Edmonton teacher suspended for giving 0s

[alp227]

Source: CBC

An Edmonton high school teacher says he has been suspended for giving students zeros on uncompleted assignments or exams.

Lynden Dorval, a physics teacher at Ross Sheppard High School, has been giving the mark for work that wasn't handed in or tests not taken even though it goes against the school's "no-zero" policy.

The thinking behind the policy is that failing to complete assignments is a behavioural issue and marks should reflect ability, not behaviour.

Dorval said he couldn't in good conscience comply with the rule.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2012/05/31/edmonton-teacher-zeros-sheppard.html

[ejpoeta]

1. I don't understand the rule. IF you don't do the work, why should you not get a zero?

I have never heard of a non zero policy.

[cstanleytech]

23. Yup, it sounds as dumb a policy as the zero tolerance policies some schools have adopted. nt

[Evasporque]

75. sound slike the school is zero intolerant....

bah da BING! Ba Boompgh!

[wordpix]

50. I think we should just keep moving the kids up to the next level based on age promotion

No matter what they know and how bad their skills are.

I work with kids who are 17-18 and read on the second grade level, etc. I know all about these feel good administrators. A no-zero approach does not help kids learn.

[4th law of robotics]

101. It might make the kids feel bad

just give them a C so they can feel good about themselves, graduate while learning nothing (including the concept of work) and then let their future employers worry about their self-esteem.

/no Timmy, we flip burgers like this, there you go. You're such a special snowflake!

[Renew Deal]

2. Sounds like the teacher is right to me

Is there a no 1 policy?

[Bobbingsworth]

40. bingo :)

My High School tried tried this when I was in the 9th grade. We were given 1's for incomplete homework.

[Renew Deal]

43. Welcome to DU!

[KurtNYC]

68. or give them a 0.000001

since that is not zero.

[sharp_stick]

3. I wish I went to that school

hang out and get high under the bleachers and still not get zeros.

With that idiotic policy in place I'd be pretty quick to hand out 1's or even 1/10th's of a point.

[Drale]

4. I've always been of the opinion that

you should never receive anything below a D if you completed the work. If the work was not complete then it deserves a 0.

[SWTORFanatic]

66. Even if you just draw smiley faces on a math test? Write about how you

got drunk last weekend on your history paper about Napoleon?

I disagree.

[joeglow3]

78. That does a GREAT job of preparing them for the real world

I know my boss will never give me a "failing" rating so long as I turn in my work (no matter if it is 100% wrong and costs the company millions). I know if my sister in law amputates the wrong leg, she is still given a raise at the end of the year because she completed the surgery.

Give me a break.

[Igel]

94. The difference is in the goals.

In life, you get canned for crappy work because you're not important but the work is. (Let's face it, that's how it works: you're hired to serve a function.)

In school, you're supposed to learn. The "work" is the means to learning. You have to be allowed to screw up and to screw up again. How you grade the screw ups depends on who you are.

If I had a class where almost every did all their work and most of the time did reasonably well, I'd fail kids for incompetent completed work. It would just show incompetence on that assignment.

But I have classes where when I hand out a grade below 70 the first response--real or feigned--is, "I'm stupid, so of course I failed." Or the first response is, "I'm black, of course I failed." The result of that is work not handed in. Why bother? They don't see themselves learning the science, they don't see how it could possibly help them because (as one kid said, demonstrating his utter cluelessness), they don't want black kids in college.

I hand out 70s for horrible, completed work on some assignments, the rest being based on what I think are the most important or representative questions. These are things that are practice, and only before I post the answer key. If they get a 20/100 on the test they get a 20/100.

[McCamy Taylor]

5. Grade inflation is everywhere.

On the other hand, it is very easy for a parent to say "My child is disabled! He has ADD." At which point the school is obligated to sit the child down and make him do the work.

[patrice]

19. Research supports that; it was part of my master's thesis. No one seems to know the difference ...

between "could" and "did".

[Rosa Luxemburg]

28. ADD or not students should be challenged

there are ways of teaching children with ADD which helps them to reach their potential. Children learn in difference ways but they shouldn't be given a free ride.

[elleng]

6. So stupid rules not exclusive to U.S. school systems, eh?

[apocalypsehow]

7. I'm on the teacher's side, but mark my words some shit-stirrer will wash up in this thread defending

the school's idiotic policy at some point. Bank it.

