Annie
Diamond Member
- Nov 22, 2003
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I just saw this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/05/education/05reward.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th
and it got me thinking, why is it always the same kids that are tardy and/or absent? For the most part, they are also amongst the poorest performing students, so which came first?
High school is more than a bit different, the parents have much less control over the student's choice to get there or not, but in elementary school the behavior is apparent.
It amazes me the number of parents that will pull their kids out of school to go on vacation. I could understand if they were going to travel to an area that might be 'a once in a lifetime educational experience,' such as seeing the Egyptian or Aztec ruins; a tour of Europe; something like that. We're talking though, a Disney Cruise, or Puerta Vallarta, not something that couldn't be had during the nearly 3 months in the summer, 2+ weeks at Christmas, or week in the Spring.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/05/education/05reward.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th
And for Perfect Attendance, Johnny Gets... a Car
By PAM BELLUCK
Published: February 5, 2006
CHELSEA, Mass. Attendance at Chelsea High School had hovered at a disappointing 90 percent for years, and school officials were determined to turn things around. So, last fall they decided to give students in this poverty-stung city just north of Boston a little extra motivation: students would get $25 for every quarter they had perfect attendance and another $25 if they managed perfect attendance all year.
Mike Culberson, a principal in Rossville, Ga., greets students near a table with rewards for good attendance.
"I was at first taken a little aback by the idea: we're going to pay kids to come to school?" said the principal, Morton Orlov II. "But then I thought perfect attendance is not such a bad behavior to reward. We are sort of putting our money where our mouth is..."
and it got me thinking, why is it always the same kids that are tardy and/or absent? For the most part, they are also amongst the poorest performing students, so which came first?
High school is more than a bit different, the parents have much less control over the student's choice to get there or not, but in elementary school the behavior is apparent.
It amazes me the number of parents that will pull their kids out of school to go on vacation. I could understand if they were going to travel to an area that might be 'a once in a lifetime educational experience,' such as seeing the Egyptian or Aztec ruins; a tour of Europe; something like that. We're talking though, a Disney Cruise, or Puerta Vallarta, not something that couldn't be had during the nearly 3 months in the summer, 2+ weeks at Christmas, or week in the Spring.