John F. Kennedy High School Issues Illegal IDs To Students Based On Standardized Test Scores (POLL)

An Orange County, Calif., high school has come under fire from state education officials after they issued student ID cards that are color-coded based on their standardized tests scores, the Orange County Register reported.

At John F. Kennedy high school, the cards come in three colors: Black, the highest level, gold, the second best, and white ... the worst.

The cards do more than just announce students' testing levels, however. The gold and black cards also give students access to a variety of discounts and campus privileges, while the white cards give none.

Los Angeles' KABC reported that some parents claim the status cards humiliate their children, after state officials have deemed them a violation of the students' privacy rights, the Anaheim Union High School District is reviewing the program.

District spokeswoman Pat Karlak told the Orange Country Register, however, that any invasion of privacy was unintentional.

"Kennedy's sole motivation was recognizing kids for their achievement," Karlak said. "At this point, we'll look into this to determine if unintentionally, confidential information has been released; clearly, we have no intention of doing that."

Ben Carpenter, principal of Cypress High School, which employs the same program, told TODAY Santa Ana that he sees the cards as a motivator.

"We have seen tremendous results, and the kids love it. It's the least discriminatory thing we do; anyone is eligible to get a gold card. It's not based on race, GPA, whether the student is an English learner," Carpenter told TODAY Santa Ana. "It's not based on anything other than how hard you work to learn the material in the classroom and how well you've performed in this classroom."

Kennedy high school senior Kiana Miyamoto told the Orange County Register that she disagrees.

"You see a lot of condescending attitudes toward everyone without a black card," Miyamoto told the Register. "One IB student said in class, 'Hey, you're in IB. Anyone who has a white card shouldn't even be in IB.' It's really sad to see people who have the black cards acting this way."

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Comments

[Lexi Suarez]

09:18 AM on 10/11/2011

You reward the kids that do well, and you help the ones that don't. You don't humiliate people, and you don't create an atmosphere that encourages humiliation and division.

[Lexi Suarez]

08:58 AM on 10/11/2011

This is horrible! Some people do not test well, no matter how intelligent they may be. I tested very well and because of ADHD and other issues had terrible grades. To put that out there, to tag kids with this information for everyone to see is just not right. Kids can be cruel, and either the kids doing poorly will be picked on and called dumb, or the kids doing well will be picked on and called nerds. Nobody wins.

[SoCalifTeacher]

08:33 AM on 10/11/2011

No more corner offices at work. Managers should not get a key to the executive washroom. All the executive secretaries should have to eat lunch on the shipping dock with the warehouse crew. Janitors should have offices with windows instead of a supply closet. Get real people. High schoolers need to learn that "better" work results in "better" perks. Too many high schools don't have jobs anymore and are under the delusion that when they start working they should start at the top and make a lot of money.

[Lexi Suarez]

09:02 AM on 10/11/2011

Yeah and screw the kids that work their arses off but because of learning disabilities do not test well, or just can't get grades that reflect their actual intelligence and comprehension. There are better ways to go about motivating kids to do better in school, without humiliating them.

[SoCalifTeacher]

02:52 PM on 10/11/2011

In California, students with learning difficulties take the CMA. If they are as hard working as you claim, they have no problem with the test and will be identified as proficient. I see two types of special ed students - those who work hard and are successful on state testing and those who use their learning disabilities as an excuse not to work at all. Too many students (special and regular ed) do poorly in school because they are lazy. I have had special ed students out score regular ed students because they put in the time and effort to learn. School is more than warming a seat 6 hours a day. Life is no different. There are people who go to work every day and support their families. Then there are those who sit a home and expect the government to support their families. BTW - it is not humiliation, but accountability so many underachievers fear.

[Peace Walker]

10:13 PM on 10/10/2011

So, the education system has deteriorated so far that no one involved in this decision had ever read Brave New World?

"I am so glad that I was born a Beta; I dont have to think as hard as an Alpha, but I'm so much better than those Gammas. I like Betas. Betas get to wear blue. Alpha grey is so dull, and Gamma green too gaudy!"

Stammering. I am just still stammering here...

[politicaljungle]

10:02 AM on 10/10/2011

Oh there's a little 14th Amendment class action if I ever saw one.

[Nopinky]

08:49 AM on 10/10/2011

Maybe the teachers and administrators should have to do the same thing. Maybe based on your college GPA you have to put a black, white, or gold flag on your desk so all the parents can see if their kids are being taught by C students or A students. That might diffuse some of the judgment and arrogance you run into in the principal's office, right?

[politicaljungle]

10:02 AM on 10/10/2011

Oh I like you!

[RecreationalPilot]

01:41 PM on 10/10/2011

The parents can also sport one.

But as soon as they have their first meeting with the teacher or principal, their educational level will become quite apparent.

