Once again the controversial notion of paying students to attend school, behave, and get good grades has garnered media attention. Washington D.C. school chancellor Michelle Rhee has proposed a pilot program for about half of the District’s middle-school students. Students could earn up to 50 points a month for attending school, turning in homework on time, and behaving properly, according to a recent Washington Post article. Each point would carry a value of $2, and the money earned would be deposited into bank accounts for the participating students.

The question is whether potential earnings of $100 a month is enough to motivate an unmotivated, low-performing student to change behavior and improve academic performance. I would advocate that rather than giving students immediate access to the money earned, the money banked should be held until students pass an exit exam proving acquisition of grade-level skills and knowledge.

Agree or not with the payment incentive, negative approaches such as detention and suspension have not worked. Even remediation programs, in many cases, have had limited impact academic improvement. A similar payment program has been initiated in New York City. I will be interested in seeing the program’s results at the end of the 2008-2009 school year.

The tradition began four years ago over a semantic misunderstanding. Teacher-librarian Gloria Carrington told a cafeteria full of K-3 students that she planned to announce the names of the students in the frequent reader club so they could parade to the stage at the last school assembly. She meant that they could walk proudly to the stage. The kids, however, conjured images of banners, wagons decorated as floats, and a victory lap around the school property where passing motorists might honk and cheer.

That is how Tucson’s Drachman Montessori School dreamed up the annual Parade of Reading Champions honoring students who read at least 10 books during the year.

Every one of the 310 students read at least 10 books in 2007-2008. About 120 of the students read more than 100 books. Now, that’s reason for a parade. This school is really doing its part to foster a lifelong reading habit in students.

We’ve all read about teachers taking on non-teaching duties such as cleaning their classrooms or mowing the grass on the playground just to get these things done. But I just read an article about teachers playing school nurse that has me shaking my head in disbelief.

For the last two years Julia Keyse, a kindergarten/first-grade teacher in North Carolina with no medical training or experience, has handled one of her student’s daily medical tests. This involves pricking the child’s finger for a drop of blood, testing the blood with a glucose meter, and adjusting the student’s insulin pump. Ms. Keyse does this because the school where she works has no school nurse.

Schools across the country are either requiring their nurses to work at multiple locations or are eliminating the position of school nurse altogether. No doubt school districts are facing very tough decisions over allocation of resources. And no doubt the school nurse is a casualty of shrinking school budgets.

However, more children than ever have severe allergies, asthma, and diabetes and require medical oversight at school. Sure, teachers need to be aware of the symptoms associated with conditions such as these. But I just can’t accept asking teachers to take primary responsibility for potentially life-saving medical care.

The London-based Anne Frank Educational Trust holds an annual Anne Frank Awards in July. This highly regarded education and recognition program identifies young people and educators who have shown great personal strength, moral courage, and determination to stand up for what is right. The awards acknowledge and celebrate people who not only believe in Anne Frank’s inspirational words, “It only takes a moment to start to improve the world,” but who also put those beliefs into action. The 2008 nominees include young people who have started their own campaigns against gun crime, anti-bullying in schools, career and guidance programs for young people, and a street football project to keep youngsters out of trouble.

Take Alexander Rose, a nominee in the Young Person category. When he lost a close friend in a gang-related death, he started a campaign against gang culture, using posters and T-shirts to promote his cause. He visits schools and has participated in talks with a community-led policing initiative to tackle violent crime in the community. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was so impressed that he invited Alexander to 10 Downing Street to commend him on his work.

There’s a similar project at the United States sister-site: The Anne Frank Center. Each year on or about Anne’s birthday of June 12, The Anne Frank Center honors Anne’s effort to improve the world with awards, stipends and a scholarship to students, educators, and citizens who have demonstrated outstanding commitments to take a stand against discrimination of all kinds. Nicholas Coddington is the 2008 winner in the category of Outstanding Educator. He created a dynamic Holocaust curriculum to teach his students about bias, violence, ethics, and history. The extraordinary and inspirational curriculum introduces his students to holocaust survivors, liberators, and hidden children, and has grown to include an exchange program with students in Poland.

Frankly, I am impressed.