<p>“Should teachers with better Praxis scores get some kind of reward?”
Should teachers who are better at teaching be getting merit pay? Should the businessman with the biggest deals get a bonus? Should the lawyer with the most case wins get a bonus? Should the student with the highest rank get into the best college, get Phi Beta Kappa once in college (and get to wear tassles at graduation)? I mean seriously this world is all about competitions and rewards for the best. I like the point that talks about the cheerleaders/athletes and how that makes other students feel. Athletes got plenty of special treatment at my high school.</p>
<p>At my school students who got perfect standardized test scores the year before got to skip an hour of class and have a pizza and movie party. No one complained.</p>
<p>This program sounded like a great incentive to get those borderline kids to push towards high achievement (aka the lazy ones). It certainly does punish kids who have IEPs or limited english proficiency or otherwise are limited in their ability to achieve high standardized test scores. OTOH, you cannot involuntarily release students’ scores. Students who scored well probably would have consented to releasing their score, while students who did not probably would not have. (but, it would have been easy to figure out everyone via who did not consent of course). Teachers are being judged on these kids’ scores, their names are released when the kids do poorly, they are losing their jobs and even in a few cases committing suicide from these scores being published. It seems reasonable from this standpoint to hold the kids more accountable themselves when their teachers are taking all of the blame for their scores. In reality teachers should not be taking the blame is the moral.</p>
<p>Anyone else find it ironic that every kid wants a black card and not a white card? They could have picked better colors, even if they are reversing the historical precident regarding those colors and separate treatment.</p>
<p>I don’t agree that these cards should be based on standardized tests, however grades, behavior, and attendance could work out perfectly. There’s two local schools in my district that use this method and no one’s ever complained. It’s actually the schools that don’t have this system that do worse because the students in the schools that do it see it as motivation to improve.</p>
<p>The students love the perks it brings, other students that care try harder in school, parents are happy that their children are being recognized for their academic success (especially parents whose children can’t participate in sports due to health problems), and the schools brag about their students. I’ve actually noticed that it’s the schools that don’t have the system that do less well in our district.</p>
<p>So I say let them have IDs that show academic recognition but not with standardized scores.</p>
<p>By the time high school rolls around the students take STAR tests, The California High School Proficiency Exam, PSATs, and AP tests during school. On weekends they get the various SATs, and ACTs. So these kids are test weary, and if there is a test out there with no consequences they are pretty tempted to let is slide.</p>
<p>That’s where STAR testing rolls in. The API scores; the combined results of STAR testing for the school; affect teachers’ employment, funding, programs, and even real estate prices. The effect of the results of any individual student on the other hand, mean close to nothing. So we have a week where teachers stand at the front of the class and beg tired students to try. Please don’t make patterns out of the dots. Please read the questions. Please.</p>
<p>That particular school is attempting to make the STAR tests mean something to the students so they try. I say power to them.</p>
<p>However, I wonder if there isn’t a better way. Can’t we drop some of that testing? Can’t certain scores on the PSAT mean they’ve passed the California High School Proficiency Exam. (Heck, if they replace the CHSPE with the PSAT then we are guaranteed every student takes the PSAT. Which might encourage those that do unexpectedly well to go to college…A statewide deal on PSAT testing might even be cheaper then keeping up the CHSPE) Can’t we replace high school STAR testing with a combination of PSAT scores and AP participation and scores? </p>
<p>And can’t colleges accept AP scores instead of SAT2 scores…</p>
<p>I don’t know, color-coded ID’s + planners seems like an AWESOME idea to me. While I don’t think the below proficient kids should be labeled at all, having “black/platinum” status sounds like a really good incentive to actually try on these standardized tests.</p>
<p>I wish my school did this, at the very least.</p>
<p>I don’t get why this was so bad. I love how everyone tries to make the world all nice and fair when we are kids but once we become “adults” they don’t care at all and reality hits. The ones who work harder and do better, get the best–just how life goes…</p>
<p>As if the food at public schools was good enough to attract people in droves! "</p>
<p>You should see the lunch lines at our school. Probably about 300 kids per lunch period, we finally expanded our cafeteria so we can all fit. If you get their early/have a pass you have a three minute wait, maybe. I know kids who purposely have their detentions during lunch to benefit from this. </p>
<p>If I arrive about five minutes into the period (my typical time), I probably have about ten minutes to wait in this little holding room, another five in line for the food, and another five to checkout. I have less than twenty minutes to eat and pack up and chat with my friends. </p>
<p>If there was a way to get shorter lines, I would jump at the chance!</p>
<p>Countries like China and Korea display the results of all the student’s final scores on a big board for everyone to see. Lo and behold, their youth far surpass the American youth.