[Demit]

10. What a useless comment.

[originalpckelly]

13. No, smart observation.

It's always like that. I almost defended it, until I read how they were using the policy to push people along. I thought they actually did something about it, like a referral.

No, just inflation of grades, and the intentional cover-up of the policy.

[Igel]

95. There might be ways of having a reasonable "no 0" policy.

Can't think of one right now.

[Nine]

98. I can.

I think it would be reasonable for a school to tell students, "No, you are not allowed to blow off your homework and think that we'll just give you a zero grade and leave you alone after that. You are expected to complete all your assignments and we will make sure you do so by getting your parents involved and possibly making you stay after school every day until you catch up on your unfinished work."

What I don't understand is why everyone is so enthusiastic about students receiving zeroes: "Well, the student didn't complete his homework, which supposedly is supposed to help him learn, and the teacher now has no clue as to whether the student can or can't do the work, much less which specific areas the student might be having trouble with, but at least justice was served by giving the student a zero, (which may or may not even be something the student gives a crap about). Yay! All is right with the world and the universe is in balance once again."

[originalpckelly]

12. Agreed, one of the trophies for all crowd...

will be along shortly.

[Poll_Blind]

18. Yup! Like clockwork. nt

PB

[patrice]

20. Yep.

[Nine]

38. Well I guess I'll be the shit-stirrer...

I can't defend the school's policy because it's not explained well enough for me to quite understand how it works, but I would like to make a few points.

1. Almost all the information in this article seems to come from the teacher himself. The school says there's more to the story than the teacher says.
2. Teachers have to follow the policies set by their school. Although I'm still not clear on what the policy actually is, it seems obvious the teacher himself believes he deliberately violated it and would do so again.
3. The whole "kids today are so coddled thanks to the Mr. Rogers crowd" trope is a right-wing favorite and I tend to be skeptical of it.
4. We've become so used to the idea that grades and marks are nothing more than rewards to get students to do what they're told, that the notion that grades might actually be used instead to measure learning and guide instruction seems downright radical.
5. I know people firsthand who went through the school system in the days before the term ADHD even existed - very bright people who wanted to do well in school but simply couldn't manage it. Continually shaming these people with bad marks and frowny faces did not one thing to help them.

[apocalypsehow]

41. That's not even fairly stirred - that's just shit. Irrelevant, non-responsive shit. In any event:

Quod Erat Demonstrandum.

[Nine]

42. Please explain how my post is irrelevant. And also:

Poisoning the Well

[apocalypsehow]

44. Nah: that pretty much speaks for itself. As you well know. Pretty much, we're done here. n/t.

[Nine]

47. You must have been a whiz in Debate Club. (nt)

[apocalypsehow]

51. Uh-huh. n/t.

[Nine]

55. You can't play the "you're not worth engaging" card and keep popping in to get the last word! X-D

And what a word! You're killing me here.

[apocalypsehow]

57. Uh-huh. n/t.

[Major Nikon]

72. Pot/Kettle

Just sayin'

[apocalypsehow]

81. "Just sayin'," uhhhh, what exactly?

Usually we reply here on DU with content, not cliches. Please try again.

[Major Nikon]

82. I see idioms aren't your strong suit

Just sayin'

Cheers!

[apocalypsehow]

99. I see just posting what you mean and saying what you think is not your's - I'd look into that.

Just sayin'.

[christx30]

53. IF you were a teacher

And you felt that a policy was not only unhelpful to the kids, but downright detrimental to their development, would you blindly follow it, or try to get it changed? And if you could not get that policy changed, wouldn't be your responsibility to protest it and refuse to follow it?

If the kid refuses to do the work, it won't do him or her any good to be pushed onto the next grade level. You aren't doing that student any favors by just giving him a grade. And a zero can seriously hurt them. It's a consequence to not doing the assignment. They aren't learning when they aren't working. And they aren't earning their grade.
So why not give them the grade they earn? You do the work, you get something. You don't do the work, you won't get credit for it.

[Nine]

60. So if I disagreed with the policy of teaching about evolution or contraceptives...

I should be congratulated for following my conscience and instead teaching "intelligent design" and abstinence-only?


Getting back to grades, you're combining multiple issues:

1. Should students be placed into learning environments (like a higher grade level) that far exceed their skill level? No.

