School’s grade segregation policy ultimately proves effective

It goes without saying that no two students are alike: demographics, socioeconomic status and past academic performance are all factors that play into whether a student will be successful.

As educators, it’s up to teachers to try and provide every student with the tools best suited for them and to adapt those tools to the needs of every kind of student.

That’s why there are awesome things like tutoring labs, after-school extra credit hours and segregated lunches that show the entire school exactly who’s failing and who’s not.

According to a high school in Tennessee, there’s nothing wrong with the latter portion of that sentence. Having started the program in 2011, La Vergne High School has implemented a split-lunch period: half academic intervention, and half lunch.

As reported by BreitBart, the program isn’t voluntary — in other words, you can’t opt out of the public humiliation if you’re already going to after-school tutoring hours or if you wish to enjoy a 30-minute mental health break in your seven-hour school day.

Rather, the academic intervention is required for those making less than an 80 in one or more courses.

These kinds of academic programs aren’t unheard of. Many schools have required things like learning labs and tutoring sessions for lower-performing students. More often than not, though, these programs are hidden more seamlessly during the academic day.

Many elementary, intermediate and high schools have programs in which students struggling in science have to go during their science period to a tutoring center. Some schools even allow those struggling in math to take exams in a math lab with the aid of an instructor.

What really separates La Vergne’s policy from the pack is the lack of privacy it’s affording its students. Academic performance is an incredibly private part of a student’s life, and it’s striking some parents as a violation of their student’s right to maintain that privacy.

Paul Morecroft, the parent of a special-needs sophomore at La Vergne, said, “To me, it’s considered separation, because you have your special-needs kids and the kids getting the good grades on one side, and the kids getting below an 80 on the other side.”

With the exception of those beloved, humble braggers who can’t wait to tell you about their exceptional performance, most of us are thankful we’re able to keep our academic lives private. There’s never been a mandate for us to post our transcripts and report cards on some communal school bulletin board, and that might as well be what La Vergne’s policy is having its students do.

The Daily Mail also reported Morecroft calling the school’s policy “segregation.”

As to be expected, school officials have been swift in knocking down that statement.

James Evans, a spokesman for Rutherford County Schools, said, “They are not segregating them in the traditional sense. If the kids’ scores are low in certain areas, they are getting help in that area. If you want to label that segregation, then that’s not the correct way to label it.”

However, The Daily Mail also reports the school’s policy as being incredibly successful — since the policy was enacted, La Vergne’s graduation rates have increased  to 90 percent from 77 percent.

This just in: embarrassment and public shaming are the hottest motivating factors among today’s teens.

Senior staff columnist Cara Smith is a communications junior and may be reached at [email protected]