Running Head: The No-Zeros Policy 1
The No-Zeros Policy; The Effects of Using a No-Zero Grading
Policy Prior to a Standardized Test
Liliana Bermejo
Virginia Commonwealth University
The No-Zeros Policy 2
The No-Zeros Policy; The Effects of Using a No-Zero Grading
Policy Prior to a Standardized Test
Introduction
The significance of grades in the education system in the United States of America is one
that cannot be neglected; students are graded in elementary, middle, and high school and
ultimately students’ grades impact their post-secondary opportunities. Grades decide what
university a student is able to attend, and the course of study. In our educational system, students
are graded on participation, homework, classwork, quizzes, assignments, standardized test, and
much more. Certainly, students pass and fail based on multiple factors such as completion of
assignment, effort placed on the graded work, and comprehension. All schools have a grading
policy in effect, whether it is A, B, C, D, F; 1,2,3,4; or 0%-100%; however there is a new
grading policy advancing in our educational system called No-Zeros Policy, also known as
minimum grading and Failure-Free grading. For the purpose of this paper, the term No-Zeros
Policy will be used to describe these types of policies. No-Zeros policy rejects the use of zeros
and instead allows teachers to give students a pre-established minimum grade.
Using zeros in grading has advantages and disadvantages. Proponents of grading policies
who utilize zeros emphasize that zeros provide a fair grade to students. Students who do not
complete an assignment deserve the zero grade compared to students who try hard but fail to
complete the assignment correctly. In other terms, giving a student an automatic 50, or other pre-
established grade, for not trying is unfair to the student who tried but received a 50 based on the
work handed in; much like a “free card”. On the other hand, as explained by Guskey (2009) there
are three problems with assigning zeros; the first being that zeros are rarely an accurate
representation of what a student learned or the student is able to do; the second is that assigning
The No-Zeros Policy 3
zeros greatly magnifies when grades are averaged to attain student’s overall course grade making
it difficult for students to succeed with a high grade due to the skewed average; and lastly, zeros
cause students to withdraw from learning Furthermore, another issue at hand, is whether students
who undergo a No-Zeros Policy are prepared for their end of the year state assessment, which
measures their learning and scores their achievement for the year. This study will focus on
evaluating the latter.
Literature Review
In a study conducted by Watkins and Stevens (2013), the researchers created a No
Excuses Homework expectation rule in one rural Midwest high school, which overcame the
threat of losing state accreditation. The No Excuses homework reform involved three
components: homework was clearly defined as assignments that required time outside of the
classroom, students were required to revise work that did not meet the basic level of 70 percent,
and zeros were not allowed; instead students were given after-school tutorial time to complete
the homework (Watkins & Stevens, 2013). Although this study is not focused on a No-Zero
grading policy, Watkins’ and Stevens’ (2013) study demonstrates similar components to No-
Zero grading policies, such as establishing 70 percent as a minimum grade and neglecting the use
of zeros in homework assignments.
The researchers evaluated the No Excuses Homework expectation by placing a multiple
leveled consequence intervention; furthermore, researchers evaluated the expectation through a
collection of interviews and a focus group, which consisted of teachers from different content
areas and ranges of teaching experiences (Watkins & Stevens, 2013). During the interview, the
principal explained that teachers were giving zeros to students, “in hopes of helping students
understand the consequences of not doing acceptable work. Instead, ‘we [were] letting students
The No-Zeros Policy 4
off the hook by accepting incomplete or missing work’”(Watkins & Stevens, 2013, p. 82). After
analyzing the interviews and focus group, the researchers discovered the quality homework
turned in improved with support and feedback from staff and home, and that the sense of
empowerment from teachers and parents continued to sustain the No Excuse reform (Watkins &
Stevens, 2013). Furthermore, Watkins and Stevens found that the high expectation for homework
quality set by the rule, positively impacted students’ academic performance (Watkins & Stevens,
2013). Students were improving their quality of work with support and honest feed from faculty
and home (Watkins & Stevens, 2013).
