The Southwest Voice

All > Columnists > Education
From the Chalkboard: Effort –– the key to achievement
Topics:
Anonymous user Tue Oct 3, 2006 10:00:07 PDT
Viewed 519 times
0 responses 0 comments As a former teacher, principal  and now superintendent, I have always enjoyed reviewing report cards to stay apprised of how students are progressing.
One area I am particularly interested in are grades for effort. Not surprisingly, students who consistently have high marks for effort are the students who typically have the highest academic grade. The reverse is also true, that those who are lacking in effort typically show lower academic grades. There is no question that effort is a primary ingredient in student achievement.
In an effort to increase student achievement, many reforms and remedies have been proposed, such as lowering class size, raising teacher salaries and accountability, raising standards, implementing year-round school and revising curriculum, to name a few.
Conspicuously missing in the debate is the important aspect of student effort and motivation. It is an interesting omission. Shouldn’t students bear responsibility for their own learning? It does little good to raise standards, require exit exams, increase student expectation, and improve teacher quality unless the students are willing to provide the necessary effort.  After all, it is the student who must learn and do the work.
Obviously, students must rise to the challenge of high expectations and standards if they ever hope to realize the goal of higher achievement.
Admittedly, there will always be issues related to poor teaching, inferior methodology and poor curriculum. However,  I believe the overwhelming majority of teachers, many of whom I have known, are trying to serve their students the best they can, often against difficult circumstances.
Several years ago, the Office of Educational Research and Improvement held a national conference on student motivation. Their conclusions revealed that unless the untapped power of student effort is engaged, we as educators are not likely to realize much benefit in achievement that the best of new reforms aim to accomplish.
The traditional mission of American schools was to offer a basic education to all students. Hard work was expected of all. Obviously, some were blessed with greater ability than others, but a less-talented student simply had to work harder. Most teachers felt that literacy was within the grasp of every student, and they expected their students to exert the required effort to succeed.
Although it has been many years since my high school and college days, I clearly recall that many of my classmates were more intellectually gifted and enjoyed greater success with a minimal amount of effort. On the other hand, I was not gifted in certain subjects, and had to work much harder and longer to attain good grades. I quickly came to understand that all students are not created equally when it comes to intelligence, but all have the same potential for effort. I also realized that great effort can usually overcome a deficit in talent. Education is replete with examples of children who have overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to reach high levels of achievement. 
I believe most educators still subscribe to the theory that, with effort, nearly every student could succeed. Yet when test scores decline, student effort is seldom identified as a contributing factor. Rather, schools and teachers are usually the targets of educational failure. With student effort missing from the equation, most educational reforms have centered around teacher quality, textbooks, higher standards, exit exams and graduation requirements. Clearly, these attempts have not produced the desired academic results, nor have they had much influence on student motivation and effort.
Consequently,  American students continue to score worse and study less than students in other developed countries. Recent studies reveal that, on average, American students spend 70 percent less time studying than students in four of the five top-ranked countries, with Japan the leader.
After years of trying to fix things, one thing is clear: Setting higher standards and expectations is one thing, but persuading students to try harder is another. Students who study too little and educational reforms that do not change study habits are unlikely to improve achievement.
As American culture has evolved, both schools and parents at all levels have allowed children to spend their time in a variety of non-academic activities in a quest to develop “well-rounded” students. Such activities as sports, music, dance, clubs, hobbies, community service, after-school jobs and social life have some degree of merit and benefit. But students must be sent a clear message that academic achievement is the number one priority.  As long as we are ambivalent about the priority of academics, and students allocate much of their discretionary time to outside activities, they will likely give their studies less than the time and effort necessary to meet high academic standards.
Motivating students to increase their efforts is a daunting task to be certain. There are no easy answers. But clearly we must require and reinforce effort that only the students themselves can provide. The best intentions toward educational reform will never yield the desired results unless they tap the unlimited reservoir of effort as well as ability.

E-mail Dick at: dferris@bakersfieldfirst.com

Send to a Friend

Report a Violation