South Carolina is allowing teachers to give zeros again, but the problem with grading goes deeper

South Carolina just became the first state to officially ban no-zero grading policies. The new law allows teachers to assign zeros when students don't submit work—a major reversal from a practice now adopted by roughly half of America's school districts. Per The Conversation, districts that require grade floors will lose ten percent of state funding for classrooms. Researchers remain divided on whether this actually helps students: some studies link grade floors to improved graduation rates, while others find they simply conceal incomplete work behind inflated grades.

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