The purpose of my interview is to see if adult views will be similar to the majority of teenagers on this topic. My interviewee is my godmother Wanda, she has a job that correlates with teenage mental health and having 5 children of her own she’s been around kids a fair amount. Her attitude was intrigued because she didn’t know much about the grading policy and I had to explain it to her. The question to me that was most important was how she’d react to thinking about the opposition of a different opinion and thinking about the opposite opinion. I learned that Wanda was fine with the idea of 50% policy because it might encourage less competition and help more assessment in learning, but only for that reason. "People may oppose my opinion because it's a different of educating. But if the 50% system could encourage less competition in education and more assesment of learning then I'm all for it."

I feel like the 50% grading policy is a double-edged sword. As a very stressed out high school student, I wouldn't be lying if the 50% did help my nerves somewhat. But I also know that sometimes kids will take advantage of it, since it makes it so easy to get a passing grade. There's no point in learning everything for an assignment because you can learn about 50% of it to pass. It also made me realize that it also helps the kids where school isn't their utmost priority because of what happens in their own life. In a way it also sort of becomes a disservice, but for those kids who still have stuff going in their lives and then get passed onto harder stuff. They won't the right foundations to complete those classes and eventually it'll become harder to barely pass by.  But it kinda made me realize how messed up the grading system is and should be a lot in improvement.  

 Nadia Avalos

Mrs. Carrillo 

AP English Language and Composition

March 11th, 2024

The grading policy is as old as education itself, something that has been permanently set in stone for hundreds of years. But when the global pandemic came around putting the whole country on lockdown, is when something as simple as going to school wasn’t so simple anymore. For about 3 years, every student had to go online and because of the change in setting, this implemented the equitable grading policy. The no-zero policy, 50% policy or the equitable grading policy gave students the extra chance when it came to the grading system, no zero was emplaced but the lowest grade could only be 50% no matter how little the student did in the assignment. While it could have been beneficial when students were in covid past, it seemed to have allowed students to pass but not learn anything. Which defeats the purpose of going to school at all. Shown from how it affects teachers, how it affects students and how it affects generation alpha.   

But before we go into the actual no-zero policy, let’s focus on the grading system itself. The numerical US grading system is a straightforward system where students are marked on a numbered scale pre-decided by their school. Depending on how well the student does on a specific assignment, they will gain a specific number grade to assess their performance. For example, if a student did an assignment that’s worth 10 points and the student gets 9 out 10 questions right. That means the student got 90% on their assignment, which is equal to an A in the letter grading systems.  Every letter corresponds to a number or percentage which is then used to calculate your GPA (grade point average). For example, 100-90% will equal to an A which is excelling in the specific subject, the letter B (70-89%) grade means a student does well in that subject, the letter C (60-79%) means average, D (69-50%) is below average and F (50% and below) means the student failed. As shown from the Graduate program, a blog for educators says “Grades are designed to be reflections… mastery within a subject.” (Gallagher, 2021) Despite the horrors of the letter F, it’s not meant to be there as a punishment, it establishes that a student hasn’t learned what they need to have an understanding of the assignment.

