Hermione Granger and Tracy Flick are the true heroes

Reese Witherspoon as Tracy Flick in "Election"

Our culture mocks the eager-beaver student with her hand always waving in the air, writes Tim Daly. Hermione Granger (Harry Potter) and Tracy Flick (Election) aren't cool. And now they are even more rare than they used to be. Seeking to reduce stress and worried about "equity," schools are asking less of students. And getting less. But we need more of the try-hard spirit.

Schools are undermining students' work habits -- and their future academic success and earnings -- by inflating grades and thereby decreasing effort, he writes. "Some schools go the full Monty, banning zeros for work not completed, removing penalties for late submissions, banning homework, or allowing unlimited test retakes," despite teachers' complaints.

Emma Watson played Hogwarts' star student, Hermione Granger, in the Harry Potter movies.

Many states have raised graduation rates, despite lower test scores, by relying heavily on low-quality "credit recovery" and eliminating exit exams that might show graduates are unprepared for job training or college, Daly writes. "Less effort means less learning."

When schools that require students to work hard are successful, they're derided as too strict and stressful. Eva Moskowitz, founder of Success Academy, is "the Tracy Flick of the charter world," writes Daly. But more than 90 percent of Success Academy students meet New York state standards in reading and math.

Schools in Worcester County, Maryland are "doing the improbable" in teaching reading, writes Chad Aldeman in The 74. "Students are expected to complete two 15-minute blocks of reading at school — and then read for 30 additional minutes per day at home," he reports. Parents sign a “home coach contract” pledging to monitor their child’s reading. "Kids are expected to read for half an hour at home five days a week," he writes. "Over the course of a 180-day school year, that could add up to 900 extra minutes of practice."

Worcester County asks students (and parents) to do more, writes Daly. Higher expectations pay off.

To get more demanding teachers and more try-hard students, schools must back up teachers who set high expectations and set tougher grading policies, Daly writes. High schools need to make a diploma mean something, either by exit exams, "publicly defended senior projects, independently scored course finals, and International Baccalaureate programs."

There should be consequences for tardy and absent students, and recognition for student effort and success, he writes.

Finally, Daly wants schools to teach students explicitly "how to persist through difficulty, when to ask for help, how to organize themselves to study, and how to distinguish between strenuous thinking and genuine distress." These are essential real-world skills.