Operations
How to Run a Merit Points System Parents Actually Trust
A merit points system is simple to start: decide what earns points, decide what loses them, and keep a total. It is much harder to keep fair. Within a term, one teacher is generous and another never awards a point, a child in one section has twice the total of an identical child in the next, and parents start comparing numbers. A merit system parents trust is one where the same behaviour earns the same points whoever saw it, and where a family can see how their child's total was reached.
Decide whether you need points at all
Points are a tool, not a requirement. Some schools find that recording appreciation and concerns, and telling parents about them, does everything they need. Points add a number, and a number invites comparison. If your school has no plan for what the totals will be used for, such as house competitions, termly certificates or a conversation with parents, consider starting without them.
Fix the categories and their points
Most of the unfairness in merit systems comes from teachers choosing points on the spot. Decide in advance what each kind of behaviour is worth, write it down and give every teacher the same list.
- A handful of positive categories, such as kindness, helping others, excellent work, leadership and honesty
- A handful of concerns, such as late to class, incomplete homework, disruption, disrespect and fighting
- A small, fixed number of points for each, larger for the rarer and more serious ones
- A rule that appreciation never takes points away and a concern never adds any
Keep teachers consistent
- Review the totals by class every few weeks, and talk to staff where one section is far above or below the others
- Make appreciation as easy to record as a concern, or the totals will only ever go down
- Reset totals each session, so a child is not carrying last year's points
- Let a teacher add a note, but not change the points a category is worth
Share totals with parents carefully
A parent who sees a total wants to know how it was reached. Share the entries behind it, not just the number. And if some entries are kept to staff, for example a note about a family matter, make sure the parent's total counts only what the parent has been shown, or they will be able to work out that something was held back.
Avoid ranking children publicly. A list of the most and least points tells parents more about other people's children than it should, and it rarely changes the behaviour of the children at the bottom.
Where Edflo fits
Points in Edflo's behaviour module are a setting, off if you do not want them. With them on, each category carries its usual points, set by the school, and every student has a running total for the session. Appreciation can never take points away and a concern can never add any. A parent's total counts only the entries shared with them, so a staff-only entry cannot be inferred from the arithmetic. Edflo starts schools with categories such as kindness, helping others, excellent work and late to class and incomplete homework, which a school can rename, add to or switch off.
Key takeaways
- Decide what the totals are for before introducing points.
- Fix categories and their points in advance, so the same behaviour earns the same points from every teacher.
- Make appreciation as easy to record as a concern.
- Share the entries behind a total, and count only what the parent has been shown.
- Reset totals each session, and avoid public rankings.
Frequently asked questions
How does a merit points system work in schools?
Students earn points for behaviour the school wants to encourage and lose them for concerns, from a fixed list of categories with fixed points. Totals are kept per student for the session and used for things such as house competitions, certificates or conversations with parents.
How do you keep merit points fair across teachers?
Fix the points for each category in advance rather than letting teachers choose, make appreciation as easy to record as a concern, and review totals by class every few weeks to spot sections that are far out of line.
Should parents see their child's merit points?
They can, as long as they also see the entries behind the total. If some entries are kept to staff, the parent's total should count only what they have been shown, so nothing held back can be worked out from the number.
Do we have to use points to track behaviour in Edflo?
No. Points are a setting. With them off, appreciation and concerns are recorded and shared with parents without a score.