Make 'em Earn It, Darn It: a new perspective

In Max Roosevelt's "Student Expectations Seen as Causing Grade Disputes" (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/education/18college.html), he addresses an interesting grading issue disputed not only on college campuses across the country, but also increasingly often in the secondary classroom. Personally, I've seen first hand the "sense of entitlement" he mentions in the article, not only in reference to grades, but also in situations such as extra-curricular activities. Example: the cheerleader that "deserves" to make the team because she's a good kid, translated to mean "no one has ever told me 'no' before, and I've done nothing wrong so I deserve it."

Knowing how beneficial involvement in extracurriculars can be for a student, I can see both sides of this issue. Get more students involved to create more opportunities to reach students outside the classroom. The question then becomes, however, what lesson is taught to the student who gets everything that he or she wants? Doesn't the old saying go, "We often learn more from our failure than we ever could through our success"? And now, as discussed in Roosevelt's article, we in the education field are now seeing this same mentality in regard to classroom grades. A student who puts forth his best effort, shows up for class and does his homework, feels like he should receive an "A", regardless of the quality of work that results from his efforts. Educators and parents are asking, "How did we get here? What's the right answer? Effort? Or Performance?"

As far as the question "How did we get here?", Marlys Harris, Senior Editor for Money Magazine, addresses this issue in her article for CNN.com "What you owe your kids." She discusses the babyboomer generation as parents and a common trend that they are providing for their children well beyond their needs, wanting to give their children what they never had, and spend on their children what their parents never could. Most babyboomer parents live off of a higher income than that of their parents and feel a responsibility to then spend more on their children, often well beyond the college years. Could this, then, attribute to the "spoiling" of their children's generation? Has this generation always been told "yes" and, as a result, has now formed this sense of entitlement? Possibly.

Another theory could be the increasing trend in education to accomodate the student. Teachers are expected to deliver differentiated or individualized instruction. Students who do not qualify for special education but have proven to face some other sort of educational dificiency are granted individualized modifications to their curriculum and expectations. Teachers are taught they must deliver curriculum via a variety of instructional methods to insure they have covered each of their students' learning styles. Are we, as teachers, making appropriate adjustments to allow each student an equal opportunity at education, or are we simply puting the burden of over coming obstacles on the teacher, rather than on the student? Are we teaching our students that the world must accomodate them, and if they do not succeed, someone or something else is always to blame?

Whatever the case may be, the situation the professors describe in Roosevelts article is not the exception. When I explain to my students, whether they be advanced placement, on-level, or below-level students, that average performance earns the grade of a "C", above average earns a "B", and exceptional performance earns an "A", they have a very difficult time understanding. Most student believe that if they come to class and complete the work, and nothing more, they deserve an "A." The real-world analogy here, is the businessman who shows up to work everyday and completes each task put before him, he deserves a raise, whether that work has any added vaulue to his company or not. He does not have to be a self-motivator, using innovative thinking to generate more revenue or increased efficiency for his company. If he clocks in and clocks out every day, he has earned his pay.

But then again, it's understandable that most teachers would reward their students an "A" simply for showing up everyday. Afterall, that's how teachers are paid. Show up everyday, go through the motions and don't commit a felony, and we'll pay you more the longer you stay.

That being said, regardless of how we got here, the problem is more reality than question. And as far as how we fix it, where we go from here, I definitely agree with what Professor Brower from Wisconsin Univeristy explains about the learning enviroment they have created. Freshmen attend seminars that help them to connect what they are learning to real-life scenerios. He belives that "if students developed a genuine interest in their field, grades would take a back seat, and holistic and intrinsically motivated learning could take place." As a result, the mentality of "give me an 'A' because I deserve it" is replaced with "help me learn more about this field so I can use that knowledge to be more successful."

Implementing that approach in the secondary, public school classroom poses a whole new set of questions. However, if we as educators and administrators are truly motivated by what is best for our students and truly want to provide the best educational opportunities for them, we must change our prospective from removing all of their educational obstacles, and focus more on how we can create "genuine interest" so that students are instrinsically motivated to take responsibility for takling their individual educational obstacles on their own in order to succeed.