We all knew this day was coming, didn't we?
The school honor roll, a time-honored system for rewarding A students, has become an apparent source of embarrassment for some underachievers. As a result, all Nashville schools have stopped posting honor rolls, and some are also considering a ban on hanging good work in the hallways -- on the advice of school lawyers.
As Lileks would say, Jeebus Chrysler. Doesn't it matter that the kids who do good work will now recieve less and less public admiration for it? Or are we not supposed to be concerned with their self-esteem?
After a few parents complained that their children might be ridiculed for not making the list, lawyers for the Nashville school system warned that state privacy laws forbid releasing any academic information, good or bad, without permission.
Whatever happened to teaching kids not to ridicule other kids about grades? Is the assumption that neither teachers nor parents are teaching kids how to behave? And what happened to teaching your kids snappy comebacks to snotty kids who brag about anything - grades, clothes, the number of Valentine's cards they received?
The change has upset many parents who want their children to be recognized for hard work.
"This is as backward as it gets," said Miriam Mimms, who has a son at Meigs Magnet School and helps run the parent-teacher association. "There has to be a way to come back from the rigidity."
Ms. Mimms is more understated than I would be in this situation. Substitue the words "asinine", "success-hating," and "condescending" for her "backward" comment, and you start to understand how I feel about this situation.
The problem appears unique to Tennessee...
Thank Goddess for that.
School officials are developing permission slips to give parents of the Nashville district's 69,000 students the option of having their children's work recognized. They hope to get clearance before the next grading cycle -- in about six weeks at some schools.
Wait. I thought the whole point of this was that parents of low-achievers didn't want the high-achievers to be publicly honored. If only the parents of high-achievers sign the slips, then we're back to the same situation.
Others think it might be a good idea to get rid of the honor roll altogether, as Principal Steven Baum did at Julia Green Elementary in Nashville.
"The rationale was, if there are some children that always make it and others that always don't make it, there is a very subtle message that was sent," he said.
I'd laugh, if this weren't so tragic for the kids involved. Principal Baum, the message sent with an honor roll is neither subtle nor problematic. Kids on the honor roll are being honored for their academic achievement. Kids not on the honor roll can find other ways to achieve. If you're assuming that removing the honor roll will remove the "subtle" inclination that kids have of assessing each other on multiple dimensions, you're wrong. The kids will still know who's smart and who's not, and they'll hopefully behave politely about it. Removing the honor roll seems to assume that kids on the roll are brutalizing the ones who aren't (or vice versa).
Why hasn't Principal Baum considered sending the "subtle" message that kids who do well in school deserve to be honored for it, but everyone has their special capabilities, and everyone deserves to be treated with respect?
Baum thinks spelling bees and other publicly graded events are leftovers from the days of ranking and sorting students. "I discourage competitive games at school," he said. "They just don't fit my worldview of what a school should be."
I really shouldn't have read that last sentence, not so soon after being sick with something that made my stomach hurt. Because hearing about Principal Baum's attempts to inflict his non-competitive "worldview" on his school REALLY makes my stomach hurt. I don't care if he personally is terrified of competition, but he has no right to "teach" his students that all such competition is bad and old-fashioned. This does nothing but foster the idea that kids cannot handle challenges at all.
Parents at most schools, though, have been close to outrage over the new rule.
"So far, what we've heard parents say is 'This is crazy. Spend your time doing other things" said Teresa Dennis, principal at Percy Priest Elementary School. "It does seem really silly."
My guess is Ms. Dennis edited the parental statements here. If Tennessee's parents have any gumption at all, their reactions should be comments that can't be published in a family newspaper. Joanne Jacobs was also appalled.
Posted by kswygert at January 25, 2004 02:15 PM