(University of Oregon, 1936-08) King, Luther Andrew
The practice of granting rewards or honors in schools has not only been almost universal but also has had the sanction of long established precedent. Special recognition for outstanding scholarship has been given in a variety of ways fullstop's athletic prowess has been recognized traditionally through the awarding of an emblem which served as a badge of distinction. Gold pins or other awards have been given in recognition of good citizenship. It has been the accepted principles and the granting of rewards that the objective sought was to provide incentive for superior performance. To the critical observer, however, it has been evident that there have been no uniformity of practices nor any common agreements on the underlying principles pertaining to the educational significance of such procedures. In spite of the fact that the use of rewards has become almost universal in secondary schools, there have been voiced such strong objections against certain phases of the practice as to raise a question in the minds of many school administrators as to the educational soundness of the procedure. Especially has this been true regarding the value of any plan that singles out for recognition a very small group who rank as superior according to some criteria used to measure achievement.
