Since you asked.....

A couple of weeks after the election I was contacted by the Obama Campaign. They asked me to share my ideas for change. No one has really done that before--so the question itself is a sign of positive change.

So, since they asked, this is what I replied.

I am middle school science teacher with 27 years of experience. My idea has to do with engaging children, parents, teachers, and community in a system that will reward a child's achievements in learning and allow the child to make choices according to his or her abilities and needs.

I have always admired and envied the way that video games capture the attention of children. I don't play them myself, but I think that one of the keys to their success is recognizing and rewarding accomplishment. As I remember, video games were once set up where you had to master "The First Board" before passing on to "The Second Board".

If we could set up a system of "Boards" that children could play online, and that would require knowledge and skills that align to national and state standards, then children could have a clear record of and specific rewards for their accomplishments.

However, learning must also take place in the real world in connection with parents and other positive role models. The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have set up an intricate system of Badges that do the same thing that video games do. They set up a series of accomplishments, and then give a reward when the child has met all of the requirements.

What video games and scout badges also have in common is that the activities required for completion of a goal are interesting to the child. What is more, the child can choose among a variety of activities. Last of all, both video games and badges are status symbols. Children leave their initials on game boards after achieving a certain rank. Scout badges have world-wide recognition.

Under No Child Left Behind, schools have become test prep centers. For the adults in the system, the test is everything. Good test scores give status and financial rewards. Bad test scores carry shame and punishment. But the child who is taking the test, their are no real rewards. The test itself is boring. Preparing for the test is boring. Passing the test brings no palpable reward or status. Tests are not tied to the real world, or to home and community in a meaningful way. Ideas of giving video games or cells phones as rewards for good test scores simply underline the fact that the passing the test is not itself a reward.

I propose setting up a nationwide system of Badges constructed along the lines of Scout Badges but also aligned with curriculum standards. The completion of a Badge could be rewarded by a Presidential Certificate and by an actual cloth badge that can be sewn onto clothes.

Public and private schools can be the centers where the badge requirements are achieved under supervision. Teachers and principals will have to sign off on each badge.

There can be a centralized online repository where children can keep track of thier progress through the different tasks. Some tasks can be achieved online through the completion of Web Quests or Video Games.

Setting up these badges and their requirements might seem like an awesome task, but all you have to do is send out a call to teachers all over the nation to come up with badges aligned to their curriculums. Many teachers might have already designed something close to what I propose.

I think that each badge should require specific Math or English Language Arts skills. It should also target specific knowledge and skills in Science, Social Studies, or the Arts. Finally, there should be a family and community component in which the child must connect with people outside the school in order to perform positive service to thier community.

These badges can be phased in slowly. You can start with only one for Elementry, Middle, and High School Level. It can be the Obama Badge. If the idea catches on, and I think it will, you can add badges one by one and build a system that will manage them nationwide. You can then give schools and communities the option of replacing high stakes testing with Badges.

Right now people are fearful about the economy. I think that eventually a system of badges like the one I describe will create jobs. But for the time being, it will give children and their parents something positive to think about and do.

Respectfully submitted by Daphne A. Calvo, Science Teacher, Queen,, New York.