The study conducted by Watkins and Stevens (2013) demonstrates an issue that arises
from allowing teachers to give out zeros. Often, teachers use zeros as a punishment or
consequence for uncompleted work and lack of effort, rather than providing students with
additional support in their work. However, while the study does focus entirely on a homework
policy and contains similar components to a minimum grading policy, such as allowing students
to revise their work if it does not meet standards and fully explaining the expectations of the
assignment, this study relied heavily on parental involvement. The researchers explained that
teachers agreed most parents wanted to be informed and that they were informed when students
did not complete their homework and when students did an exceptional job on their homework
(Watkins & Stevens, 2013).
Similarly, principal, teachers, and staff members of West Carter Middle School recently
decided to abolish the use of zeros in student grading. West Carter Middle School, as explained
by an article found in Principal Leadership (2012), has 475 students between the grades of 6-8,
which 69% of those students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The Failure-Free Zone,
implemented at West Carter Middle School starts with the principals when he receives a weekly
The No-Zeros Policy 5
list of students with grades below 65% (Principal Leadership, 2012). Reasons behind the
students’ low grades are determined, such as attendance, test scores or missing assignments
(Principal Leadership, 2012). Then, the student’s parents are contacted and conferences are held
with the teacher, student and parent. After that, the students complete the missing assignment
and receive individual help from a tutor or staff member (Principal Leadership, 2012). Students
are given a timeline to complete the work; if students do not complete the work on their own or
with the tutor, students meet with the principal to complete the assignment (Principal
Leadership, 2012).
While the implementation of Failure-Free grading at West Carter Middle School is
working for the middle school since, the school went from one of the lowest performing schools
in Kentucky to a school with students “outperform[ing] 90% of the students in the state”, there is
a lack of quantitative evidence (Principal Leadership, 2012, p. 70). In order to measure the
effectiveness of the failure-free grading policy, data needs to show that students are benefitting.
Nonetheless, the components of the implementation such as the additional support and help
provided to students from teachers and staff is sanctioned.
In a different study by Carey and Carifio (2012), the researchers looked at seven years of
grading data from a large urban high school located in Massachusetts, which used minimum
grading. The quantitative study exposed claims that minimum grading contributes to overall
grade inflation and social promotion by analyzing the school’s statistics, rates, and percentages
of students’ grades (Carey & Carifio, 2012). The study monitored Mill City High School’s
school-wide minimum grading implementation, which involved assigning grades on a 100-point
percentage scale and averaging the set of grades from both quarters in a year (Carey & Carifio,
2012). While no specific minimum grade was explicitly detailed in the study, researchers
The No-Zeros Policy 6
established that teachers had a predetermined minimum grade. Since no specific minimum grade
was detailed in the study, despite the researchers presuming there was one, this is a limitation to
the study.
This study found that overall the use of a minimum grading, statistically does not reveal
any grade inflation or social promotion (Carey & Carifio, 2012). Furthermore, the study
discovered that after minimum grading was taken place, “grades assigned to the struggling
students are still under-reporting the academic achievement of these struggling students when
compared to the grades assigned to their better-performing peers” (Carey & Carifio, 2012, p.
206). This finding addressed the criticism that No Zeros policies is an unfair grading system that
benefits some and not others.
While this study discovered significant findings, the lack of tracking for individual
teacher grading practices may be a limitation to the study. Researchers do not know why certain
low grades were assigned in the first place, in specifically whether it was assigned based on poor
performance, lack of compliance with teachers policies regarding homework, punctuality in
turning in assignments, or behavior in class (Carey & Carifio, 2012). The lack of a clear grading
practice for all teachers causes inconsistency between grading among students in the high school.
As previously mentioned, researchers claim a minimum grade was pre-established by the
teachers, but there is not report on what the minimum grade was, causing a limitation to the
findings of this study. Nonetheless, unlike the other two studies, which focused on providing
students with additional support instead of giving zeros, this study focused on evaluating whether
the use of minimum grading causes grade inflation and social promotion.