[ladybugg22]

01:30 AM on 10/10/2011

Everything always seems backwards to me. the kids with white cards probably need the discounts and breaks that the black and gold card holders get. It's like the lowest interest rates always go to the people who can most afford to pay higher interest rates. And when you check the default rates among borrowers guess whose defaults add up to the most money?

[politicaljungle]

10:05 AM on 10/10/2011

In 1967, that was called the "Poor pay more economy" - Fair Isaac proposed a personal credit score to Congress, and Congress threw it out. It took Fair Isaac 5 years to push the personal credit score thru congress - and Nixon signed it during Watergate. Fair Isaac and their "scoring system" caused the credit collapse, by providing easy credit for the rich, subsidized by higher rates of interest imposed on the poor. And you think Alan Greenspan noticed?

[tkwiley44]

10:40 PM on 10/08/2011

Standardized test scores are not used for college admissions, not used to get scholarships, not used to get a job, not used for anything but to satisfy some politician so they can say they have improved education. Clearly Orange County has found a use for standardized test scores - humiliation.

[Lexi Suarez]

09:08 AM on 10/11/2011

I was having a meeting with my daughter's teachers the other day, and all they could talk about was getting her ready for the FCAT (Florida's test). It made me so upset. I want my daughter to be taught based on a curriculum that will give her a foundation for what she'll have to learn in high school and college, not to be drilled yearly for a test they take only every few years. I remember when I was a kid, and there was no FCAT, the teachers would never bring up the few standardized tests we did do. They would teach the three R's and when the test would come up they'd just tell us to do our best. No stress, no months of just worrying about one stupid test. This system is not working, it is just making things worse, and it needs to go!

Ok, sorry, rant over.

[mlaiuppa]

04:25 PM on 10/08/2011

It was only a matter of time.

You wanted everything to revolve around standardized testing, you got it.

And when teachers' pay is based on test scores, the first day of school you have all the students hold up their ID cards. Those with white and gold...go to the counselor and transfer out of my class.

[Katherine Licari Venturo]

04:01 PM on 10/08/2011

Maybe civil disobedience is order..In the spring...all the "white card kids" can opt to leave their answer sheets blank or fill it out as they wish..all none of the above..the principal might feel a little humiliated when his scores go down..I would do it if I had to stand in the "special" lunch line..and had a "special" binder..Don't they teach history there?? BTW the scores do not count for college admission..or reflect their effort in school...one test taken during a week of school..Tutoring should have been offered not second class citizenship...

[politicaljungle]

10:05 AM on 10/10/2011

Or they could fill in the wrong answers and get even

[Lexi Suarez]

09:12 AM on 10/11/2011

Unfortunately here in Florida the standardized test that they spend years stressing about in school, and they take only 3 or 4 times in their 13 years in school affects whether they move on to the next grade (the year they take it, it varies each year) or they graduate from high school. Regardless of their grades! So even if they are getting good grades, if they are not good testers they fail.

[MsLovePeace]

10:44 AM on 10/08/2011

I would like for every American to be required to have their I.Q. tattooed on their hand. Then I might finally get the respect I've been waiting for my whole life.

[mlaiuppa]

04:25 PM on 10/08/2011

Forehead.

[revko]

01:17 AM on 10/10/2011

A scarlet A+

[jerryfromcalifornia]

10:22 AM on 10/08/2011

I can't believe that there are people here defending this. I can think of no reason that this could be possible.

[jerryfromcalifornia]

10:12 AM on 10/08/2011

Why not tatoo them on their forehead, then everyone can know without a ID card. This way they can tell future employers what their skills are. Sounds like Orange County to me.

[politicaljungle]

10:06 AM on 10/10/2011

Orange Curtain?

[Cheri Quinn]

09:25 AM on 10/08/2011

This is a clear and egregious violation of the The Family Rights and Privacy Act. Even more importantly it serves to create a caste system that is clear to the students and may promote targeted bullying. Next we will see students engaged in an underground ring to produce bogus black cards, since they carry status and tangible rewards. It is just poor, poor educational practice.

[Lexi Suarez]

09:13 AM on 10/11/2011

LOL! I can picture it now, a bunch of kids in the corner of the graphics room, money in hand, waiting for their fake IDs :P

[Barbara Lilly]

01:46 AM on 10/08/2011

It is one thing to find a way to reward the high achievers, it is another thing to make students wear ID's every day that single them out as "Best, Ok, Worst". Once a kid is "branded" with the white ID card I can imagine it would be very difficult to get better. Every one would look at you different and teachers would treat you different. When a teacher dosn't expect you to be able to acheive then they certainly won't go out of their way to help you do better, and often will actively hinder you. No body wants their kid identified as being in the "dumb class" because one you are identified as such, there is almost no chance of "moving up."

[jerryfromcalifornia]

10:15 AM on 10/08/2011

Would you want your son or daughter dating a "white card" ? sarcasim