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Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
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Thursday, April 3, 2008
Flunking at school? Get banned from fun
The New York Times has an interesting story today about a trend in some suburban districts to ban kids from all activities and sports when their grades slip.
This is a controversial idea. Some believe it is activities — whether a sport, an instrument or a club — that helps engage some kids in school. I know many coaches who swear that they know kids who would have flunked out except that they wanted so badly to play football or basketball. Staying eligible for sports motivated them to do enough to graduate.
But others see the low bar many districts set to earn participation in activities — some area districts will let you play a sport with a grade point average below 2.0 — as a warped sort of reward and believe kids with low grades are better motivated by denying them extracurriculars.
Way back in 1999, I visited Taft High School in Cincinnati for a story about proficiency testing. The school tried this sort of approach. Freshman who did not pass the state test were banned from taking anything but the core subjects until they passed. So rather than get music, art or gym they got a second section of math or other extra study.
I never met a more miserable group of kids in my life. And at least in that case, it didn’t work. The school’s scores remained low and dropout rate high until a new principal came in and began trying innovative programs, such as internships with local businesses, that went in the opposite direction and tried to give kids a reason to come to school.
That’s just one example. The folks at the school featured in the Times story feel like the strict approach is working. Which way would you go?
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