More on yesterday's announcement that D.C. test scores are up. A Washington Post article today says that some principals are attributing their schools' successes to Michelle Rhee. Super, great, on and on.?? It was this line that really caught my eye:
At Bell Multicultural High School in Northwest, Principal Maria Tukeva introduced a Saturday "Quiz Bowl" in which students competed on sample tests for prizes such as iPods and movie tickets.
iPods? iPods?!?!?!?! Now, perhaps they were the little guys that retail for around $50 and I shouldn't have had a heart attack after reading that sentence. Or not. Is a fancy gadget really an appropriate reward for correct test scores? What's next, laptops? High-definition plasmas (50 inches or more thankyouverymuch)? It's a slippery slope to motivate students this way. We all want the principals to be creative, but throwing a sexy reward at them isn't the way to go.
Not to mention that in Washington, DC, we've had a little problem with iPod theft for some time now.
