An honors student is a person recognized for achieving high grade

Grade (education)

Grades are standardized measurements of varying levels of comprehension within a subject area. Grades can be assigned in letters , as a range , as a number out of a possible total , as descriptors , in percentages, or, as is common in some post-secondary...

s or high marks in their course work.

Honors students may refer to

1. Students recognized for their academic achievement on lists published periodically throughout the school year, known as honor rolls, varying from school to school, and from different levels of education.
2. Students enrolled in designated honors courses or honors program.
3. Students who are members of an honor society
   Honor society
   In the United States, an honor society is a rank organization that recognizes excellence among peers. Numerous societies recognize various fields and circumstances. The Order of the Arrow, for example, is the national honor society of the Boy Scouts of America...
   
   , or National Honors Society.

Honors students are often rewarded for their achievements. A student who has made numerous appearances on the honor roll may be awarded with some form of academic letter. A similar concept to honor rolls exists in colleges and universities in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, known as the Dean's List

Dean's List

A Dean's List is a category of students in a college or university who achieve high grades during their stay in an academic term or academic year. In secondary schools, or high schools, the term Consistent Honor List or Honor Roll is more common, but Dean's List and Consistent Honor List are...

.

In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, it is common for parents to boast by displaying a "My child is an honor student" bumper sticker

Bumper sticker

A bumper sticker is an adhesive label or sticker with a message, intended to be attached to the bumper of an automobile and to be read by the occupants of other vehicles - although they are often stuck onto other objects...

 on their vehicle.

Criticism

Some researchers have questioned the validity of the honor roll as an effective form of positive reinforcement. It is argued that the pursuit of extrinsic reward is not an accurate reflection of intrinsic interest in course material. There are also questions on the effectiveness of separating high-achieving students from their peers, in the form of magnet school

Magnet school

In education in the United States, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities as school zones that feed into certain schools.There are magnet schools at the...

s or honors courses.

See also

• Standardized test
  Standardized test
  A standardized test is a test that is administered and scored in a consistent, or "standard", manner. Standardized tests are designed in such a way that the questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures, and interpretations are consistent and are administered and scored in a...
  
  
• International Baccalaureate
• Advanced Placement
• Academic freedom
  Academic freedom
  Academic freedom is the belief that the freedom of inquiry by students and faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy, and that scholars should have freedom to teach or communicate ideas or facts without being targeted for repression, job loss, or imprisonment.Academic freedom is a...