Should Zero Scores be Permitted?

Zero Scores Should No Longer Be Allowed

By Bianca Garcia

When a student procrastinates to do an assignment, the teacher’s habitual response is to remain the assignment as zero points. The Zeros Aren’t Permitted program (ZAP) is being used by the Canyons District to encourage students to turn in their assignments on time.

Zero grades are taken when a student’s work isn’t completed. Zero grades can lead to the student failing from getting too behind in assignments, and they just give up, stated Darmstadt Middle School (DMS) in Germany.

In trying to help students not become further behind on assignments, they developed the ZAP program in 2005. The DMS staff was trying to develop a way to break the cycle of failing by removing zeros. In doing so, they came up with the ZAP program.

Union Middle School, located in Sandy, is one of the schools using it. The school provides weekly assemblies for students to attend to make up work.

A period is held for an hour after school or during lunch where students are allowed to complete assignments and make up work.

According to the National Association of Elementary School Principals website (www.naesp.org), in the last three quarters of the 2006-2007 school year, there was not a single student who failed any of their classes.

The program also helped force more philosophical basis in teachers grading process. All the teachers adjusted the policy so that late work earned some credit.

ZAP variations are throughout the country. According the Bangor Schools website (www.bangorschools.org), a township school in Michigan, the Zap program will provide the student with information to complete his/her assignment and must have 80% of the assignment completed.

RHS counselor, Jerry Payne suggested “having choices” wether to do the ZAP period when they chose to.

The program helps students progress in school. It confirms that projects and assignments are important and must be completed. Zap would be a great addition to any school.

Zeros Program Holds Students Back

By Aaron Woods

Turing in assignments on time isn’t always an easy task. With eight classes, extracurricular activities, and a personal life, school work can sometimes get pushed to the back of one’s priority list.

The Canyons school district has recently decided to implement the “ZAP” or “Zeros Aren’t Permitted” program in their schools, forcing students to do finish any missing assignments during lunch.

Although this sounds like a great way to encourage students to complete all school work, it hinders students’ assessment of the real world.

By the time a student enters high school, they should be able to make their own decisions in life. If they choose to miss a few assignments in order to sleep during class, that is a choice they make. The “ZAP” program makes high school students mere children, when they should be preparing for adulthood.

The “ZAP” program gives young adults a false representation of the real world. When they reach the right age to enter the workforce, employers will not give them extra time to complete their jobs.

Riverton High counselor Jerry Payne had mixed emotions about using the program in Riverton.

“Should students have a choice? Are we taking that away from them? I think for sure high school students are capable of choosing their education. It’s an interesting concept,” said Payne.

Other schools around the globe have implemented “ZAP” The program began in The Darmstadt Middle School in Germany. The school found that when students get behind, they lose motivation, and only fall further behind.

After proving the program to be successful, schools across the world brought the program into their schools.

The program has since proven itself successful, but it does not give students the self-reliance they need to survive in the real world. High school students should be treated as adults, and programs like this only hold them back.