This current study will use the expectation set in Watkins and Stevens study, the
additional support for students used in the West Carter Middle School’s Failure Free grading
The No-Zeros Policy 7
policy, and the findings of Carey and Carifio’s study to conduct a study that focuses on
implementing a grading policy in urban setting schools, where students are at high risk and there
is a minimal or lack of parental involvement.
Research Problem
Since there is minimal research on the effects of a No Zeros policy on students at risk in
urban setting schools, and in schools with lack of parental involvement, this study will measure
the effects of a No Zeros policy in such a setting. Furthermore, there is also a lack of research
directly linking standardized test, dictated by the state, to minimum grading policies, or No-Zero
policies. So, this current study will measure whether assigning a minimum grade, truly helps
students by evaluating the improvement, if any, on standardized testing after students undergo a
minimum grading policy the school year prior to taking the assessment.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to measure the passing and failing rates of students’ in
Virginia by collecting data from the Standards of Learning (SOLs), Virginia’s standardized test,
after students are under a No Zeros grading policy for a school year. Unlike previously
conducted research, this study will make a direct linkage between standardized testing, which are
a significant factor in students’ future, and students’ daily grading.
Research Questions
This study will address the following question:
Will students from Paul Louis Middle School (Louis M.S.), who undergo a No-Zeros
grading policy for a year, in their Math class demonstrate higher scores in the Math SOL,
compared to students from Marie Francis Middle School (Francis M.S.), who do not
undergo the No-Zeros grading policy for a year in their Math class?
The No-Zeros Policy 8
Will students from Louis M.S., who undergo a No-Zeros grading policy for a year, in
their English class demonstrate higher scores in the English SOL, compared to students
from Francis M.S., who do not undergo a No-Zeros grading policy for a year in their
English class?
Hypotheses
Alternate Hypothesis: Students from Louis M.S. who underwent the No-Zero grading policy for
the year in their Math class demonstrate higher scores in the Math SOL, compared to students
from Francis M.S. who did not undergo the No-Zero grading policy.
OR
Alternate Hypothesis: Students from Louis M.S. who underwent the No-Zero grading policy for
the year in their English class demonstrate higher scores in the English SOL, compared to
students from Francis M.S., who do not undergo the No-Zero grading policy.
Null Hypothesis: Students from Louis M.S. who underwent the No-Zero grading policy for the
year in their Math class demonstrate no difference in scores in the Math SOL, compared to
students from Francis M.S.
OR
Null Hypothesis: Students from Louis M.S. who underwent the No-Zero grading policy for the
year in their English class demonstrate no difference in scores in the English SOL, compared to
students from Francis M.S.
Methodology
This study will focus on identifying the casual relationship between No-Zeros policies and
standardized tests; therefore this study will take the design of a quasi-experimental study. The
The No-Zeros Policy 9
study will look at two middle schools, with students whom have similar demographics and
socioeconomic backgrounds, in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In order to protect schools’
privacy, an alias will be used for schools participating in the study. Elizabeth Francis Middle
School will serve as a control group and will not undergo the No-Zero policy; instead the policy
will be implemented in Paul Louis Middle School. The design of this study demonstrates
advantages and disadvantages to the researcher. An advantage to using a quasi-experimental
design to measure the relationship between No-Zeros policies and standardized tests is, the
ability to compare the results of one school from another and select the participants in the
experiment. Furthermore, this quasi-experimental design will allow researcher to directly control
the independent variable.
However, while there are advantages to using a quasi-experimental research design, this
design contains disadvantages. Since there are multiple factors that can affect student
achievement throughout the year, the multiple variables, such as diverse teacher instruction,
student’s effort throughout the school year, student’s personal interest in the subject being
taught, student motivation to succeed, and parental involvement enforcing effort and motivation,
may serve as limitations in the findings. In order to diminish diverse teacher instruction,
researcher will conduct a multiple regression analysis, prior to the implementation, through a
dummy variable. Another disadvantage to using a quasi-experimental design is the lack of
random assignment, which ensures that there are no pre-existing conditions influencing the
variables in the study.
