Students who are doing well in school usually have a support team at home.
Instead of worrying about zeroes and grades below fifty and how these grades should not be recorded in the gradebook, parents should get their kids to value school work enough to do it and to do a quality job. A WSJ article called "Raising the Bar: How Parents Can Fix Education" makes more sense to me than all of the promises being made by those running for office. If parents make a big deal about the importance of school and their children's work, there is a good chance that their children will get the message and learn to work hard and do their best.
The article has a lot of sound advice about how to structure homework time, but the bottom line is that the kids do their own work, and the parents are there to ensure that the rules are followed (no television, video games, etc.), the work is completed, and that the child has done the best that he can do. Quality work becomes valuable and important.
I once called a parent because her daughter, Precious One, never brought a book to read during advisory class. The class had a strict curriculum designed to help organize students and prepare them for the day. Teachers checked folders, made sure binders were neat and organized, and taught testing strategies. The students were supposed to bring a book from home or a library book to read every Friday. Several students never came in with books, so I told them that I was going to call their parents if it happened one more time. (I frequently loaned books to these students, but my supply was dwindling. Also, the library was closed during advisory class.)
When I called Precious One's mother, I was in for a big surprise. She started yelling at me, and told me to just send her daughter to the library and not to bother her at work again. Precious One was very smug about the whole experience and obviously knew that her mother would have me for lunch.
If parents hold their children accountable, the results are usually off the charts. Plus, it doesn't cost a cent to be a support person to your child.