Should Students Get Paid for Their Academic Achievement?

Two Virginia Beack high schools are part of a new incentive to boost achievement among students in military communities. The program, known as the Initiative for Military Families, is supported by the Navy and seeks to improve student achievement on AP exams at least in part by paying students who do well. The Initiative also includes a provision to pay teachers of high-achieving students.

Through the grant program provides, students can "earn $100 for each Advanced Placement test on which they score at least a 3 on a 5-point scale." Teachers also earn $100 for each student who scores a 3. I have a few issues with this program that I believe are worthy of discussion.

First of all, in terms of merit pay for teachers, merit pay of this type could never be fair. Not all teachers are teaching AP courses, so does that mean they shouldn't be recognized for the wuality education they are providing to their students? To me, the program implies that teachers who instruct AP course and students are worth more to a school than those who do not. Although I agree with the assertion that we should encourage college-readiness as much as possible, I also think there is equal value in teaching students who won't necessarily attend college.

I also have an issue with rewarding a student's academic performance with cold, hard cash, to be used however the student pleases. It would make more sense to me, if students are going to be paid at all, that the money should automatically be placed in an account to be used only for college tution and other college expenses. Or, maybe the money should be used to simply offset the cost of taking the exams in the first place, thereby encouraging more students to sign up without offering them the opportunity for profit (although it could be argues that students who score well will profit in the long run by earning credits that can be applied to their college degree).

What do you think of merit-based pay for students or for teachers?

Let's Talk About School Lunch

Recently, I spent (almost) an entire school day at a local elementary school as part of a class requirement. Although I was technically there to observe language arts and reading instruction, I took note of a lot of other things as well. One subject thatI have developed an interest in is nutrition, specifically the nutrition of children in a society that is grow increasingly less healthy by the day. So, in an effort to get a better perspective on the types of foods that many children eat on a daily basis, I decided to buy my lunch at school, rather than pack it as I normally would.

Prior to my observation day, I took a quick peek at the school lunch menu provided on Chesterfield County Public Schools' website. I noticed a few things right off the bat:

• There are 3 entrees offered every day. Two out of the three of them are ALWAYS something I would consider to be "fast food" - i.e. chicken filet (fried), hot dog, cheeseburger, chicken nuggets, steak nuggets (?!), etc.




• The third entree is always a salad, but sometimes still involves some sort of "fried" component (chicken poppers)




• The side options seemed pretty decent - always a fresh veggie and fruit option.

When it came time for lunch, all of the kids were excited - most had packed their lunch, which I was happy to see, since I knew that would give them more time to actually eat since they wouldn't have to wait in line. It also made me laugh that the kids who were buying lunch were ECSTATIC that I would be going through the lunch line with them. It was pizza-dipper day (cheesy breadsticks with marinara), and they informed me that those were a favorite. The other entree choice was chicken filet - some sort of salad was also availalbe, but the students told me that only teachers got salads.

The side options available when I entered the line were not what were indicated on the menu - green beans and corn on the cob. Although I had high hopes that some students would get the green beans, mostly so that they wouldn't be eating solely carvs, not a single child asked for the green beans. Most of their lunches consisted of: pizza dippers (carb), corn (carb), and fruit juice or a fruit cup (which, if it contains any added sugar, is also carb-heavy). Carbs, carbs and more carbs. No one got fresh fruit (except for me), and when I bit into my pear I could see why - it was hard as a rock.

There is one main thing that concerns me about all the carbs - energy level for the rest of the day. They had PLENTY of energy for their post-lunch recess time, and still seemed to have significant energy for their resource period (gym), but I have to wonder if there wasn't an energy crash near the end of the day. I only wish I had been there to find out. In light of my lunchroom observations, I have a few comments and questions:

• What can we do as future/current educators to improve the quality of food that children are eating on a daily basis? It seems ludacris to think that foods like cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets are good foods for kids to have on a daily basis.


• How can school systems make the fruits and veggies that they do offer more appealing to students? I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure bland veggies and rock-hard fruit isn't the best way to go about getting children to expand their diet.


• How can nutrition and food education be made a more integral part of the classroom experience for students? There is no question that students today are in need of direct education in basic nutrition and what food can and should do for the body, but how can it be integrated into the basic curriculum?


• What's with all the carbs? Chicken filet (breading = carb), nuggets (breading), breadsticks (as an ENTEE for crying out loud!), items on a bun, corn, fries, etc. Even though I don't necessarily agree with a recent effort by some lawmakers to outright outlaw potatoes from school lunches (which was defeated in the Senate), it does bring to mind just how much of school lunches consist of carb-filled foods.

I'm SURE I'll post more about school food and all the issues that come with it - this post doesn't even touch on school breakfast or snacks. Those topics deserve posts to themselves. I hope I'm not the only one who sees school food as a major issue today - what students put into their bodies and how it impacts their time in the classroom is important to me.

Let's Talk About Charter Schools

Recently, there has been quite a bit of talk in Richmond about the newest charter school on the block - Patrick Henry School for Science and Arts. Not only is Patrick Henry Richmond's first charter school, it is also Virginia's only elementary charter school - and it's already seen its fair share of controversy. You can check out the background on that controversy here.

But in the face of that controversy, test scores seem to indicate that students at Patrick Henry are thriving. If such gains are possible even with clear leadership issues, it stands to reason that the school could really soar if such issues were solved. Unfortunately, the board leadership of Patrick Henry can't do much to solve these problems because all hiring decisions are made by Richmond Public Schools, rather than internally. This framework is highly unusual among charter schools, most of which hire and operate independently of the school districts in which they reside. It is arguable that if the leadership at Patrick Henry were held directly accountable by its board of directors, repurcussions for mismanagement would be swifter and more decisive than the consequences RPS will provide. For this reason, the Richmond School Board is seeking to clarify Virginia's laws concerning charter schools and who oversees charter school employees.

I'll just come right out and say it - I hope the Virginia General Assembly chooses to shift accountability from RPS (or any other school district) to the charter school itself. If differences in test scores between students who attend the school and those who don't already stand where they do, I would be interested to see where the school could go when released from under the weight of RPS. As Michael Paul Williams wrote recently in the Richmond Times Dispatch, "a clearer line of demarcation would allow Patrick Henry and other schools to succeed or fail on their own terms." Charter schools throughout the nation are making strides toward closing the achievement gap between minority and white students and between students of various economic status, and it appears that Patrick Henry could be headed down the same path. However, in order for that to happen, the school must be given autonomy from RPS and the power to make hiring (or firing) and policy decisions.

What do you think?