The independent variable in this study is the No-Zeros grading policy. The No-Zeros policy
will consist of three components: the first is no zeros will be given to students on any
assignments, including homework, classwork, participation, exams, quizzes, report cards or
The No-Zeros Policy 10
benchmarks. The second component of this policy is 50% will the pre-established minimum
grade across the Math and English classes undergoing the treatment. Unlike Carey & Carifio’s
study, which allowed teachers to establish their own grading practice and minimum grading, in
order to keep this study consistent, a minimum grade will be established for all teachers in the
experimental group. The last component is, teachers are to hold all students to high expectations
in all assignments, meaning students are allowed to revise their assignments, such as homework,
quizzes, exams, and other assignment, if students are content with their grade. Nonetheless, the
No-Zeros policy will not allow teachers to re-test students on benchmarks, SOLs or resubmit
scores marking period/report card grades due to researcher’s inability to control Virginia
Department of Education’s requirements.
Both student’s English and Math SOL scores are the dependent variable in this study. At
the end of the academic year, after students have undergone the No-Zero policy, SOL scores for
Math and English will be recorded. Student’s grades throughout the year, in the control and
experimental group, will be recorded on a daily basis, and will be reported on a monthly
document. The class average of students’ English and Math SOLs scores in Francis M.S. will be
compared to the class average of students’ scores Louis M.S. By collecting the English and Math
SOLs scores, from both middle schools, researchers will be able to show if there is a negative or
positive correlation between grading throughout the year and end-of-the-year assessments. This
is a criterion-referenced/standard-based test measure. Teacher instruction and student’s
previously acquired knowledge in Math and English may serve as a confounding variable, and
could possibly impact the research goals. In order to address this confounding variable,
researcher will account student’s previous SOL scores and compare with student’s SOL scores
after the treatment.
The No-Zeros Policy 11
Population
The population for this study will be two middle schools in the Commonwealth of
Virginia. The two middle schools are located in the same city, same county, and are part of the
Virginia public school system. Louis M.S. and Francis M.S. are located in the Southside of the
city and have a population of students that are racially and socioeconomically similar. According
to Great Schools, Louis M.S. has a total of 79% African American, 16% Hispanic/Latino, and
5% White. Students participating in free or reduced price lunch in Louis M.S. is 86%.
According to Great Schools, Louis M.S. has a total of 72% African American, 23%
Hispanic/Latino, 2% White and 2% Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander. The percentage of students
participating in free or reduced-price lunch is 78%. The high percentage of students participating
in free or reduced-price lunch classifies the schools as a disadvantage and at risk school.
Furthermore, since the two schools are in the same district, students will learn the same
curriculum in both English and Math classes.
This study will use eight, 8th grade classes as the sample. Two Math and two English
classes at the 8th grade level will be chosen from Louis M.S. to undergo the No-Zeros policy; and
two Math and two English classes, as well, in Francis M.S. will be chosen. Purposeful and
convenience sampling will be used as the sampling method. Researcher will choose classes that
are not advanced or honors. Furthermore, classes undergoing the Math No-Zero grading policy
will not be the same students who undergo the English No-Zero policy in the middle school.
Therefore, the researcher will select classes with students that are demographically similar, in
gender, race and socioeconomic background.
Based on the sampling method chosen, there are some biases and threats evident. One of
threats is the amount of students in exceptional education, which require a special education
The No-Zeros Policy 12
teacher in the classroom affecting the teacher and student ratio in a classroom, and the amount of
support all students receive. Therefore, in order to diminish this threat, classes in both middle
schools will be chosen with limited students in exceptional education, with similar class sizes,
and teacher to student ratio. Another bias is teachers’ knowing their students’ SOLs results will
be used to compare students’ grades throughout the year, causing teachers to instruction
differently. So, in order to diminish teacher biases, researchers will not disclose to middle
schools, teachers or students that SOL scores will be used to identify the correlation between
student achievement throughout the year and student achievement on the standardized test.