2. Should students be given meaningless tokens (like good grades) that represent no real achievement? No. But that leads to the question of why we give grades in the first place. Is it to measure learning? To reward desired behavior? To rank and evaluate students for the benefit of future schools and employers? I would argue that the purpose of the traditional grading system is rarely examined and often muddled. And I believe this lack of clarity is more to blame for "grade inflation" than anything.

3. Should students face consequences for not doing homework? It depends. Many serious educators have argued that students learn more when they are motivated by internal rewards rather than being manipulated by external reward and punishment systems. Strictly speaking, I have nothing against reward and punishment systems, but it can't be the only tool in your toolbox. I would hope that the teacher would first try to find out why a student was not completing his homework.

I'd also like to point out that it is entirely possible to measure, recognize, and reward achievements without the counterpart of punishing for failures. When you take a test to get your driver's license, they don't care if it's the first time you're taking it or the fourth. If you can pass the test you get your license. If not, you try again next month. They don't average all your tests together. And no one argues that driver's license test results are "inflated" or that BMVs have knuckled under to pressure from from driver's license applicants and their parents.

Of course, this is all theoretical. As I said, we don't even know what the real story at this particular school is because we have only one side of it.

[SWTORFanatic]

67. Quote

"I'd also like to point out that it is entirely possible to measure, recognize, and reward achievements without the counterpart of punishing for failures. When you take a test to get your driver's license, they don't care if it's the first time you're taking it or the fourth. If you can pass the test you get your license. If not, you try again next month. They don't average all your tests together. And no one argues that driver's license test results are "inflated" or that BMVs have knuckled under to pressure from from driver's license applicants and their parents."

Yeah but you have to do this in a manner that is fair and consistent with other students. Trust me, I teach at the COLLEGE level and the dean does not give me ANY LEEWAY on say, giving someone a higher grade because they did horrible at the start of the semester and then all of a sudden did well at the end, unless it is consistent with the other students.

In other words, I can't arbitrarily give someone an A or a B if they got 20s on their first two tests and 90s on their second two. Unless I put it in my syllabus. But then even if I do people will say the first two tests are a complete waste. Or they'll complain about how they did well on the first two and poorly on the second two and how is that fair ETC.

The best I can do is put in their syllabus I will drop their lowest test score (except the final exam). I can't imagine how handcuffed high school teachers are.

Having said that, the one thing I can say about giving zeroes that this teacher could have fixed.... is put the assignments (other than tests) all online and make them "self graded". Then let the students take them whenever they wanted (up until the end of the semester).

[Nine]

76. yes, and just to clarify...

I wasn't suggesting that this teacher should adopt this grading practice. As I said, teachers have to follow school policy.
I was simply challenging the value of traditional grading practices at a philosophical level. To some, the teacher in this article is a hero, bravely fighting for a return traditional grading practices. Another view could be that this teacher is a reactionary, using blatant insubordination and media bullying to thwart the attempts of this school to move toward a more a progressive grading structure.

Many here assume they know exactly what this alleged "no zeroes" policy is and exactly how it works, but you'll notice that it's never really explained in the article; readers are left to fill in these details with their own imagination. People are accepting as fact that this school is forcing teachers to award points to students for assignments that were never even turned in. I still feel this story doesn't quite pass the sniff test. It just doesn't make sense to me that the school could have such a policy and that it could be kept a secret from parents. And I can almost guarantee that this story will soon be hitting the right wing blowhard circuit and their take will be that this school is practicing "grade welfare," rewarding students for sitting around doing nothing, all in some misguided liberal attempt to bring everyone to the same level regardless of effort and ability.

If the school really is asking teachers to award points for work that was never completed, I would agree that is unfair, illogical, and not conducive to learning. However, I don't think traditional grading practices are necessarily fair, logical, and learning-conducive either. It's a system badly in need of reform, and for a school to explore alternatives to it is not something that I think deserves mockery and knee-jerk criticism without any attempt to learn the real facts.

[Igel]

96. Yup. n/t

[SkyDaddy7]

64. I could not agree more!

[Renew Deal]

69. Ughhhh

[D23MIURG23]

8. If he wanted to be clever he could give them a one or a fraction of a point

and then round it down.

[Posteritatis]

9. sqrt(e)^-10 percent! (nt)

[kentauros]

58. I'd give them an "i"

for imaginary!

