ady a unique program at Oxford Middle School has greatly reduced the number of students earning failing grades.
‘Last year, during the third quarter, 71 students had one or more Es,? said OMS Assistant Principal Jeff Brown. ‘This semester to date, that number is down to 44.?
‘The feedback that we’ve gotten from parents has been really overwhelmingly positive,? he noted.
It’s called the ‘No Zero Club? and it involves all the sixth-graders, half of the seventh-graders and a portion of the eighth-grade class.
‘It’s not the kids choice (to participate), so much as it is the teachers? choice,? Brown explained. ‘Every kid participates in the program whether they know it or not. It’s just whether or not they have to deal with any of the consequences.?
The way it works is simple ? whenever a student does not complete a homework assignment, the teacher sends a message to the No Zero Club’s special e-mail address and that student is required to attend a special lunch session in which they’re given a quiet place, and some help if necessary, to complete their work.
‘Most of the parents, if not all, have said they appreciate having an avenue to take care of their kid when they’re not doing the work,? Brown said.
Once a student’s been assigned two lunch sessions for missed assignments, the parents are contacted and an after-school homework club session is assigned.
If a student is assigned two after-school sessions, a ‘Saturday School? session is scheduled for 9-11 a.m.
The only way for a student to get out of attending a required session is for him or her to complete the work prior to coming.
‘It really is about completing the work,? Brown said. ‘Anywhere along the way, if they get that work done, they’re out of that consequence loop.?
‘I have a couple regulars who show up on Saturday morning with the work done. They turn it in to me at 8:30 a.m. and they go home. I’ve had kids show up in their baseball uniforms and hand me the work on their way to a game.?
Brown said the program’s purpose is to increase learning, not punish students.
Students who complete their late assignments under the No Zero Club program are eligible for up to 75 percent credit. This gives students a real incentive to get the work done.
‘Some people used to give 50 percent in the past, but from a kid’s perspective that’s still an E,? Brown explained. ‘Why am I going to sit down and do this missing assignment, if you’re still going to give me a failing grade on it??
The idea for the No Zero Club came from an article in Principal magazine.
‘It was an article written by a principal who had been trying this and who had been having some success,? Brown said. ‘We’ve kind of adapted it to make it work for us as well as possible.?
When OMS staff started examining the students who were not doing well academically, they realized ‘the majority of those cases were because kids weren’t completing their work.?
‘Those zeros hurt you quickly,? Brown said. ‘We want that grade to be a reflection of what they know.?
The No Zero Club has helped school staff separate the students who are, as Brown put it, the ‘somewhat typical, unorganized middle schooler? from those who are genuinely having difficulty mastering the work.
‘If you’re getting a D or an E and you’re turning in every assignment, that becomes more of a red flag for us,? he said.
‘It makes it easier for us to identify the kids that are really, truly struggling with the work and start helping those kids.?
OMS is currently collecting data and examining the possibility of expanding the program to encompass every student in all three grades.
‘I think it’s something that’s got the potential to go school-wide,? Brown said.
However, its necessity among the eighth-graders is still up for debate.
‘Our hope would be if we’re real successful with sixth and seventh grade, that we really wouldn’t need it by the time they got to eighth grade,? Brown said.