One thing I don't understand is what does _* mean? It seems like the paper refers to .* (which I understand) and _* (which I don't) in sometimes the same context? Normally _* would mean "an underscore zero or more times".
This is exactly how it is at my husband's high school: no penalties, no consequences, unlimited turning in of work until the end of the quarter. Didn't finish it all and ended up with a D or lower? Doesn't matter, because you can't be held back anyway.
Let's not even get into how kneecapped teachers are in classroom management. A student reported him for pointing at them and touching them when he was never fewer than 3 feet away pointing away from them. The students know they have the power now, and they're definitely not going to be told what to do.