Zeros help paint ‘whole’ picture

Re: “Zeros punish, not educate,” by Lisa Austin, Letters, Sept. 12. As a teacher with 35 years’ experience, I can say the majority of good teachers will give a zero only when:

A student wrote an assignment and got everything incorrect, thus earning a zero.

After all reasonable avenues are explored (multiple warnings, extra time given, getting parents, counsellors and administrators involved, etc.), an assignment still has not come in.

Long before the no-zero policy was even thought of, every competent, caring teacher would find a way to further help students. If a student got a zero, I felt I had failed and I would do what it took to do a “better job” for that person. Inevitably, the zero would be replaced with a mark showing more understanding.

Once all reasonable avenues had been explored in a timely way, a zero is not punitive but deserved.

I agree the teachers’ job is to look past students’ barriers and help them forge a path to success. We do this daily. But at some point we must put our energies into teaching all students the curriculum in the time given.

Those few students who earn zeros by their choice build a barrier too tall to topple and at year’s end must walk the path they created.

As an educator, I was obliged to advise next year’s teachers on the level of achievement and likelihood of success they could expect with any student I’d taught.

Zeros can be motivating and are an important tool in painting a “whole” picture of a student.