This hiding of everyones test score is really annoying. Perhaps for the lower end, but for the students who achieve high score it isn’t fair. Why should their accomplishments be hidden?</p>
<p>I really don’t see why achievements in sports can be recognized, thus theoretically making the less-athletic students feel bad, while achievements in school cannot? Maybe not by standarized test scores, but by all Honor Roll students, or something like that.</p>
<p>The problem with people overusing this correlation/causation idea is that they imply that correlation means that there cannot be causation. A highly competitive environment most likely does result in more academic achievement than the “let’s hand everybody a diploma” attitude here. This explanation is the basis for many of the explanations for the difference in test scores between people of other ethnicities/nations.</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>I remember when I was in middle school I would get special privileges (skipping the lunch line) for maintaining good “citizenship” (such as attendance, behavior, etc). I didn’t recall anyone complaining.</p>
<p>Why does it have to be recognized and rewarded when one’s own internal sense of satisfaction and actual real world benefits come to those who are successful? </p>
<p>To me it has nothing to do with protecting the lower performing students or making them look bad. Simply what is the point? It feels so much like those stupid plaques with ‘employee of the month’ near the counter of McDonalds. </p>
<p>Our kids are in a school that gives out a few awards for particular achievements but they don’t rank students, have a val or sal, they don’t even publish test means. Never in a million years would my kids feel their achievements ‘were hidden’. They couldn’t care less if others know because that is not why they are seeking achievement. Just like we have no frustration at not making our high salaries public. </p>
<p>At our kids’ school, which is highly selective, the kids are working hard and confident. They place well in universities. And they get to focus on their own achievements, not looking over their shoulder and judging their success only by comparing themselves to others (a pathetic sort of way to live your life).</p>
<p>It has nothing at all with protecting anyone. It is simply in line with the values they espouse. </p>
<p>I frankly don’t understand all the fuss reflected in ranking, val and sal, listing kids college acceptances, and all other kinds of public nonsense. Kids should be competing with themselves to improve their own performance and achieve their best and see their objective actual performance, which is rewarded internally with a sense of accomplishment, and with <em>real</em> benefits in the real world- like merit scholarships, college acceptances, job offers. The lunch line and the labels are completely unnecessary.</p>
<p>My son’s school gives t-shirts to the academic top 10 in each of the classes at his high school.</p>
<p>They also get invited to a special dinner at the end of each school year where they’re recognized. Perhaps it doesn’t motivate the kids who are in the bottom 10 or 20% of the class, but I know kids who’ve ranked just below the top ten that were motivated to perform better the following years to make it into the top 10.</p>
<p>And the kids do wear these t-shirts to school. We live in a small town and this past weekend I saw 2 or 3 kids in town wearing their top 10 shirts. </p>
<p>It should be a source of pride for them for their achievements, they’ve worked hard to achieve what they have, they deserve a ‘moment in the spotlight’. </p>
<p>And for those that feel bad because they don’t get recognized, my advice would be to work harder and they can achieve the same. The school offers free tutoring a couple times a week, has a list of tutors that will negotiate an hourly rate, and we’re near 2 colleges 1 of which has students that provide free tutoring and another that staffs an 800 line to answer questions. For any student that is willing to work to achieve, help is available if needed.</p>
<p>On the other hand, our school also awards students with perfect attendance. While I can see that this motivates some students to attend school instead of taking ‘mental health days’ and I am aware that attendance is correlated with grades, I don’t know how I feel about rewarding students who manage to stay healthy all year as that is not something they are in control of.</p>
<p>One thing about the “color coded” reward (as far as I can tell) is that it isn’t a zero sum game, where one student who improves his/her scores bumps someone else down into the lower category. Theoretically, everyone in the school could be carrying around a black card and notebook. (At that point, a separate lunch line wouldn’t be particularly useful!)</p>
Should sports teams stop keeping score, and just play for the love of the game?</p>
<p>There are differences in general outlook about this that crop up all the time on CC. Some people are competitive, and like to get recognition for their achievements, and others don’t care about that.</p>
<p>In my son’s high school, semester by semester GPA’s were Posted for all students who were on the Honor’s or President’s list (each grouped by year -freshman etc). These lists were posted right by the auditorium doors, so students and anyone at any school function could see them.</p>
<p>These lists served as an competitive incentive to students.</p>
<p>I guess that students that work hard and do well should not get scholarships to college, adults that work hard and do a good job should not get a better raise, and they should stop publishing honor roll lists in the news paper too. </p>
<p>And I am not so sure that I would put in much effort if I was going to be put into an honors group set up like Lookingforward suggests. I would feel like I was being punished for working hard, and being asked to work harder. </p>
<p>I do think academically advanced students, that also work hard, are a role model for the school (based on grades, services, and behavior) should be recognized. However, putting a class system in place that allows for people to go to the front of the line, and ongoing social perks that elevate individuals is a problem for me. </p>
<p>I have no problem with the ice cream socials for kids on honor lists at the end of the grading period, as long as the kids that have made a pre-determined increase in GPA are also recognized for their efforts- regardless whether the final gpa qualifies for honor roll. And I have no problem with graduation honors, I think they are very appropriate. </p>
<p>I believe that all schools should have an avenue for students to earn an academic letter that is EXACTLY the same as athletic letters. So those that excel in academics, sports, music, and drama can all be recognized without placing them in a “class” system.</p>
<p>The only people who care about high GPAs and test scores are the people with high GPAs and test scores. Like someone said, if your ego is really this fragile you can feel free to parade through the hallways shouting your rank to the world, because god forbid anyone forget how brilliant you all are. Honestly, this is all sounding like teenagers who have just discovered Ayn Rand.</p>