Chapter 11: FIAE

Armstrong discusses how to grade fairly in chapter 11. The chapter begins with a discussion on whether or not it is fair to give zero's. Armstrong claims that giving a student a zero for work that was not handed in is not fair, and that it distorts their final grade. If a child is given a zero, their average will lower dramatically, even if they had all A's before. This does not reveal the students true mastery of the subject. The suggestion is to give the child a 60 instead of a zero so that their average drops, but not past the point where it is unfair. While Armstrong does have some good points here, I don't know if i agree with giving a student an undeserved grade. If a student does not complete the work they should not get the same grade as a student who did, and who may have tried but still did not do well, and got a 60. That student will start to wonder why they pass things in if they can get the same grade without doing the work. Armstrong also discusses what to do with late work. A lot of teachers take off a whole letter grade for each day that the assignment is late. Armstrong disagrees with this, and says that it will eventually deter the student from completing the work. Instead, points off every day should be taken, unless the student habitually turns in late