Furthermore, as a result of divergent teacher instruction, some teachers may already have an
incentive to teach in a manner that improves SOL scores. As previously stated, a multiple
regression analysis will be conducted with a dummy variable prior to conducting the research in
order to diminish such threats.
Data Analysis
Since researcher will be evaluating the use of the No-Zeros Policy in Louis M.S. and
collecting students’ SOL scores, then comparing class averages to students in Francis M.S.,
which is a different yet demographically similar school, researchers will use nonequivalent
groups, pre-test-post-test design as a data collection instrument. Before the research begins,
participants’ Math and English SOL scores, from the end of their 7th grade year, will be collected
and serve as a pre-test. The SOL scores after the treatment, at the end of their 8th grade year, will
serve as a post-test. Pre-test and post-test are similar, since they are both standardized, non-
repeated, and SOLs. This instrument was chosen in order to appropriately determine students’
prior knowledge before the treatment year, and to adequately determine the influence the No-
Zeros Policy has on the English and Math SOLs.
The No-Zeros Policy 13
Since the pre-test and post-test are both SOL, which are standardized test created by the
Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) for Virginia Public Schools, the SOL’s reliability
and validity is outlined by the VDOE. Considering that the Virginia SOL is a secure test that is
not administrated twice, the VDOE has an internal consistency method to measure reliability.
Cronbach’s Coefficient Alpha statistic is used as an estimate of internal consistency reliability as
well as the Standard Error of Measurement (SEM) (Virginia Statewide Student Assessments
Technical Report, 2011). As explained in the Virginia Statewide Student Assessments Technical
Report, higher Cronback’s alpha values indicates a “greater proportion of observed score
variance is true score variance” (2011, p. 35). For the SEM measurement, the greater the
reliability the lower the SEM value is; and with a low SEM score there is more confidence in the
accuracy and precision of the observed test scores (Virginia Statewide Student Assessments
Technical Report, 2011).
In order to measure validity, which is the degree to which the SOL scores appropriately
show evidence of student’s performance throughout the year, the VDOE considers SOL’s
content and construct validity. Virginia’s SOL test blueprint is taken directly from the SOL
curriculum framework that school divisions and teachers use to develop an instructional program
for their students throughout the year (Virginia Statewide Student Assessments Technical
Report, 2011). Virginia Statewide Student Assessments Technical Report explains, the direct
relationship between the SOL curriculum frameworks, the SOL test blueprint and the SOL
assessment lends support to the content validity of the SOL assessments (2011, p. 40). Construct
validity is measure by the VDOE based on ongoing research. According to the Virginia
Statewide Student Assessments Technical Report, in content areas and grade levels, school pass
rates on the SOL test have been statistically correlated with national percentile ranks on the
The No-Zeros Policy 14
Standard 9 and pass rates on the Literacy Passport Test (2011). Additionally, for current
assessments factor analyses are performed to evaluate construct validity.
The statistical test to be used to analyze the data collected will be an analysis of
covariance (ANCOVA). ANCOVA adjusts posttests scores statistically, “based on initial group
differences, which reduces the influence of that difference on the results” (McMillan, 2015, p.
295). Since this study uses a quasi-experimental design, where students in control and
experiment groups are different and are not randomly picked, an ANCOVA was selected because
it measures pre-intervention differences. Therefore, by using ANCOVA, researcher will have the
ability to analyze SOL scores statistically based on students’ prior SOL scores. The alpha
significance level for this study will be <05.
Delimitations
Since this study will implement the No-Zeros Policy on participants selected via
convenience sampling, in Louis M.S. in two English and Math classes, and use two English and
Math classes in Francis M.S. as control groups, it takes the form of a quasi-experimental design.
This study will be non-equivalent groups, pretest and post-test design. Since the pretest and post-
test are both SOL standardized tests from the Virginia Board of Education, and they serve as a
measurement for student learning throughout the year, the pretest and post-test demonstrate
validity and measuring students performance during the No-Zeros Policy.
