When solicited for his take on the controversy over “no-zero” grading policies in schools, Darrin Pike had a simple answer.
“We don’t have a no-zero policy.”
On Thursday, Pike called to clarify. In fact, he said, he just meant to point out that the new board is still formulating a new evaluation policy based on the varying guidelines of the four previous boards.
Teachers and parents have been bemoaning this bizarre coddling for years now. As educator and author Michael Zwaagstra pointed out in a guest column Wednesday, many boards across Canada are finally abandoning the no-zero approach in light of significant opposition and lack of evidence that it benefits students.