Reading out grades in class...

[WeCantWait]

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[Mkrop]

I'm glad you stopped lurking. I feel the same way. My DS11 is a straight A student, it is a rare event if he gets anything wrong on any test. I don't think he has studied a day in his life. My DS7 had learning disabilities and puts in PLENTY of effort to get the grades he does. I agree that reading scores out loud can harm the self esteem of the children who did not get over 90.Why not just write a personal note to the children who scored over 90? Why does it have to be a public recognition?

I understand having two children who are different academically, I do

but

would you want your younger child recognized if he did really well in art class, or played a beautiful solo at the spring concert, or scored the winning basket? Your youngest may have strengths where you older child does not.


My oldest too gets wonderful grades, he works at it but it still comes easy to him. I mentioned before how DS7 is struggling in Math and that 89 that came home the other day sent DH and I over the moon, we were so happy. Now DS12 comes homes with 100s all the time, we praise those as well because we want both of their efforts recognized. I want DS12 to feel good about his academic success, and if the teacher acknowledges that I am happy for him. Just like I want all of my kids accomplishments praised no matter what area they come in.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

I didn't read all the post, but what is the difference between doing that and announccing a Dean's list.

The teacher should just read all the grades received now. I do not think test scores are confidential.

 

[Traveliz]

I can't speak for the entire country, but I know in PA students have a right to privacy regarding their grades (it may be national, I just don't know) in a public k-12 school. If grades/missing assignments are posted, it must be by the students school number.

Now, I can hear posters chime in and say, well, they just tell each other their grades anyway. True, but then that's THEIR responsibility, not the teacher's or the school's.

I just retired from teaching middle school for over 20 years.

I agree with you - its a privacy issue.

I can't imagine anyone here would be happy if salary amounts were annouced over the loudspeaker at work in order of salary, or increases or whatever. It's one thing to share on your own; another to have it announced aloud...unless of course you are in a position where your salary is published or public knowledge (and then you would know that going in).

Liz

 

[Teacher03]

I can't believe a parent would complain about this! Seriously. Anyone would be crazy to go into education now. (This coming from a teacher who actually loves her job!) And no, I don't call out scores, but I think if someone is upset by that, get over it. I was upset when I didn't get first place in a single event during Olympic Day, and the whole school AND their parents witnessed it! But I lived, and my self esteem is just fine.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

What is the difference than a dean's list?

 

[WeCantWait]

I understand having two children who are different academically, I do

but

would you want your younger child recognized if he did really well in art class, or played a beautiful solo at the spring concert, or scored the winning basket? Your youngest may have strengths where you older child does not.


My oldest too gets wonderful grades, he works at it but it still comes easy to him. I mentioned before how DS7 is struggling in Math and that 89 that came home the other day sent DH and I over the moon, we were so happy. Now DS12 comes homes with 100s all the time, we praise those as well because we want both of their efforts recognized. I want DS12 to feel good about his academic success, and if the teacher acknowledges that I am happy for him. Just like I want all of my kids accomplishments praised no matter what area they come in.

.

 

[sunnyday123]

My favorite professor calls out the two highest scores on every test. I LOVE when I am one of those people. People often complain about him, he expects you to work for your grades (we can't have that now!)

Wonder if Mommy will call the dean if I am sad because I don't get my name called next time

So she should! Better yet, they should do away with grades. Why prepare them for the real world??

 

[Mkrop]

I don't think there needs to be a public announcement every time my children do really well. It's not something I would feel the need to go to the school and complain about but I would rather it didn't happen. My 2nd graders teacher keeps a list of children on the black board that have earned straight A's in her class. My son has said to me repeatedly that he will never make it on that list but he wishes everybody else didn't have to know. One girl who had her name on the list during the first semster, had her name erased for the second semester (she had an A- in math), she was quite upset with that.

Trust me I hate to see my kids upset and try to minimize but being upset sometimes is not the end of the world. Upsets come in all shapes and forms.
My kids havent made teams they tried out for, they were upset. DS12 depsite winning the school spelling bee and representing his school, was upset that he missed a field trip going to semifinals. Then he ws upset when he got knocked out. My youngest got upset when it was a recheduled gym day and I forgot to dress him in his gym uniform.

To me it is called life.

So she should! Better yet, they should do away with grades. Why prepare them for the real world??

