Is doing school affecting the way students learn? Denise Pope is the author of “Doing School.” She has a PhD in Curriculum and Teacher Education from Stanford. Pope is a veteran teacher and curriculum expert. In her book, she talks about shadowing five of Faircrest’s “best and brightest” students. Pope found that the students are manipulating the school system in order for them to get high grades. She calls this the “grade trap,” which forces kids to cheat, lie, and multi-task to get higher grades, instead of taking time to focus on the task at hand. The teachers encourage students to get high grades and in doing so, the kids fell into the “grade trap.” The students at Faircrest feel like they have to manipulate the system in order for them
