Recently an EdWeek blog I hadn’t seen before (K-12 Parents and the Public) caught my eye with this: Florida Mom Balks at Son's Honor Roll Recognition.
Based on this story, it reports on a parent, Beth Tillack, who is very upset that her middle schooler ended up on the honor roll after she had taken away his iPod and computer time for having received a C and D. Turns out those grades were averaged with the 4 A’s he had also received, qualifying him.
“I am furious and appalled," Tillack wrote to Superintendent Kurt S. Browning, according to the (original) article. "Talk about minimum standards! So now instead of losing privileges and trying harder, he ... thinks he has done enough. I am so shocked."
The school responded and is working on a new Honor Roll calculation to include only those with all A’s or A’s and B’s. Both the story and the blog went on to talk about grades and student motivation and changes in how those are being approached.
In the paradigm of grades and honor rolls, Beth Tillack has a point that including Cs and Ds may not be the best way to calculate Honor Roll inclusion.
But my question is, why have grades and honor rolls at all?
Read on.
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