Exactly!

 

[clarkfamily]

I share this because it is relevant to the discussion and because many here seem to be unfamiliar with this federal law.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html

If you have strong feelings on this subject, or if you or your child are having experiences like the one described by the OP, you should be sure to familiarize yourself with these regulations.

(If you are familiar with HIPAA, and the privacy rights it protects within the healthcare arena, FERPA is the educational counterpart.)

Regardless of your feelings on issues related to the public recognition of student performance, you should be aware that all public schools -- both K-12 and post-secondary institutions -- and any school that receives funding from the U.S. Department of Education -- are bound to uphold the regulations outlined in this legislation.

The bottom line as it applies to this scenario is that it is a clear violation of FERPA for a teacher to announce student grades publicly.

For information on how FERPA applies to many of the scenarios that this thread has raised (i.e. announcing who has made honor roll, parent volunteers grading papers, posting a list of missed assignments, etc.), please reference this excellent FAQ.

http://www.utea.org/insideUEA/FAQpositionPapers/falvo/index.htm

 

[clarkfamily]

Just a few comments about some ideas that have not been considered:

Goal Individualization
Research demonstrates that students do benefit from being recognized for hard work and academic growth. The most effective way for teachers to accomplish this is exactly that -- to recognize hard work and growth. (This is not the same as recognizing all children who meet some arbitrary score.) Quite simply, this means setting individual goals for each child -- goals that are real, measurable, and offer a challenge to each student. Recognition, then, can be given not to students "who earn a 90% or better" -- but to each student who actually worked hard to meet a real and challenging goal. Setting individualized goals is critical -- not just for students who struggle to meet traditional grade-level standards, but also for students who struggle to find any challenge in traditional grade-level work.

Private Recognition
Reserach consistently shows that the motivation that arises from the internal desire to learn and master skills is longer-lasting and gives rise to higher levels of performance than the motivation that arises from the desire to earn rewards or to please and impress others. The former is referred to as intrinsic motivation and the latter is referred to as extrinsic motivation. Private methods of recognizing students, especially those that focus on giving the child real evidence of the connection between hard work and academic growth, tend to foster high levels of intrinsic motivation. The kinds of public recognition strategies that have been the focus of this thread tend to foster in children a desire to perform for the sake of pleasing and impressing others. While this type of extrinsic motivation is not entirely meaningless, research demonstrates that it has serious limitations in terms of its ability to sustain children in their attempts: to tackle complex work, to take on challenge by choice, or to persist in the face of difficulty. While it may seem quick and easy to use public recognition to "motivate" students to learn, in fact, teachers who think deeply about these issues, and who consider the science underlying human motivation, are able to develop far more effective strategies for motivating all students.

 

[ols386]

I don't see anything wrong with kids being recognized for excelling in anything, academics, sports, whatever, and there are ways to do this without giving out specific information regarding actual grades. But I don't think it's acceptable to announce or post grades publicly. Seems to me that would be considered private information, that others don't need to know.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

I don't agree with this, and here's why...

It has nothing to do with separating the kids who did not get a 90 or above, but it puts the top performer's on the spot. Some kids may not like to be called out like that. I know I didn't. And I was taking a college course! I was consistently the top quiz/test scorer, and while she did not announce WHO got the top score, she would say, the top score was a 98...everyone would look at me. I hated it.

I think everyone should do their best, and leave it at that. The kid that got an 85, maybe that was HIS best.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I don't have a problem with it depending on how it is done. This is positive reinforcement for those kids that did well. It does not mean that you do not recognize other students for their accomplishments. This is actually a common behavior technique.

I use this technique a lot in my classroom. My kids have a very hard time lining up, in the hallway, sitting in a lesson. So when we are walking in the hallway I might say, "I like how Joey's voice is off. Jane, thank you for keeping your arms at your side." I like to be able to say it for all the kids, and once I start naming names, the ones who are not on track will quickly straighten up.

It's easy for a teacher to say, "I like how hard John is working," or something of that nature. I also think the teacher needs to know the culture of their school and classroom. Obviously there is no one size fits all solution. One year may have a classroom culture where the kids really encourage each other and this would be a great motivator/reward, another year that group of kids may be the opposite and it would just cause problems. You need to know your classroom and know what will work for you and what won't.