Trustees to review no-zero policy
Student assessment scrutinized in wake of teacher’s suspension
Public school trustees say they will re-examine how students are assessed after a high school teacher was suspended for grading students with zeros.
“It’s fair to say that this matter has just really become a public issue and a board issue in the last few days,” Edmonton public school board chairman Dave Colburn said Friday.
Though Edmonton Public Schools does not have a citywide policy that discourages teachers from grading students with zeros, many individual schools and principals have implemented the so-called no-zero approach.
On May 18, Lynden Dorval was suspended from his job teaching physics and science at Ross Sheppard High School because he continued to grade students with zeros when they failed to turn in assignments. The 61-year-old teacher has 35 years’ experience.
The school’s grading practice does not allow zeros for missed assignments or tests, but demands that teachers pursue students who don’t submit their work to arrange for the work to be finished. If the work still isn’t done, the teacher is supposed to enter the “not completed,” according to a document outlining the school’s grading practice. Students who don’t submit enough work throughout the year for the teacher to assess their progress would have “unable to evaluate” entered in their file.
Superintendent Edgar Schmidt issued an open letter Friday explaining the grading practice.
“If a student writes a test and gets all the answers wrong, they are assigned a zero on that test,” his letter said.
“However, missed assignments are treated differently.”
In those cases, teachers work with students to try to get the work done, Schmidt said. The practice actually pushes students to do more work as opposed to the “all or nothing approach” of entering a zero, Schmidt said.
Students who miss several assignments would see their overall grade go down, Schmidt said in an interview.
Former Ross Sheppard teacher Doug Senuik, who has been supporting Dorval, said backers of the no-zero approach suggest zeros stop students from finishing the work.
That’s not the case, said Senuik, who taught for 36 years and was social studies department head at Ross Sheppard for 20 years until he retired last year.
Teachers gave “reluctant zeros” or “disappearing zeros,” said Senuik. That means a student would get a zero on a missed assignment or test but that zero would be removed once the work was done, Senuik said.
He continued marking with zeros after Ross Sheppard implemented its no-zero approach in 2011.
He got a warning letter from the principal in April 2011 but continued giving zeros until he retired.
“Right now, it’s up to the principal,” Senuik said. “In some schools, what Lynden was doing is fine and he would still be teaching.
“In our school, he’s suspended after 35 years. I’m puzzled as to why action wasn’t taken against me last year. It doesn’t seem very consistent.”
That is something school trustees might address, said Michael Janz, who plans to ask board colleagues to support a review of the district’s assessment practices. That review could happen in the fall, Janz said.
In Edmonton Catholic Schools, zeros are “discouraged” but remain an option for teachers who have exhausted all other avenues of getting the assignment from a student.
Dorval has said he expects to appeal his suspension.