Dear Parents, We understand there have been conversations and Facebook posts regarding the Academic Es that were recently taped on students lockers. We hope this post helps you understand the reasons we decided to take them down over break. On December 10, PTA volunteers stayed after school to tape yellow “Academic Es” to the lockers of students who were on high honor roll for the first quarter. The decision to do this was made at the PTA meeting in October after several parents shared a desire to recognize students for their academic achievement. Every day following the posting of the Es on the lockers, we heard numerous negative comments from students and staff about how the letters make them feel. Many of the comments came from students who were recipients of the letter, not just from those who did not receive them. We have also found many of the letters ripped off lockers and thrown to the floor. On Thursday, December 18, students were asked to take these letters off their lockers and take them home. Please know this decision was not made in haste. Our School Instructional Team and Student Services Team had lengthy discussions about this. Here are some of the key points from our discussions: 1. We greatly appreciate the PTA volunteers for taking their time and energy to recognize our students. 2. We absolutely believe it is important to recognize students for their academic successes but this recognition should not be reserved for those who are able to achieve all As and Bs. 3. Many of our teachers are transitioning to standards-based grading, a practice which views a grade as a communication tool and not a reward. A grade of C does not mean that a student isn’t trying hard enough; it communicates the student’s level of mastery of the standards in that subject area. 4. Many students are doing their absolute best but they are not yet at an A or B level of mastery on the standards. 5. Our mission is to cultivate the unique potential of each child in a nurturing and collaborative environment. We want to promote a community of learners working together. Awards, in contrast, promote individuals. 6. One of our belief statements is to challenge each child to grow intellectually, socially, emotionally, physically, and ethically in order to become a productive citizen and life-long learner. 7. Numerous research studies show the negative impact of extrinsic motivation efforts such as honor roll on student motivation--both on those who receive the awards and those who do not. (See below for more information.) 8. Students who try out for athletic teams or performance groups do so with the understanding that they are competing for a limited number of spots. However, students should not be made to feel that their learning is a competition with other students. (See “Motivation and Competition in Schools” below). 9. As a school, we are focused on recognizing students for demonstrating social emotional learning standards of self-management, self-awareness, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. These skills are critical to being a good student and citizen. 10. Our student recognition committee meets monthly to discuss how we can continue to recognize students for growth in all areas. Articles, videos and posts about awards and student motivation: Alfie Kohn on Rewards – a short clip by Kohn that includes “the more you reward students for doing something, the more they lose interest in whatever they had to do to get the reward”. https://youtube/watch?v=EQt-ZI58wpw Motivation and Competition in Schools https://youtube/watch?v=RDj2u1L_hV4 Honor Roll? Really? amle.org/BrowsebyTopic/WhatsNew/WNDet/TabId/270/ArtMID/888/ArticleID/200/Honor-Roll-Really.aspx Using Motivational Theory with At-Risk Children ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/sept95/vol53/num01/Using_Motivational_Theory_with_At-Risk_Children.aspx Axing the honour roll: Do rewards hinder learning? cbc.ca/m/news/canada/axing-the-honour-roll-do-rewards-hinder-learning-1.2335963 Time to Re-think School Award Ceremonies? thedailyriff/articles/virtually-every-type-of-expected-559.php From Degrading to De-Grading alfiekohn.org/teaching/fdtd-g.htm The Impact of Awards georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/1079 Why The Ones Who Have Bad Grades Are Often The Ones Who Are Most Successful elitedaily/life/motivation/why-the-ones-who-have-bad-grades-are-often-the-ones-who-are-most-successful/ Additional Videos on motivation and awards chriswejr/tag/alfie-kohn/ Thank you to those who have shared their feelings with us on this topic. Your feedback provides us an opportunity to reflect on how our beliefs and practices meet the needs our students. We hope you all have a wonderful holiday break.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 15:21:53 +0000
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