By SCOTT MARTINDALE
11/02/2011 8:36 AM
ANAHEIM – Two schools in the Anaheim Union High School District are continuing to use elements of a
test incentive program deemed illegal by the state, despite a district pledge nearly a month ago to eliminate
use of color-coded student identification cards and homework planners on campus.
Students at Cypress High and La Palma's Kennedy High have been allowed to keep their original ID cards
and planners – which were color-coded based on how a student performed on state standardized tests –
even as the schools have been issuing neutral-colored replacements over the past few weeks. The district
announced Oct. 6 that students would "no longer carry color-coded binders or cards" because of privacy
concerns and inadvertent "negative feelings" created by the policy.
"The schools have been told not to do it, and they are not following the directive," Anaheim Union trustee
Katherine Smith said. "It's going to have to be taken up by the district administration. Obviously, we've got
to let this play out and find solutions, but ultimately I hope something positive will come out of this."
The state Department of Education said last month that issuing color-coded ID cards to students based on
their test scores is a violation of state law and the students' privacy rights, and the practice should be
curtailed.
Cypress High School Principal Ben Carpenter, who has been a vocal supporter of the color-coded ID
program, did not return a phone call seeking comment. Kennedy High School Principal Russell Earnest
declined to comment for this story.
District spokeswoman Pat Karlak said the original ID cards are being used to continue giving away
discounts and freebies after school, including free admission to dances and athletic events for the top-tier
card holders. These practices may continue through the remainder of the year, at which time the district
expects to announce a permanent, revised incentive program, Karlak said.
The schools cannot collect the original homework planners because they are the students' personal property,
Karlak said.
"A task force will be established to tackle the issue district-wide, with the intent of having a policy in place
for next year," Karlak said in an email.
The new ID cards are considered the only valid form of identification during school hours, Karlak added.
Anaheim Union High Superintendent Elizabeth Novack did not return multiple requests for comment.
"People on both sides of the issue are unhappy," Smith said. "There are parents and students who feel
they've earned it and do not feel it should be taken away."
Origins of color-coding
At the beginning of the school year, students at the two Anaheim Union schools were issued ID cards and
matching homework planners in one of three colors based on their performance on standardized test scores.
This was the program's second year.
Students in the top two tiers – gold and black/platinum – received a variety of campus incentives, including
a separate lunch line with a shorter wait, raffle prizes, and discounts and free admission to athletic events
and dances.
Three days after the Register reported on the program, district officials announced Kennedy and Cypress
would immediately stop using the color-coded ID cards and planners, to "ensure that all students feel
supported on campus," according to a district statement.
"Students will no longer carry color-coded binders or cards," the Oct. 6 statement said. "Cypress High
School and Kennedy High School will provide uniform binders and uniform school ID cards for all
students, at no cost to them."
Separate lunch lines and raffle prize giveaways for the top-tier card holders during school hours also were
to be discontinued.
Cameron Ristine, 18, a Cypress High alum who was issued a color-coded ID card last year, said the
program would continue to damage students' psyches as long as it continued in any form.
"If the point is to raise the school's ratings, it shouldn't single kids out – it should be as a whole," said
Ristine, now a Cypress College student. "If it's going to be a system of incentives and motivation for a
school, it must include everyone, of all intelligence levels."
Replacement program recommended
Educational psychologist AnneMarie Conley of UC Irvine, whose California Motivation Project studies
student incentive programs in Orange County schools, said Cypress and Kennedy should stop all elements
of the current program and roll out a new incentive program as quickly as possible, to give students a new
and constructive focus.
"The program now is a little bit less overt, but the structure is still there," Conley said. "The schools are still
operating thinking an incentive program is good and that research supports that it is. It's unfortunate
because that's not true, and other schools are getting students to take the tests without prizes."
Conley, whose program works with 18 O.C. schools, said research by her and other psychologists indicates
that most students aren't motivated by public embarrassment – and that highly public displays of
competition among students will lead to bullying, more cheating and surface-level understandings of the
material.
"Schools don't have to give away pizza parties," Conley said. "There are different ways of recognizing
successive effort without making some students losers."
To motivate students to do well on state tests, teachers could incorporate students' performance on them
into their final semester grades, Conley said, or perhaps use test scores to help determine placement in
honors classes, Conley said.
Smith, the Anaheim district trustee, said she believes the issue stems from problems with the school culture
at Cypress and Kennedy – a culture in which some students are made to feel superior to their peers.
"This program flies in the face of humility," Smith said. "Is it kind or humble to be flashing your academic
achievements around? Why isn't everyone at these schools working together to achieve the schools' goals
and attain high standards?"
Students should be rewarded and praised for such things as tutoring and mentoring their underperforming
peers, not for beating them on standardized tests, Smith said.
At the school district's Oxford Academy – just a few miles from Kennedy and Cypress High – students
don't demand or expect special rewards for their performance, Smith said. Oxford is consistently ranked as
one of the Top 10 schools in the nation, admitting top-performing students from across the district through
an application process.
"Let's see if we can help our students at Cypress and Kennedy reach the goals that Oxford Academy has
set, with a spirit of helping each other," Smith said, "instead of parading our feathers."
Cypress High senior Jesus Partida, 17, agreed that the program was too ostentatious, saying that although
he qualified for a middle-tier gold-colored ID card this year, he was issued a bottom-tier white card by
mistake. He never bothered to have his card reissued, he said.
"I didn't want to make myself seem like I was better than the rest," Partida said. "It's a good program, but I
believe the incentives are too over the top, and no one is saying you really shouldn't do this anymore."
QUESTIONS to Consider for Socratic Seminar
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
What were the schools’ purpose(s) in establishing the color-coded system based on test
scores? What did the school leaders hope to achieve?
What are the positives and negatives of the color-coded system?
What was the disconnect between the schools’ intent and what was the actual result of the
system?
Why did the color-coded incentive program essentially fail? Is there a way to make it
successful? How?
Are students motivated by incentives? If so, what kind?
What do school leaders need to understand about students and what motivates them that these
schools’ leaders did not?
In what ways are students also “categorized” at school (in general)? At Walnut High
specifically?
Are students more interested in helping each other succeed or creating their own success?
Explain.