[originalpckelly]

11. Reading the story, this is fucking bullshit.

That poor teacher was just trying to make sure that everyone does not receive a trophy.

That's fucking unfair to those kids who actually do the work.

If you want to suspend or expel those who don't do their work, then that would make sense. Perhaps detention for missing assignments. But this isn't that, it's just pushing the kids through.

[Smilo]

14. This happened to my son......

too bad, so sad - suck it up - do your assignments and you will be graded correctly.

He did and he got "A"s (very bright student, just didn't want to do the work) - sometimes students just like to see what they can get away with and what they can continue to get away with.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

29. especially teenagers!

[rexcat]

80. At the public H.S. my kids go to they get a zero

if the assignment is turned in one day late. We also get a notification from edline concerning all grades posted for the kids. That way we can intervene if necessasry if a pattern of incomplete work is noted or the grades start to slip. Both my wife and I like the policy. One should be expected to get the work completed and turn it in when it is due because if you don't there are consequences, both in school and the work environment.

[high density]

15. I got something like a 15 on an assignment from one teacher

that was, IMO, worse than a zero. And there wasn't any sort of "hey, can I help you understand this better" outreach towards me from the teacher.

[TrogL]

16. He was allowing students to come in and do the work

Then he'd take the zero away.

[patrice]

17. I took unlimited make-up that declined in value weekly until it reached 50%. NO extra credit.

I found that this policy (within my grading model, which was NOT points-earned out of points-total, btw) could move most final grades, for anyone who took advantage of it, into the next higher bracket.

[ManyShadesOf]

21. but a doctor is allowed to deny care to a rape victim

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002749330

[southernyankeebelle]

22. This is a case of Up is down and Down is up. Mind numbing for sure.

[Throd]

24. So it is better to teach students that they will be rewarded for little or no effort?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

26. that is what we are producing in this country

easy riders.

[patrice]

32. That's why I got out of it. nt

[kdmorris]

65. This country?

Are you talking about the US?

Edmonton is in Canada. (the article is in a Canadian newspaper)

[Rosa Luxemburg]

85. I am talking about this country

personal experience

[kdmorris]

89. I apologize....

I didn't really think that you might be Canadian... duh.. posting while lacking coffee makes one stupid (and America-centric)

[Rosa Luxemburg]

25. I give zeros if they don't do the work

I'm sick of this grade inflation. I guess principals want to look good - many realistic grades which are failing grades are not good enough. They want you to pass all the lazy students. When they get to college they are just the same easy ride - easy A. If you don't give them A then they complain.

[kentauros]

59. Or, if your school developed this insane policy against zeroes,

then mark their score with a limit (as I recall the nomenclature from what little I remember and understood of first-year calculus.)

"Your grade isn't zero, per se, but it is approaching it, by infinity!"

[Rosa Luxemburg]

86. as the saying goes 'it is what it is'

in this case zero is nada

[kentauros]

91. Sure :)

But if I was a teacher (at all) in a system like that, I'd fuck with their rules

[WriteWrong]

27. Appropriate behavior IS ability, if the behavior standards are reasonable. Give them a 2.

Two points to show up.
Forty-eight points to do the assignment.
Fifty points for quality of work.

That's fair. Doing the assignment facetiously fails, but barely. ANY effort to learn the material gets a passing grade.

[patrice]

34. You ever try to talk to anyone about grading schemas? Almost NO ONE will listen. All they want is

the grade.

Grading is a VERY interesting subject.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

30. The parents also should have more responsibility

I ask did he do his homework, because he didn't hand it in and they said I don't know. Does he keep a log of his homework and does he check off what he has done and needs to do? Is he studying for his test? They reply I don't know! What sort of parent is that? I tell them I am not home with the child - you are. Then they have the audacity to say their child only got 50% for their homework grade and this is bringing down his overall grade!

Better academic performance is related to participation of parents in their child's education.

[patrice]

31. 1+++++++++++++ & at least a little respect education professionals & their curriculum.

Parents who don't know that they don't know what they don't know can hardly be regarded as appropriate judges of what is legitimate curriculum. Students are HUMANS the have more needs than just "get a better job and earn more money" and responding to those needs AUTHENTICALLY is just as life sustaining as a paycheck. Anyone who has ever seen a kid "catch fire" over some curriculum content knows this and that's the teacher's role.

