Students get incentives for CSAP. Artwork by Rebecca Holt
Going up a category on the CSAP: $10.
Going up multiple categories on the CSAP: up to $30.
Restoring TJ Spartan pride: priceless.
From March 1-4, TJ’s underclassmen will partake in the much-anticipated CSAP test, but not without added encouragement from TJ’s community. Teachers, administrators, and TJ’s Alumni are offering cash prizes, gift cards, and even iPods as rewards for students who simply attend CSAP and improve their scores. “We’re funding CSAP incentives in hopes that students will be motivated to do their very best on the tests,” said President of TJ’s Alumni Association, Kendra Black.
This year, TJ’s Alumni Association is offering rewards and prizes to students who move up at least one category – such as from Partially Proficient to Proficient – in each subject. One of the major incentives for the upcoming CSAP is a cash prize of up to $30 just for advancing in categories of multiple subjects. By moving up a category in one subject, a student will be awarded $10. Moving up in two subjects is awarded with $20, and of course, three subjects with $30. “We hope that the rewards will make students want to try harder,” said Black.
But the prizes are not limited to just cash. Students who advance their CSAP scores to Advanced or Proficient will receive a raffle ticket for every subject in which they advance. Students who are already scoring Advanced will also receive raffle tickets, provided that their scores do not go down. In August, at the beginning of next semester, there will be a drawing for a plethora of prizes, ranging from headphones and gift cards to iPods and TV’s. In order to be eligible for the raffle drawing and cash prizes, a student must attend all days of CSAP and display excellent behavior.
With new incentives and rewards approaching, TJ’s Alumni Association hopes that Spartans will recognize the vast importance of CSAP. “The CSAP is a recognized measure of student achievement as well as teacher effectiveness,” said Black. “Poor CSAP scores reflect poorly on TJ. TJ needs to show the school district and the city of Denver that our students are learning and that our teachers are effectively teaching.”
In addition to being crucial to the future of TJ, students are also expected to appreciate the magnitude of CSAP to themselves as individuals. “CSAP scores are permanently placed on every student transcript,” said Black. “College admission officers see every CSAP score. Students don’t want Unsatisfactory or Partially Proficient to appear on their transcripts.”
However, the success of the upcoming CSAP is not solely in the hands of TJ’s Alumni. Spartans can excel in CSAP by being prepared, focused, and alert. “Many students don’t care about CSAP; they don’t understand that their test scores reflect on and affect them personally,” stressed Black. “Students need to attend, be well-rested and well-fed, and try their hardest.”
With such momentous activity from TJ’s Alumni Association, it’s no surprise that their actions strongly depict their confidence in TJ’s grandeur and potential. “Alumni believe in TJ and are proud of the school,” said Black. “We want the district and the city to recognize TJ, and to understand what a great school it truly is – now and in the past.”
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Watch the Video:
[flashvideo file=http://www.spartanedition.tjjournal.com/video/Kendra_Black.flv /]
