this excerpt is from a newsletter from Denise Pope of Challenge Success. These are her thoughts on schools offering year end awards and assemblies. This is very important.
December, 2015
Several administrators at a recent conference asked my opinion on year-end student awards and assemblies. At their schools, they typically rewarded students who had straight A’s or who had GPA’s above a certain cut-off point. Some gave these students awards at school-wide assemblies; others listed student names and GPA levels in local newspapers or graduation programs. I told them that I am not a fan of such practices because they tend to emphasize grades – and particularly grade point averages – over other important measures and milestones for student success. What we reward is a reflection of what we value as a school. It’s not that we shouldn’t recognize and honor hard work and achievement, but an A grade is not always an accurate measure of these things. Can we find ways to honor the student who showed the most growth over time in a particular content area? Maybe this is a student who struggled at first, but persisted and worked diligently to understand the material? What about the student who took a risk and showed great creativity? How can we show that we honor kindness, honesty, service to others, excellent collaboration and communication skills – as much as we value academic mastery? When we reward A’s and high GPA’s in very public ways, we send a narrow message about success. When we honor students at community events, let’s use this opportunity to celebrate achievements that go beyond getting the grades. Let’s reward a wide variety of achievements and success stories that reflect the true values of our schools and communities.
Cynthia Klein says: I encourage you to visit the Challenge Success website.
To learn how Cynthia can help you solve your specific challenges, contact Cynthia at bridges2understa.wpstagecoach.com, , or 650. 679.8138 to have a complementary 45-minute discovery session. Why keep suffering? It’s time to change!
Terms of Use: The articles in my blog are a matter of my opinion and perspective, offered to help stimulate parents' thinking about their child raising and common concerns, conflicts, and changes that typically occur. They are meant to be educational only. Because they are general in nature, they should NOT be used as a substitute for getting qualified professional psychological, medical, or legal help should serious need arise. The resources I recommend are mostly consistent with my parenting approach. Use them at your own discretion as you would my articles. The parents’ success stories are particular to their family situation. This does not mean that you would get the same results. They are to be used for inspiration that by you changing first, you have the greatest chance of creating a positive change in your family.
