Principal In Trouble After Publicly Posting “F” List
March 17th, 2010 - 10:50 pm ICT by Angela Kaye Mason ( 10 comments )
Mar 17 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Principal Schoepke of Marshfield Middle School said that it was not supposed to be an embarrassment, but was meant to be a motivational move, when he posted an “F” list outside of his office for everyone who passed by to read. He posted the names , alongside the grades of those student who would not be allowed to attend the upcoming middle school dance if they did not bring up the grades.
While the principal stated that it was meant to inform the students and to motivate them to bring the grades up, parents are furious. They say that the student have long been aware of the policy that prevents failing students from attending special school functions, and that the posting was an unnecessary invasion of their children’s privacy.
Schoepke, at first, defended his actions, stating that since posting the grades, over half of the students have handed in their missing homework and brought their grades up to a passing score, thus taking their names off of the principal’s “F” list. He said that although he never meant to embarrass the kids, it does seem to be working. Many now wonder just how many of those parents would have gotten their kids to finish the work and pass the classes without the embarrassment of the “F” list, and how many kids would have been motivated to do just that.
Amid the complaints by parents, it seemed as though the list would stay in place. He has since changed his mind, however, after all of the complaints from parents, and media coverage, he now regrets his decision and has taken the list down.
Video: THE “F” LIST: SUCCESS VIA SHAME?: Principal posts names of failing students
- Principal Criticised For Posting 'F' List Of Students - Mar 17, 2010
- Principal posts a F-list in school of all the students who failed in one or more subjects - Mar 17, 2010
- Haryana proposes teacher evaluation - Jul 18, 2011
- What ails the IITs (Comment) - Oct 25, 2011
- Class 10 student rapped for uploading classmate's obscene photo - Nov 18, 2011
- How a 'rich' school tagged poor students - Aug 14, 2011
- Software that tracks your child, identifies right career - Nov 13, 2011
- Nine Assam school kids caned, government talks tough - Jun 13, 2010
- Facebook, Twitter blamed for pupils' low grades, poor concentration - Nov 19, 2010
- Kelly Zierdt To Face Judge After Parents Refuse To Pay Cement Fine - Jan 06, 2011
- New Jersey School Principal Urges Facebook Ban - May 03, 2010
- Single parents in a fix over nursery admissions - Jan 04, 2011
- Remarks of President Obama at America's Promise Alliance Eduction Event in D.C. - Mar 01, 2010
- School principal wants to ban Facebook - May 03, 2010
- Building character skills key to improved education - Jan 02, 2012
Tags: embarrassment, failing students, homework, invasion, media coverage, middle school dance, parents, principle, school functions, score, shame
May 19th, 2010 at 1:04 am
Parents upset because their kid was failing? They should be upset - at the kid.
Shame was a tool that many adults remember teachers using. We didn’t like it but it was not fatal. Personally, the embarrassement of being on a ‘wall of shame’ was a powerful motivator.
Notice how more then half of the kids turned in the work.
The shame of being listed on a wall is less then the shame of picking through a dumpster for food.
These over-indulgent parents need to get over themselves, raise the kids to meet adversity with dignity, and stop whining about their ‘feelings’.
May 19th, 2010 at 8:01 am
John, you said it very well. I will add not because I can say it better, but to support your statements.
We are enabling our children to fail and directing our disappointment and energies in the wrong direction
Did anyone else note that many of the failing grades were due to a lack of responsibility … assignments not turned in.
May 19th, 2010 at 6:10 pm
Oops - sorry for the spelling error - embarrassment.
BTW, I am a teacher with over 15 years in classrooms ranging from 5th grade to high school.
May 19th, 2010 at 10:29 pm
I, too, wish to concur with John’s writing. Parents too often want to avoid conflict, so the job of confronting the unmotivated and the irresponsible falls on the educational system that is hanged if its and hanged if it don’t. I also blame politicians who do not have the integrity and/or the “cahones” (is that really a word?)to do for other children what they expect for their own. Public education is in jeapordy, and the easy thing to do is bail.
