When schools find that students have a difficult time keeping track of and/or choose to alter their points throughout the day, it may indicate one or more of the following scenarios:

a) When the parent or school community puts too great an emphasis on a student making their day, this will cause otherwise responsible students to lie. It is more important to focus on the "process" of making one's day rather than the "product."

b) Students may be testing the system to see if all adults are communicating.

c) The staff has not established a communication system to identify those students who are having difficulty recording points correctly.

Although many schools initially struggle with the handful of students who misuse the system, these schools recognize the importance of developing a greater level of communication between staff. Many schools have contracted individually with these students who are then required to have each teacher sign their points. This continues for a period of time until the students learn to handle their points responsibly.

A school would achieve its greatest level of return by first exploring the rationale for students to misreport and then to attempt to close that window as opposed to seeking smaller blocks of reporting.

During conferences more than one parent questioned the fact that when children are good they get no recognition, but when they misbehave they get a note home. The parents asked for a note or some recognition that things were going well. That this was very re-enforcing for their kids. I know this is supposed to be intrinsic but... Could you give me some ideas?

Communication of one's success does not take away the emphasis of intrinsic motivation. In the beginnings of the program, students carried home a slip indicating whether or not they made their day. Every child carried home this communication. Because of budget cuts (paper) and logistics, this practice fell out of favor. If as a school or particular grade levels your school would like to develop a communication that indicates successful days, it would be philosophically in sync. If so, I would recommend an organized approach rather than teacher by teacher. Parents might wonder why one 1st grade teacher is sending something home, while another isn't. If your school develops something and finds it successful, please let us know and we can share it with others.