Say What?!? Schools banish class honor rolls

[Sister Havana]

This is stupid!

Back in the day when I was in junior high and high school, not only did they post the first and second honor roll on the bulletin board in the hallway, they actually PUBLISHED THEM IN THE NEWSPAPERS! Oh, the horror!

I mostly made first honors. When I "only" made second honors, I didn't cry to my mommy and daddy and ask them to sue the school district for the humiliation (they're both public school teachers and probably would have laughed long and hard if I suggested such a thing. ), I started studying harder so I could make it back to first honors.

I have it! Let's just abolish bad grades altogether! Everyone gets an A!

Seriously, I am just waiting for some school to abolish honors classes because having them might upset people whose kids can't get into honors classes.

[nikki1920]

Originally posted by AKA2D '91
I don't FRIGGIN know! Ask our disciplinarians around here... PPASASASMFWBD!

The NEXT thing to go probably will be regular tests.

ok, what the heck is PPASASASMFWBD???

I was EXPECTED to do well in School, nothing below a C allowed. If a C remained for more than a quarter, tv was limited. IF I brought home a D, then tv, outside, all the good stuff was gone for nine weeks..

My child is five and best believe, when we watch tv, I ask her questions. When we read, I ask her questions. Come first grade, it will be homework first, read, and then one show, then bed..thats what my parents did to me..

[Honeykiss1974]

Quit coddling these kids! I understand that not every child will be an "A" or "B'' student, but getting rid of the honor roll does him/her no good. If parents are concerned about their child's self-esteem and self-worth, help him/her find something they are good at, such as music, art, etc.

Its not like those students that didn't make an "B" or better aren't being ridiculed (called "stupid" or "retarded" because they got a C or F) because they are publishing EVERYONE'S grades on every test. Sometimes this published honor roll may inspire a students to do better (wanting to see their name on the list next time).

[lovelyivy84]

Originally posted by nikki1920
ok, what the heck is PPASASASMFWBD???

I was EXPECTED to do well in School, nothing below a C allowed. If a C remained for more than a quarter, tv was limited. IF I brought home a D, then tv, outside, all the good stuff was gone for nine weeks..

My child is five and best believe, when we watch tv, I ask her questions. When we read, I ask her questions. Come first grade, it will be homework first, read, and then one show, then bed..thats what my parents did to me..

That is so great to hear. I was reading a book on education, No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning that pointed out that black children are just not taught in the home.

Studies have shown that the average black child has half the number of books in their home as a white child. They are less likely to be read to, less likely to be prepared both academically and socially (in terms of discipline) and public schools can't pick up the slack.

Things like this are usually attempts to mask the fact that while the school is 90% black, the honor roll is 90% white. And that is NOT all the fault of the teachers- it's on lazy parents who don't have the time or energy to tell their bad ass kids to sit down and shut up in class.

Think about it- 77% of white kids have two parents vs. 37% of black kids. The Asian kids figure is around 80%, even higher than that of white kids.

We have a LOT of work to do with our kids to play "catch up" and getting rid of STANDARDS is the worst thing we could do!

[TeacherladySF]

After lurking for a while, this is finally my first post! Warning: I am long winded!! Thank you so much Nikki20!! As a 1st grade teacher I love to hear that kind of stuff. I have met too many parents that need to get a swift kick "you know where" for not doing what they need to do to help their child succeed. It is amazing at the type of disparities and gaps that I see. I too have a child (only 15 months) and you better believe he'll be prepared. We do flashcards, read daily and he loves to write/scribble. Any type of preparation is wonderful and only benefits the child more.
We have heard about this madness too and the debate has gotten to our district. Our issue is more so of displaying lower grades. They (school board) made this big stink about having an abundance of student work displayed. It's believed that their work shows their effort in class, that they belong and that they have something of thier own to "show off" to parents and classmates. It becomes a double edged sword really. They want each child to have at least 1 piece of work posted in the room. That's okay. Now, they are debating if we should allow the bad grades to be posted. The problem is that if you have a child that is a low performing student/s that will usually get that bad grade, then that child will never have anything up. So, the child can either feel embarrassed because they have bad grades posted or feel bad because their work is never displayed. Parents usually want to see what they've done, good or bad, so for now I continue to put up the good, the bad and the ugly. We always have to try to find a bright spot no matter how bad the grade, so even if a 1 (or d/f) is put up, they do get a positive comment or something that will help them improve their work for next time. I agree with a previous poster that it does get the child motivated to do better. I like Eclipse's permission slip idea of "opting out" of having work posted. Then if you never have anything up, it's you and your family's business. The parents who caused this mess should stop trying to steal the shine from kids and parents who actually work hard to achieve. If thier low performing child ever scored 100% or an A+ I bet they'd want EVERYONE to know about it. For middle and high school, I think it would be good to use those i.d. numbers if you need to post grades. Kids are more cruel at that age. I believe It's good to show a range of grades because all of my students are different and they all need to be represented.

[MarvyG]

I live in Nashville and saw the letter that was sent home to the parents asking permission for "positive public recognition." My mother received hers for my little brother who is a freshman in high school. It is to publicly acknowledge academic achievment, attendance, effort, behavior, citzenship, birthdays as well as any other accomplishments. This note will have to be signed every school year because it is only good for the current school term. My main question for the school board is, will this really be effective and is this note really necessary. What parent in their right mind would not sign the note saying it is ok to acknowlege their child for doing well? Even to have your child's birthday posted on the board in school you must sign the note. I think it is sad that the board of education had to even ponder this and come up with this note. Students should be recognized for doing well in school. Parents who see a problem with this will not have children that are prepared for the real world. They post every player who scores points in a high school game, in the newspaper every week. I guess the parents of those who do not score as much should petition the newspaper about posting the players points in the paper because it might give some other players low self esteem. This is by far one of the craziest decisions by the school board that I have seen.

[RBL]

Well..this is a very good topic. When I was in Elementary school (6th grade) there was a motor bike program that had begun afterschool. I kept noticing students coming back day after day talking about this program so someone told me to go to the teacher to sign up, so I did and to my horror and disappointment I was told that I was not eligible to participate in this program because I was not an "at risk" student. I was limited to aftrschool actvities b/c I was a good student(discipline and academically). What does that say to a child who does right? Most programs are geared to students who have behavioral or academic problems. Cut back on such programs and as grandma would say "get a switch to them chillins". Seriously parents have to become more involved. If you make all A's in school you should be recognized... one of the points of educaton is to excel and if you are excelling you should be recognized. "At risk" kids are ALWAYS getting the attention for all the wrong reasons so why not continue to reward and acknowledge the kids who come to school and excel. Sorry so long (still a little bitter over the motorbike thing )

[aephi alum]

Interesting topic.

When I was growing up, we didn't have honor rolls per se, but we did have honors classes, and everyone knew who'd be on the honor roll if we'd had one. We also weren't given a class rank; the valedictorian and salutatorian were told they were #1 and #2 respectively, and everyone else got a decile ranking.

If I brought home anything other than straight A's, it was "What is this B doing here?" and if I brought home anything lower than a B, I could forget about TV for the quarter! And you know what - if I am blessed with children, they get the same treatment.

What has this society come to if we can't recognize high achievers?