perhaps By Cathy-Dee

Your Principal may not have thought through everything and is reacting to pressure from higher up as well.

The books should be there as a tool but they are not going to work on every parent or student. This is always going to be an issue in every school - how to keep students on task and parents involved. But to punish the students is only going to set them back and more than likely further alienate the parents.

I think a phone call home when the book is forgotten is a valid option. Some other options could include....

- points if the books are brought back signed - students earn points towards prizes. I know some are against "token rewards" but I say use anything in our power to get the students learning. The prizes could be even through local companies or could be a class prize for the class with the best percentage, etc.,

- part of the report card - add a section that states whether the homework book has been returned to school signed on a satisfactory or non-satisfactory basis. Many parents do not like to have things where they are on record.

- put charts up in the classroom where the students earn a star for every week or day that the book is returned signed. It's amazing when parents walk in for parent-teacher interviews and you can show them on a display that their child has not done well in this area and how it has affected their overall marks, etc., how quickly those same parents start to make an effort. Again it's putting them on record and they do not want to be compared to other parents.
(I make sure they know at the beginning of the year that I will be recording this way so that they cannot complain that I'm somehow singling them out or embarrasing them).

I hear your frustration and I'm sure I'd feel exactly the same way you do! I hope your administrator is one who is willing to listen at least to other ideas