Province gets tough on students’ late assignments
August 25, 2010
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Amy Dempsey
STAFF REPORTER
Students across Ontario will face tougher penalties for missing deadlines when they return to school this fall.
New guidelines from the Ontario Ministry of Education will allow teachers to hand out zeros to students who don’t submit assignments on time — a policy previously discouraged in many school boards.
“It doesn’t mean that teachers are going to give zeros all the time,” said Ken Coran, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation. “It means this is now one strategy that can be used to try and improve the students’ behaviour, work habits and achievement.”
Coran said the new guidelines will correct inconsistencies in the way students are evaluated across the province.
“Some school boards were saying you can’t give a mark of zero, you can’t deduct marks for late assignments. And seemingly others were (giving zeros).”
Until now, handing in a late assignment would have had an impact on the work habit component of a student’s report card, but not necessarily on the student’s academic grade. A 1999 directive from the Ministry of Education said teachers should separate students’ work from their behaviour.
Oksana Holadyk, who teaches summer school at Bishop Ryan Catholic Secondary School in Hamilton, said she agrees with the new policy.
“As a teacher, if I do not penalize a student who hands in their work late then I am assuming a role as enabler for bad habits in school,” she said. “These bad habits will certainly not stop when the student enters the working world.”
But Jad, 15, a student at Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School in Ajax, said it’s already tough enough to get good grades.
“Some teachers are different than other teachers,” he said. “But usually if you hand in a late assignment it’s a zero.”
Ray, a grade 11 student at Rick Hansen Secondary School in Mississauga, agreed and said he thinks teachers should go easier on students.
“I think it’s a bit harsh for students. Maybe that’s okay in university, but not high school.”
With files from Liam Casey