Does ‘Close submissions after due date’ support student learning and development?

Google Classroom recently introduced a new feature in assignment settings. Teachers can now select ‘Close submissions after due date.’

I have no doubt that some teachers reacted warmly to this development. Late assignment submissions drive some teachers mad. They cost time and energy.

So the ability to shut the door on late submissions is an appealing option.

But just because the option is there doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right course for student learning.

Whenever it comes to tricky pedagogical, policy, or program decisions, I like to fall back on these two questions:

• Is this good for kids?
• Is this good for student learning?

Guided by this simple filter and after giving this some serious thought, here’s where I’m landing on Google Classroom’s newest feature for now.

Four thoughts on the ‘Close submissions after due date’ option

1. If our number one mission is student learning, I would hope that our posture is that whenever students want to submit evidence of their learning, we want to accept it.

We can’t always, but we want to or we wish we could, right?

That’s a very general principle that requires qualifications (see points 3–4 regarding teacher limitations and sustainability), but I think if our mission is truly student learning, it’s important to at least aim for that posture as a starting point.

If students want to show us evidence of their learning, as a general default we’d like to see it, or at the very least have access to it.

2. I sure hope we’re not leveraging that feature in order to scare students into assignment completion and submission.

Please, no.

If we’re checking the box beside this option, we’d better be thinking through our policy carefully. If an assignment was due on Tuesday and the student wants to submit it on Wednesday but is shut out by this setting, what happens next?

Because I’ll tell you one thing we’re definitely NOT doing.

We’re not recording zeros for unsubmitted work. Zeros obliterate any remnants of possible meaning or significance from report cards.

As Tom Schimmer says, if an athlete doesn’t show up for a 100 meter dash, we don’t assume they have zero running ability.

That would be intellectual laziness. No one in the track world would treat that as a serious conclusion.

If an athlete doesn’t show up for a race, it means that we simply don’t have the evidence that we need to properly assess their running ability.

Unless we have access to other data, their ability to run 100 meters remains completely unknown.

In my proficiency scale (standards-based grading) context, we’re also not going to record a student’s learning as Emerging. That would be the same idea as a zero.

Remember, if we’re recording zeroes or assessments of Emerging proficiency, we’re no longer trying to honestly measure learning against curricular standards.

All we’re doing is leveraging grades as punishment and rewards.

And that makes our gradebooks a joke, because now the grade says more about compliance than ability.

3. I would hope that if we use this feature, we use it in a way that opens the door to student conversations and growth.

Maybe there’s a simple conversation or appeal or application process that the student must complete in order to be allowed to submit their assignment.

Whatever this looks like, I can see some positive potential here. Some character and regulation formation in the student. Some deepening of the teacher-student relationship.

Note that this will actually require more time and energy from the teacher than if the feature was not turned on. But if a teacher is willing to go this path, I applaud them.

Seriously, they’re a rock star. They’re deeply invested.

Student learning, development, and self-regulation skills could win as a result of this kind of policy.

4. The reality we can all agree on: teachers are limited by time and human capacity.

Teachers already cannot assess every piece of work that students touch.

When we do find the time and priority to assess student work, it needs to be done as much as possible in one chunk, one session.

What I’m getting at here is that teachers simply cannot sit down to assess 15 submissions, then a few days later assess three more, then a few days later one more, then a few days later three more.

Extrapolate that kind of ridiculousness across dozens of students and learning activities and you’ve got a great recipe for teacher insanity or depression or both.

We also quite literally cannot accept submissions forever.

The end of term or semester is generally a hard cap, but even within the term, it’s not reasonable for teachers to assess submissions in November that were due in September.

So for that reason I think there’s at least an argument to be made for closing the door on learning activities and moving on at some point.

Privately, I would hope that the door on submissions doesn’t slam shut at midnight on the due date. Google Classroom does offer a switch that blocks future submissions at any arbitrary time, so teachers could do this manually a week or so after due dates if they chose.

But let’s be real and say that ultimately, the door on submissions does have to close at some point.

Will I use this feature?

No.

One of my core values as a teacher has long been this: late is better than never. As long as the assignment submission is there for me by the time I assess it, we’re good.

For me to shut the door quickly on assignment submissions, I have to be able to make the reverse case: never is better than late.

That’s a very, very tough position to defend pedagogically.

But should all teachers go my way? Not necessarily.

As I wrote in point 3 (above), I can see a best use case for this feature that results in increased learning, character formation, and self-regulation skills in students.

It would take a serious commitment on the part of teachers. It would cost them more time and energy, and as a part-time administrator I worry about that.

But for teachers willing to take this strategy seriously, I can see the potential wins. And I’ll cheer you on as you do it.