STP is a carbon-copied form used by many upper elementary and middle school classes in Northern Indiana and peppered across the country. STP (Student/Teacher/Parent) Communication Form is designed to communicate to parents each time the student is not prepared for class and becomes another cog in the gear of paperwork, whatever that metaphor is supposed to mean.
The form clearly declares its purpose in its small type lead-in before the field of blanks:
This STP is to inform you that your son/daughter was not prepared for class. The student should return this signed form to his teacher the next school day.
Yes, the form clearly tries to cater to both sexes with the son/daughter portion then quickly defeats its purpose by saying “his teacher” but that’s the least of a teacher’s concerns. First off the form is just that: a form. The blanks that must be filled by a student that is obviously already behind just adds to the asinine nature of the entire process: name, teacher, date, phone, subject, a checklist of incomplete directions, assignment, unprepared reasoning, student signature, teacher signature, parent signature, parent comments, and teacher comments. Secondly this form is filled out in a carbon copy so that records can, of course, be kept for no real reason other than the consistent paperwork requirement that somehow has become a daily routine for teachers.
I am, as a teacher, required to use these in my fifth grade classroom. I have yet to see positive results. Homework completion rates do not improve and student attitude drops. Overall, there simply are other methods for increasing homework turnover than paperwork for everyone involved.