Citing Stress, School Stops Publishing Honor RollDecember 12, 2006
NEEDHAM, Mass. -- A Massachusetts school's decision has brought about mixed feelings from the community.
Needham High School has abandoned its long-standing practice of publishing the names of students who make the honor roll in the local newspaper.
Principal Paul Richards said a key reason for stopping the practice is its contribution to students' stress level in "this high-expectations-high-achievement culture."
The full story is here.
Why Not Elimitate Winners Altogether?
What next? Will schools no longer award medals to the winner of the track and field event for fear that someone might have hurt feelings? How about a new policy where every wrestler in a weight bracket gets a medal – the same medal – we wouldn’t want anyone to know that one wrester “won” the tournament.
It's Better to Recognize a Diversity of Talents
Perhaps some of the children making the honor roll at Needham High School are scholars and not athletes. Will the school no longer recognize successful athletes in order to make those who are not athletically-inclined feel less pressure to succeed in athletics? Did it ever occur to anyone that having one’s name printed in the newspaper as a member of the honor roll might be the only positive public recognition some of those children receive for their academic success?
A Better Proposal
Needham High School should follow the Loni Hancock model which proposed redefining the level of academic achievemnet neccessary to desginate a student as "proficient" in California in order to allow more students to be; well, "proficient." Under the Hancock model, all students in Needham High School could be "honor students."
2 comments:
Thanks for for the nice words,
What a lesson, lots not reward or recognize achievement
Pappy,
The ability to objectively evaluate academic achievemnent is scaring the daylights out of the government school establishment - particularly the teachers unions.
They have fought the adoption of standards, standards-based testing, and the open dissemination of data related to that testing.
I suppose that eliminating the act of rewarding or recognizing academic achievement is the next step in undermining the measuring of academic success.
It is a shame, and it begs us to continue the fight to promote educational choice.
Thanks for stopping by,
OAFFER
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