Kids' Good Grades Pay Off - Literally
Teachers have long said that success is its own reward. But these days, some students are finding that good grades can bring them cash and other gifts.
In at least a dozen states this school year — including Connecticut — students who bring home top marks can expect more than just gratitude.
The most ambitious experiment began in September, when Connecticut and six other states won spots in an ExxonMobil-funded program that, in most cases, pays students $100 for each passing grade on advanced placement college-prep exams.
Gregg Fleisher of the National Math and Science Initiative, which runs the program, says the effort is modeled on a program adopted by Dallas in the 1995-96 school year that saw AP course-taking jump substantially.
Fleisher says the idea is simple: “It’s an incentive to get them to basically make the right decision and choose a more rigorous class.”
An analysis of the Texas program last month by Cornell University economist Kirabo Jackson found that it linked to a 30 percent rise in the number of students with high SAT and ACT scores and an 8 percent rise in college-going students.
Some critics say the payouts undermine kids’ motivation to do high-quality work when they’re not being paid.
“It’s a strategy that helps only around the edges,” says Thomas Toch, co-director of the Education Sector, a Washington think tank.
Most students in AP classes “are already internally motivated, and the opportunity to earn college credits for passing AP tests is a bigger motivator than small cash awards,” Toch says.
Bob Schaeffer of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing is more blunt.
“Bribing kids for higher test scores — or paying teachers bounties for their students’ work — is similar to giving them steroids,” he says. “Short-term performance might improve, but the long-term effects can be very damaging.”
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments