Dumbing Down In Action

January 25th, 2004

When I was in school, the honor roll system served to recognize students who excelled at academics, and also served as a motivator to other students to do their best.

Now, the Nashville school system wants to change all that:

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 - all at the advice of school lawyers.

After a few parents complained their children might be ridiculed for not making the list, Nashville school system lawyers warned that state privacy laws forbid releasing any academic information, good or bad, without permission.

Some schools have since put a stop to academic pep rallies. Others think they may have to cancel spelling bees. And now schools across the state may follow Nashville’s lead.

(link via Ray Garraud)

Update: From Kathleen in Nashville:

Several days ago, Dr. Pedro Garcia (Director of Schools for Metropolitan Nashville, Davidson County) announced that Metro schools will *not* abolish the honor roll. Parents *will* have to provide permission for their childrens’ names to be posted publicly, but the honor roll is not going to be disbanded. I couldn’t find anything about this new information on the Web, but it was on the local news a couple of nights ago.

For once (and for now), common sense prevails. :-)

Agreed.

  • del.icio.us
  • Digg
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • SphereIt
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • TwitThis

Filed under Education |

4 Responses to “Dumbing Down In Action”

  1. Amritas on January 26, 2004 January 26, 2004 - 1:54 am

    Why bother to achieve?

    Look what happens if you do:

    http://www.joannejacobs.com/mtarchives/013719.html

    “Writing in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Marquis Harris, a black college graduate with excellent credentials, says he was rejected for a high school teaching job for being too articulate.”

    Harris was told that he would be “an unrealistic expectation as to what high school students could strive to achieve or become.”

    Imagine what kind of “realistic” role models that school wants.

  2. Kathleen on January 26, 2004 January 26, 2004 - 2:40 am

    Terrific. I’m in Wilson County, TN - just outside of Nashville. My son started kindergarten this year. Considering that he already reads at a third-grade level, I’m pretty sure he’ll be on the honor roll in the higher grades; of course, that’s assuming the honor roll still exists.

    School shouldn’t be competitive? Isn’t school, at least in part, designed to prepare children for real life? The last time I checked, we are all graded for our performance in the workplace.

    If this becomes a statewide initiative, I think I’m going to have to send him to private school.

  3. Amritas on January 28, 2004 January 28, 2004 - 7:02 am

    Lame moments in linking: Only now, two days later, do I realize that you (DC) already linked to that story up there through (gag) ME!! Sorry. That’s what I get for not scrolling enough. Oh well, at least I wasn’t trolling.

  4. Kathleen on January 31, 2004 January 31, 2004 - 9:38 am

    I thought you might be interested in an update: Several days ago, Dr. Pedro Garcia (Director of Schools for Metropolitan Nashville, Davidson County) announced that Metro schools will *not* abolish the honor roll. Parents *will* have to provide permission for their childrens’ names to be posted publicly, but the honor roll is not going to be disbanded. I couldn’t find anything about this new information on the Web, but it was on the local news a couple of nights ago.

    For once (and for now), common sense prevails. :-)

Comments are closed.