Teachers are the messengers of the grading system, they’re the ones who administer it and are questioned repetitively because of the grade they hand out. So it makes sense that teachers aren’t for the no-zero policy. As shown from a public survey I’ve posted to see how multiple teachers felt about that grading policy. Most teachers were shown to be against it but with good reasoning. As shown from the post “refusing to tell kids’ failed… you're shoving failure to something higher.” (Reddit, 2023) It’s true that with the new policy, it doesn’t take a lot for a student to pass. For example, it means that for a student to pass an assignment, that means they need to do 60% of the assignment. Which also means the student needs to be able to understand over half of the assignment to pass. But with the no-zero policy, the student has to do only 10% of the assignment to pass. That means that a student needs to be able to understand only 10% of the assignment, leaving the other 90% of vital information behind. The work that teachers give out isn't given just for the sake of it, it’s given for the student to be able to use later on whatever job they choose or if they student goes into college. You can’t build a castle with its foundations. Speaking of foundations, it may also affect the way the teacher may govern their class. Teachers are one of the main foundations of society, what we learn not only from our peers but our teachers as well can influence our form of thinking. But for teachers, it’s a two-way street. The papers and grades are not only an analysis of the student’s understanding and apprehension of the subject but also an understanding for the teacher. Teachers have to create their own learning plan based on what the students already know and they need to know by the end of the year. Quoted from Edutopia, where teachers express their opinions of no-zero policy “Teaching is hard work. Let’s have grades that reflect… learning.” (Minero, 2018) is what teacher Jennie Frederiksen said. If the student doesn’t understand the work but still pass from what little they know. It would be harder for the teacher to figure whether the class knows enough to be able to pass onto the next subject. 

Now to focus onto the main course, the students. The students are the main recipients of the grading system, and while many students may like the no-zero policy, it definitely affects a student’s expectation and their lives further on. School is not just an area where you learn, it’s your introduction to a specific field you may be interested in as a job. But along with every opportunity or job that you gain. You need some sort of common knowledge that are the building blocks of how you can do well in that specific job. According to the newspaper NEAtoday claims “ policy… says 'good faith' is completing half… undermines this message.” (Walker, 2016) The school setting is the start up of these specific building blocks. Independence, self-advocacy, all of those things you either learn outside of the home or at school. Giving students credit for doing something in good faith will be doing them a disservice about gaining specific independent skills to be a fully functioning adult. Speaking of adults, how do you think that a student will learn how to be an adult when they’re not being accountable now. Speaking of adults, we can now focus on the students who actually do their work. Myself being one of them, one major flaw within the no-zero policy is that the 50% for the kids who don’t work is given. While for the students who do try and end up with a 50%, that 50% is earned. There is a very big difference between when you earn something and when you’re given something. Why is it fair for the students who don’t try, who don’t show up to class to get a 50% when I know I will try my hardest on any assignment and for the both of us to get the same grade? With the no-zero policy, it means that the students who don’t try at all are given an easy pass while the students who try so hard to pass have their work invalidated since the kids who do nothing and they kids who try are now put into the same group. But that might not only effect the students of now, the no-zero policy affects the students of the future.  

Our current youngest generation is Gen Alpha. Gen alpha are children born in the years 2010 and past who only grew up around technology. It makes sense that Gen Alpha could be learning much differently now, especially now that the world is basically surrounded by a screen. Everything that they could learn is at their fingertips, but the problem with that is because why bother learning when everything is already there for you. The no-zero policy may have something to play with. Coming from the Flynn effect, the flynn effect explains that the iq changes will constantly be rising with the changes of the new generation. But the newest generations had a very significant decrease in IQ with gen alpha. There was no sort of solution that was connected to it other than what the daily mail claims “results 'indicate a change of quality or content of education” (Tilley, 2023)  Covid had started in the years of 2019, so gen alpha must be around the ages of 9 and under. Those first 8 years are very vital for a child’s life because those are the years where the child absorbs as much information as possible to create their own form of building blocks to retain information that will be used on further such as reading and writing. But when the child is constantly given worksheets or content that doesn’t fully reflect their academic performance. For example, not giving out the 0 and giving a 50% for basically not learning enough to pass the subject. That can cause some serious effects to the child’s academic performance down the line. Another example is how the no-zero affect Gen Z is through how academics aren’t even being well applied. Along with that, the newest generation is already known for 1 thing now, their intelligence or lack thereof. You can search about Gen alpha on TikTok and multiple teachers will tell you that their students are significantly behind in their classes. Some teachers claim that their 7th graders are reading on the 4th grade level, “They still performing on the fourth grade level” (youtube) and people can only wonder how that could have happened when for about 2-3 years we had a system in place that made it easier to pass. The no-zero policy only made it easier to pass, combined with lack of authority from children being online and this is what we have as the end result. All in all, gen alpha represents how the no-zero policy only enables little effort and how the kids aren’t learning effectively enough to pass their own grade.