There are two threats to internal validity, which is the extent to which the No-Zeros
Policy will produce the observed effect (McMillan, 2015). The two threats are history and
participant effect. A history threat is an unplanned and uncontrolled event that may influence the
dependent variable, in this case the English and Math SOL (McMillan, 2015). In this study, a
history threat is student absence during the day of the SOL exam, affecting the data collection of
The No-Zeros Policy 15
SOL scores. However, in order to control such threat, students will be advised that their
attendance during the exam is crucial for the study, and for purposes beyond this study as well.
Furthermore, another history threat is student’s feelings during the day of the SOL testing.
Students may be sick, nervous or experiencing other feelings/emotions that may influence their
SOL scores. The second threat to internal validity is participant effect. In order to manage the
participant effect, in both groups, students will be notified of the study, of course due to ethical
reasons, but they will not be told that SOL scores will serve as a dependent variable.
Since this is a quasi-experimental design, in which participants of the study are not
randomly selected, selection bias is a threat to internal and external validity. For this study,
students are selected through purposeful and convenience sampling, since researcher is teaching
at Louis M.S. In order to control selection bias, researcher will choose classes that are not
advanced or honors, and will limit the amount of students in exceptional education. Additionally,
students in a school who undergo the English No-Zeros Policy will not undergo the Math No-
Zeros Policy. Although researcher will try to diminish selection bias, it is still a threat causing an
inability to generalize the findings. Since the purpose of this study is to increase research of No-
Zeros grading policies in at risk and urban setting schools, the results of this study should not be
generalized to all students since it looks at the affects of grading policies in two schools rather
than a variety of schools around the state. Furthermore, since this study only looks at two schools
in an urban location, there is a limitation to generalizing the results of this study due to the
setting of this study only consisting of specifc demographic populations.
The purpose of this study is to create a linkage between No-Zeros grading policies and
student’s end of the year performances. Since this study takes the form of a quasi-experimental
design, with non-equivalent groups that will be pre and post-tested, the research design will
The No-Zeros Policy 16
enable researchers to measure whether assigning a No-Zeros Policy throughout a year helps
students score higher in end-of-the-year standardized tests. Therefore, choosing a quasi-
experimental design is strength in this study, since it allows researcher to directly measure the
grading policy effect and compare standardized scores to a control group. However a limitation
to the research design is measuring student achievement solely on standardized tests. Arguments
exist that standardized test should not be a sole measurement of a student’s achievement or
improvement throughout the year, since biases in the test may exist.
Some barriers or constraints that might exist in the research setting that would inhibit the
ability to conduct the research, is lack of teacher or administration support to be part of the study.
In order to improve the study, the amount of schools participating in the study could be
increased. By increasing the amount of schools undergoing the No-Zeros Policy, and the amount
of schools serving as control groups, a sharpened representation of the linkage between No-Zeros
grading policies and student achievement in standardized, end of the year assessment can be
made.
The No-Zeros Policy 17
Reference Page
A Failure-Free Zone. (2012). Principal Leadership, 12(9), 70-75.
Carey, T., & Carifio, J. (2012). The minimum grading controversy: Results of a quantitative study of seven years of grading data from an urban high school. Educational Researcher, 41(6), 201-208. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.library.vcu.edu/docview/1140128819?accountid=14780
Guskey, T. R. (2004). Are zeros your ultimate weapon? Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review, 70(3), 31-35. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.library.vcu.edu/docview/62077065?accountid=14780
McMillan, James H. (2015) Educational Research: Fundamentals for the Consumer. Seventh Edition. Pearson Education, Inc.
Virginia Statewide Student Assessments Technical Report. (2011). Retrieved December 5, 2015, from http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/test_administration/technical_reports/sol_technical_report_2011-12_administration_cycle.pdf
Watkins, P. J., & Stevens, D. W. (2013). The goldilocks dilemma: Homework policy creating a culture where simply good is just not good enough. Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 86(2), 80-85. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.library.vcu.edu/docview/1509082976?accountid=14780
Welcome to GreatSchools. (n.d.). great schools.org