Dis‐honor rolls

The validity of scholastic grades as a single index of ability is questionable. At best they can be no more than a statistical representation of the child's capacity to reproduce information and materials. Grades, in other words, indicate an ability to store facts, and, when the proper stimulus occurs, to reproduce them. The reactions of two fourth-grade boys to a decision in a spelling match comes to mind. Andrew, the last boy standing but not on the roll was given the word, march. He spelled M-A-R-C-H without hesitation but was declared wrong by the teacher because he had failed to capitalize M. Andrew disagreed with the teacher's decision, stating that she had not asked him to spell the name of the month, so he spelled the word which means to move together in a body. David, a perpetual honor-roller upheld the decision. He said the teacher was right for they had had no other march in class except March. A position of honor simply indicates to the interested public that this particular boy or girl has learned to give the right answers at the right time. Membership on the roll might even mean the child behaves well and hence lessens the teacher's problems. The most unbiased teacher in the world finds her patience cellophane thick after coping with six daily hours of other peoples' problems. The rare exceptions who are either afraid to misbehave or feel no particular agression against said teacher, stand out as paragons of some virtue, if not intellectual. It is not surprising that they are rewarded in the language most easily understood by the educational twins, punil and parent; if they are not on high honor, they are content with plain HONOR. That parents should reach false or exaggerated assumptions of the real meaning of honor-roll membership is not surprising. School authorities seldom publicize or explain their purpose in making distinctions in scholastic abilities aside from a few stereotyped remarks printed on the cards. Hence all parents, of bright and dull alike, are free to interpret report cards as best they can, and render tribute or punishment accordingly. This ranges from bestowal of material gifts to deprivation of routine activities. Children are placed in mental show-cases or dungeons depending on their luck. If their luck was good, they as well as their parents assume roles of scholastic museum

Developmental psychology · Girl · Honor · Linguistics · Mathematics education · Patience · Praise · Spell · Spelling · Theology · Computer Science · Early Childhood Education and Development · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology · Teacher Professional Development and Motivation