On the other hand, some can argue that the 50% could be considered a good thing for some.  According to Strobel education “grades can also be demotivating and create unnecessary stress for students.” (“Exploring Traditional Grading Systems: Pros, Cons, And Alternatives”) The 50% policy should act as an anti-stressor because if a student isn’t able to keep up with the workload. But the other statistics beg to differ. As stated before, without the no-zero policy a student had to do over half of the work to pass. With the no zero-policy, a student had to do only 10% of the assignment to pass. Keep in mind, the letter grade isn’t supposed to be a threat, rather an analysis of the student’s comprehension and what they need to know. But it’s not an equal match-up when all students are already given a jump ahead. Another excerpt from edutopia claims “student B with 83 average, but student A has demonstrated… mastery.” (Minero, 2018) The line of understanding now becomes blurred. These are emplaced so the teachers know how much their students have learned from the class. Whether to move or continue is modified by these percentages. But if it takes less effort to get a good grade, the teacher will never know if the student had mastered the subject or that they barely understood the subject. 

In conclusion, the no-zero policy could be effective for some. The overall effect was that it doesn’t help students, so the aspect of learning changes from “did I understand it?” to “Did I get right?” Students don’t feel like they don’t have to try with this policy while as students who do try also get the same grades as the students who don’t even bother putting their name on the page, teachers won’t know on how their student’s comprehension is up to standard that it needs to, and future students already may have not been set up correctly because of how set back they are due to a different grading system. But one thing I’ve noticed throughout my research is that the education system is heavily flawed, outdated and the grading system is one major part of that. Did the no-zero policy bring any good changes? No, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take it as a learning experience to help revise our education system to help our students learn in a way that they can be able to understand it best. In fact, the no-zero policy could be a working curve for a better institution for our future scholars and a more powerful tomorrow.

List of sources in alpha order

Works Cited

YouTube: Home, 9 November 2017, https://www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/comments/18ojnkw/my_school_finaly_got_rid_of_the_50_policy/?share_id=zwQW_YEU_xfeOdBbVvcVc&utm_content=1&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1%20l. Accessed 7 March 2024.

Wikipedia, https://youtu.be/YppMYpVvIJs?si=IXgk3fN3GCPk3QeY. Accessed 10 March 2024.

“Exploring Traditional Grading Systems: Pros, Cons, And Alternatives.” Strobel Education, 18 February 2023, https://strobeleducation.com/blog/exploring-traditional-grading-systems/. Accessed 8 March 2024.

Gallagher, Kate. “No-Zero Policy: Does it Help or Hurt Students?” Graduate Programs for Educators, 8 March 2021, https://www.graduateprogram.org/2021/03/no-zero-policy-does-it-help-or-hurt-students/. Accessed 7 March 2024.

Minero, Emelina. “Do No-Zero Policies Help or Hurt Students?” Edutopia, https://www.edutopia.org/article/do-no-zero-policies-help-or-hurt-students/. Accessed 7 March 2024.

Tilley, Caitlin. “IQ scores in the US have dropped for first time in nearly 100 years.” Daily Mail, 9 March 2023, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11841169/IQ-scores-dropped-time-nearly-100-years.html. Accessed 8 March 2024.

“US Grading System 2024: Everything You Need To Know.” Amber, 30 June 2022, https://amberstudent.com/blog/post/us-grading-system-everything-you-need-to-know. Accessed 7 March 2024.

Walker, Tim. “Teachers Divided Over Controversial 'No-Zero' Grading Policy | NEA.” National Education Association, 4 August 2016, https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/teachers-divided-over-controversial-no-zero-grading-policy. Accessed 8 March 2024.