May 19th, 2010 at 11:10 pm
Bottom line…. he got kids to turn in missing work and attain passing grades. I am sure that parents had been contacted by teachers prior to this and it wasn’t successful. I also suspect that parents had access to student grades via computer at all times and were not willing or able to get their kids to turn in work to pass the courses. Some kids just need a kick in the tail. It appears that shame (in this case) was just the kick that some needed.
I suppose the danger in this case is that the public display of this could lead to teasing and/or bullying from other students. That needs to be avoided, but on the positive side it could lead to some students helping others to get work done in a positive way.
May 20th, 2010 at 8:05 pm
I am often amused that in spite of all the “privacy” protecting students, everyone (students and faculty) knows who is a strong student and who isn’t.
By posting the list the principal didn’t allow the students to hide behind the lie of irresponsibly. It was out there for everyone to see and they couldn’t deceive themselves any longer as to why they weren’t going to the dance. Whether they were embarassed or simply wanted to be with friends at the dance many stepped up to the plate and did the work.
Do the parents who complained have a better solution to getting the work done ? I’d be interested to know.
May 20th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
As a teacher who takes heat because I try to hold my students to a high standard, I am happy to see so many comments supporting this principal.
I love my students and want them to succeed. Shame - used properly - is a tool used by societies since prehistoric times. Just ask any anthropologist.
Shame and ostracization is a form of social control that politically correct, narcisstic, self-absorbed baby boomers have made taboo. And because of their thin skin, this generation is growing up without any sense of boundries or responsibility to society.
As a teacher, I don’t want millions of dollars for new programs and new tests. All I need is the power to post my grades…that would work wonders.
May 21st, 2010 at 1:12 am
Has everyone gone nuts??!! There is a law prohibiting such things, and the principal was latter admonished for his actions by the superintendent of the school district. Students do have rights also, and a little respect goes a longgggggggg way. Were the names removed and/or work finished out of shame by other students humiliating them? Nice job on raising the self-esteem of these young adolescents!
May 21st, 2010 at 1:47 am
Betty!
(is the exclamation point mandatory?)
You are missing the point. Just because there is a ‘law’ doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. After all, segregation was the law of the land for over a century in America after 300 years of legal slavery.
The fixation on self-esteem is troubling. Everyone needs to get a trophy, everyone needs to be a winner. Why? All this attitude accomplishes is a population of whining, entitled, self-indulgent underachievers. I have learned more from my failures then successes - that’s the way life works for successful people.
I don’t know if you are a teacher - unfortunately your attitude is the norm….and is a principal reason why our public schools are failing. No accountability. No responsibility. No competitiveness. No goals to attain. No repercussions for your actions - or lack of actions.
Self esteem? You want to feel good about yourself? Do something that is worthy of praise…guess what? You make a habit of doing that, you don’t need a teacher to stroke your ego. If you haven’t been living up to the expectations of your community, you SHOULD be reprimanded in one form or another. This foolishness about the fragile self-esteem nonsense has got to stop.
This is like my nephew’s soccer ‘league’. They don’t keep score, you can’t cheer when your athlete makes a great play (you might hurt the other kid’s feelings), and EVERYONE gets a banquet and a trophy. My nephew threw his out the night he got it - what value is an award when everyone gets one? Why be the best when you are going to be lumped with the rest?
And the most important point you missed - likely due to your liberal outrage - is that many of the kids on that list brought their grades up and were therefor eligible to participate in the extracurricular activities.
They learned several important lessons. Too bad you haven’t.
May 21st, 2010 at 2:11 am
Betty,
Don’t call it an “F” list then. Reverse the list and label it “Dance Attendees”. It’s the same information, same motivators and same expected outcome. I do this with fun events at school. Students who meet the standard get their name in big letters somewhere on a billboard. Then, when their parents come to school, the student has to explain.
Yes, I agree with John that they need a high standard and I’m all for the shame list, but sometimes the incessant whining of the failmongers becomes overbearing and I have to rethink a little.
Again, same outcome, different tactic.