When it comes to public education, perhaps the old
maxim, "The road to hell is paved with good
intentions", rings louder than anything known to the
human ear.
Keep this in mind while we talk about the STAR
program. This program is offered at the Douglas
County Comprehensive High School, and who knows at how
many other schools here in Georgia. More than likely,
the STAR program operates in similar forms even at
private schools.
So what's the problem with the STAR program? Isn't it
something that will make students who are "behind" -
shine a little brighter? Give additional points of
light to educational darkness and dimming or dimmed
academic potential?
The two letters which form the following word should
sum it up nicely for you: NO.
Or, as David Spade puts it in his hysterical Capitol
One television commercials, "Nunca!"
STAR is an acronym for "Student Teacher Academic
Referral." The STAR form I have in front of me,
explains the STAR program as one "designed to provide
opportunities for students to improve classroom
performance and increased learning by receiving extra
help from teachers outside of the regular school day."
Furthermore, the STAR program is "designed to help
students achieve specific short term learning
objectives."
Okay. Let's wrap our minds around this. Once you get
past a serving of enabler buzzwords like "objectives",
"extra help" and "opportunities", you should be able
to see this Teacher or Student referral spells trouble
with a capital T. It really does.
Here's why. The grading system under the STAR program
smacks of a skydive into mediocrity and coddling both
students and society cannot afford. I think parents
who sign on to the STAR program make a big mistake.
Perhaps not so much if they sign on just for the
minimum of two 50 minute sessions, and terminate it
there.
Yet, when the referral is allowed to last from the
date of a progress report or report card to the end of
a semester, what is really accomplished? This
represents a student being under the STAR program
grading system for at least seven weeks, and this may
include up to two of their four classes in any given
semester.
Under the STAR program, the grading system allows for
the following:
- averaged in as an extra grade
- replace grades for assignments given previously for
objectives
- add _ points to the nine weeks/semester grade
- other
It's beyond pathetic to subjectively give students an
arbitrary number of points by virtue of being in a
program. But what do you really expect from a school
system that also allows giving a number of points to,
mind you, high school students who do not utilize
all their bathroom passes for a given semester?
From what I understand, the "other" under the STAR
program grading system can also mean replacing 0's a
high school student has "earned" from not completing
homework assignments with the daily value.
Essentially, 70 points. Why the 70 free points? This
is moronic. Senseless. Do we now have to really
wonder why so many students know more about the lives
of celebrities, than they do of what basic social
security reform or the flat tax offers their soon to
be future? Do they know they even have one? That
is, a future?
To be fair, we can't sit here and objetively say since
our tax dollars pay for our children's public
education, they had better emerge from high school
firmly educated, whether they ever wanted to be or
not. There is only so much public or private teachers
can do. After all, there are students who year after
year are convinced to a tee that the only thing that
matters is how they look. Their depth perception is
only willing to go so far.
On the other hand, there are a good number of public
high school students who obtain a tutor to better
their B point grade average to an A grade point
average, in order to find placement in the best
colleges and universities.
Thankfully, we know the answer to a student reaching
their academic potential isn't through labels or ADHD
drugs. You wouldn't know this if you read any free
Parent magazine in most big cities. Full page glossy
ads selling alleged learning diseases and drugs
abound. We do know full well no matter how much we
deny it, the two people most responsible for ensuring
an enduring education are: the parent and the child.
So there you have it. Let's go ahead and scrap the
STAR program, along with all other enabler programs.
No one can afford any further watering down of having
to "earn" good grades. The STAR program sends the
wrong message: if you as a parent don't want to study
with your child, or your child won't find a classmate
to study with, we'll replace 0's and add points.
Average everything in. Just because we can. And you
signed on to it. Probably without even really reading
the referral form and understanding what it means.
A free and civil society ceases to exist once we give
the government things to do we as parents (and
children) must do ourselves. Or am I way off base
here?
Zizza is a freelance writer who writes frequently
about children and education. He serves as Vice President for the State of Georgia
for the organization,
Parents For Label and Drug Free
Education.
