I don't see how that changes anything. It just means the homework deadline is 5 days later.
> eliminate zeroes in grade books
Meaning if one does well on the first assignment, the rest of the semester can be ignored. A savvy student, once they achieved an A, will be motivated to not turn in any more assignments or tests.
> and re-do tests
Once you know what is on the test, it isn't really a test anymore.
> Meaning if one does well on the first assignment, the rest of the semester can be ignored. A savvy student, once they achieved an A, will be motivated to not turn in any more assignments or tests.
Usually this is not by marking assignments "not required" or changing the denominator. Instead, many educators are giving a 50% for a missing assignments: not a zero, but a far less insurmountable thing to overcome.
If I had a problem with a student with systemically missing work, I'd give them 2/3rds credit on any part of homework they'd shown mastery on by some other means (test, class activities, other assignments). So they'd likely get more than 33 and less than 67.
> Once you know what is on the test, it isn't really a test anymore.
If you know the specific problems, sure. I don't recommend giving the same student the same test (well, I have been known to allow students to rework a problem for partial credit).
But I don't seek to ever give students a test where what's on the test is a surprise/some kind of secret.