[wordpix]

48. +1.. I've had parents blame me for "losing homework" b/c their kids swore they did it & handed it in

Funny that some kids' homework is always "found" by the teacher and others kids' hw is consistently "lost."

One day I showed a parent, who insisted I regularly "lost" her child's hw, my system of an "in" and "out" box for each class, color coded, and how that went into my briefcase, in folders also color coded, after each class. Then I explained how I commented and graded each paper, which took me 2-3 hrs./night. And then I put the papers back into the color coded folders, brought them back to school, put them in the "out" boxes, handed them back to the kids...

[Rosa Luxemburg]

88. Yes, I know

I ask them to keep a binder log so they know what homework they have been given and I check it when it comes in. The students sign it. If a parent contests it I ask them to come in and I will show them the signed log. Nice try parent why are YOU more responsible for your child!

[ejpoeta]

102. that's ridiculous. and it is teaching the kids that they don't

have to be responsible for anything. And they don't have to respect the teacher. Setting the kid up for problems. My daughter will come home and say something happened. I always anticipate that she left part of it out. So and so called me a such and such at school. Or something like that. Usually she leaves out the part where she called so and so such and such. Or hit them. Or threw something. It's the nature of the beast. Never just blindly take the kids word for it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

33. How can he assess ability when assignments aren't completed?

Typical stupid administrative policy.

[alp227]

35. The student at least has shown a very low level of competency, by neglecting assignments.

[Posteritatis]

61. "Student lacks the ability to complete assignments" is something I could assess.. (nt)

[BigDemVoter]

36. Sounds like the school I used to teach in. . .

I'm no longer a teacher. Couldn't take that shit.

[IamK]

37. the kids not turning in work were likely bullied.. teacher is on a ego trip... n/t

[bluestateguy]

39. We're in a lot of trouble when a teacher who gives zeros is considered old school and hard core

Maybe if the school has a no zeros policy a teacher could just comply by giving students who don't do the work a 1%. It would still be a pretty low F.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

52. they can make up the work in detention

until they get the idea.

[Bobbingsworth]

45. I attended a school with this policy and I never did homework.

It was a long time ago so I probably have some of the details wrong. I was only in that school for one year and it was the first year of the no zero policy. The teachers were as confused as my parents and I were. The rules changed about every two weeks. They did make us stay one or two hours after school to do the homework that we failed to do for a reduced grade but at the end of the grading period, all incomplete assignments were changed to 1's.
They also came up with this great idea to not allow time limits on the final exams. I made them pay for that one. They had to hold my buss and all the students on it for over an hour on the last day of school while I worked on one math problem that was getting the better of me. I finally got it and it's a good thing that I did. I would have hated to get a 99 instead of a 100. lol
I don't know why I still get such joy out of this story. It's one of the top two dick moves of my entire life. I even laughed at all the kids on the bus. I don't know how I survived.
Anywho, in the end those policies really didn't change my grades at all. It just made my parents, my teachers, and myself angry. If the teacher graded homework, I got a D. If the teacher only graded tests and quizzes, I got an A.

Oh, if you're going to tell me that my parents should have made me do it, I was grounded for 3 straight years. I managed to only get teachers that didn't grade homework for my senior year.

[wordpix]

46. well at least you can write fairly well so something went right :-)

I teach seniors who come to me at the start of the year unable to write a sentence.

[Bobbingsworth]

49. Thanks!

Isn't spell check wonderful?

[Rhiannon12866]

54. Thanks for your story!

When I was in public school, some of the girls in my class used to copy each other's homework. They could even imitate each other's handwriting (which shows how long ago that was... ). Why none of the teachers ever noticed is anybody's guess...

Welcome to DU, Bobbingsworth! It's great to have you with us!

[kentauros]

56. I'd say that school needs "zero-tolerance"

[Wabbajack_]

62. What score should he have given for work not turned in?

I bet I would have liked going to this school if you don't even have to do the work.

[sendero]

63. I hate zero tolerance rules..

... but I side with the teacher on this one. If I'm running a school, work undone for any reason other than doctor-stated medical ones gets no credit. Makes no difference if you are capable of work if you won't do it, no difference whatsoever.

[KurtNYC]

70. They are training these kids for "no show" jobs

apparently (or to go to work but text all day, and if the boss looks at you go into the bathroom and text your friends about what an ass your boss is for expecting you to work).

