must also remember the students who are already successful.

VBCPS seems to forget that behind all the data-driven initiatives, grade point averages, and numbers are actual students who come to school for an education and to better themselves. Empowering “all” students means embracing and encouraging different learning styles, abilities, and personalities; rather than enabling them to fail later in life by giving them a grade to increase numbers on paper.

It is important to remember that failure is a natural part of life; it’s how one reacts to this failure that truly matters. Failure spawns a seed that grows within an individual, inspiring them to learn from mistakes in order to become better.

Hopefully in April when decisions are made, appointed officials will look past the numbers and realize that nothing in life is guaranteed, nor do the most valuable things come free.