Ringing in the new school year, students headed back to school to learn about a revised attendance incentive plan.

The attendance incentive plan was introduced at Bowie in the spring of the 2015-2016 school year. Designed as a way to lure students into their classes, the incentive began as an exemption from finals for every class as long as the student’s attendance and grades in that class correlated to the guidelines created by the Bowie administration. However the guidelines for the 2017-2018 school have changed.

“The feedback from teachers about last year’s incentive was that it was too broad and it was important to get some college experience before sending the students off,” school improvement facilitator Ruth Ann Widner said.  “We wanted to attach some higher stakes to it so then we changed it so that it was a much stricter policy.”

At the end of each semester, each eligible student receives two attendance passes as opposed to eight passes that were given during the launching year of attendance incentives. Although the incentives allow test exemptions, students still have to attend the class they use the pass, on that day of finals, in order to qualify. This new plan is an upgrade for underclassmen as last year they were only allowed one incentive.

“I don’t think it is fair that underclassmen have the opportunity to use two incentives when last year as a sophomore I only got to use one,” junior Emily Leeke said. “I was in two AP classes it would have been nice to have two [incentive passes].”

This incentive plan, launched in FIT during the first week of school, was the first time the incoming freshman class were introduced to final exam exemptions and the corresponding guidelines.

“It makes me feel more comfortable and I look forward to skipping some of my finals just for coming to school and being a good student,” freshman Shikha Patel said.

The incentive program, while garnering mostly positive reviews, has received some criticism on their guidelines for absences.

“If you have strep for a week like my friend did last year, you should still be able to receive an incentive instead of being penalized for an illness you can not control,” Leeke said.

The junior and senior classes have seen the transformation of the attendance incentive plan and have found that it is rewarding for students who have shown stellar behavior and participation in their academics.

“For seniors, who are applying for scholarships, taking AP exams, etc., the incentive can be very beneficial because more time can be devoted to those things than studying for a final in a class which they’ve proven they have understood/succeeded in,” senior Emily Robinett said.

While these incentives are beneficial to help ease the workload during finals, college classes will generally not offer exemptions from comprehensive final exams.

“I think this will encourage more students to strive to do well in all of their classes,” Robinett said. “Plus, it ensures that students actually do review the information they’ve learned, especially if they haven’t been putting in a ton of effort year-round.”

Over the past three years the attendance incentive plan has been impactful on a multitude of students across the Bowie campus, affecting finals grades.

“I think that the incentive plan is incredibly valuable,” Robinett said. “It rewards kids who work hard and who make an effort to be present every day, but it doesn’t hurt the kids who miss for school-related purposes.”