[u4ic]

83. Many of the boys

are just expecting to go work on the oil rigs for big $$. U dont need no edumakashen fer that.

[laundry_queen]

84. That's pretty much the culture

where this happened (I live close to that city).

My kids are in a different school district but same province - in elementary they don't get percentage grades, they get 'not yet meeting expectations' 'meeting expectations' and 'meeting expectations independently'. I have yet to figure out WTF that means. I keep an eye on tests which are number graded, but it seems 'meeting expectations independently' means 95% + and 'meeting' means anywhere from 65%-95%. I hate it. BUT, we also lived in BC for awhile and it was the same there as it is in Alberta.

I also have not heard of any kids failing a grade. Doesn't happen anymore. I grew up in the same school district and plenty of kids used to fail. Not anymore.

That said, it's also a REALLY good system here, much more rigorous compared to other provinces.

[u4ic]

90. I'm all too familiar

with the 'culture' there.

[kemah]

71. As a professional teacher, I do not believe in giving 0s for not turning in homework.

Your grade should be based on your ability to master the subject. An example: you get 100s in every exam you take, but because you have not done the homework, your final grade is a failing 50.
So what are you testing the ability to master the subject or the ability to do homework.
Some students because of prior experience or because they are super smart do not need to do busy work in order to master the subject.

[CRK7376]

73. I don't support

the school policy. I support this teacher and in my classroom, if you didn't do the work, you didn't get the grade. Make some effort, anything is better than a zero. Seldom did I give extra credit, but if a kid did the makeup work in a timely fashion, within 5 days or so I would grade it accordingly. If the work was handed in 2-3 weeks late best they would get is a 69. I do not pass kids just to pass them or move them to some other teacher. You have to earn the grade. I make myself availabe before and after school nearly all the time. Few students took the opportunity to come in for assistance. Most were lazy or did not care that they got zeros. Then the whining parents would come in and or call and complain. I would explain my philosphy and classroom rules and show them where their child had failed or not attempted to participate...

[Odin2005]

74. Can't do anything that might hurt the little snowflakes!

[WilliamPitt]

77. Zeroes were my big stick when I was teaching.

Do the work. Period.

[BlueIris]

93. "This is my BOOMSTICK!"

Heh.

[wordpix]

79. one thing we need to recognize is how teachers present material to interest students in subjects

Some are good at this; others not so much. Teachers have to compete against TV, internet, phone students regularly use. Teachershave to figure out ways to interest students: have them work in groups, use internet, videos and phone for assignments, etc.

I turned a whole dead science class around by suggesting to teacher that she SHOW std's to students instead of just using the computer to project a slide with a list of terms they should know. She refused my suggestion, saying she didn't have time. A student surreptitiously got on the computer and showed pix of std's from google images. Suddenly the class became lively and students were riveted, wanting to know more. And she should have given them more; she was talking about bacterial vs. viral infections, a perfect time to show diagrams, photos and videos of how these different infections work.

But of course, she "didn't have time."

[Rosa Luxemburg]

87. yes we are overloaded but.....

however, hands on labs for science are more meaningful for students with real-world connections. Students love things that relate to them. They love sensational things. The other day my students couldn't believe that acid rain could do that to forests. They had NO IDEA about this. The thing to do is to get them hooked.

[boppers]

92. "uncompleted"?

So, zero for what?

85% complete?

2% compete?

[muriel_volestrangler]

97. We need a detailed explanation of the assignments, exams, and policy

The teacher talks about a pupil who only completed 6 out of 15 assignments. If nothing at all was handed in for the other 9, then you can justify giving a '0' for those 9. But a policy to say 'still mark the other 6' would be fine; the overall mark would be low, of course. Or are the other 9 partially completed? If there's some work there, but it hasn't got to a defined endpoint, then it probably should be given some marks.

One thing I think we can say is wrong, if CBC has described it accurately: "marks should reflect ability, not behaviour". No, someone may be very able, but lazy. If they can't be bothered to turn in work, they should get a lower mark than someone with less ability, but whose behaviour is conscientious.

[RushIsRot]

100. In 1st grade in the 40s in Louisiana, grades were S=satisfactory, U=unsatisfactory or I=incomplete.

On my first report card I had another mark=O. I told my mother that my grades were pretty good, I only got three zeros. Turns out it was "O" for outstanding. What'd I know? I was only 6.