<p>Interesting. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/09/nyregion/09schools.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/09/nyregion/09schools.html</a> </p>
<p>What do you think?</p>
<p>From the article:
</p>
<p>I would like to see some of these results, to be honest with you. Financial incentive works for adults, but I’m not convinced that the same is necessarily true with elementary school students. I am also not convinced that raising standardized test scores for 4th/7th graders is all that important if there isn’t similar pressure on learning material in general throughout the year in all subjects. I doubt 4th or 7th graders would study harder all year long in the hopes of earning that $25 or $50 in the end; as the article mentions, one of the problems with education is the lack of a clear and near pay-off–Is one year near enough in the future for students to see the benefits of studying? If they base their studying on getting this money, what about when gains aren’t immediate and immediately quantifiable? </p>
<p>I don’t believe yet that this program will result in significant gains in learning.</p>
<p>I think small rewards throughout the year, plus a larger reward such as proposed for doing well on tests might work with young kids. there have been scholarship programs for k-8 schools, but these have not had the hoped-for success precisely because the pay-off is so far in the distant future. But more immediate and commensurate incentives might work. And instead of just rewarding the highest scorers, those who made the greatest progress might be rewarded.</p>
<p>I don’t know about the cash incentives. It kind of makes the assumption that the only carrot kids respond to is money.
When mine were in elementary, the biggest game in town was getting into the gifted or accelerated pull out programs. The kids were just as motivated as the parents to get into these classes, because they did the cool enrichment activities. At the time, they had to get in by taking an IQ test, but it seems that standardized tests or class performance could be used in the same way. That way, the “reward”, rather than just being a wad of cash, is educational- just like the reward of getting into college.</p>
<p>the middle school my son attends has rewards just for showing up on testing day and taking the test. The biggest hit they take on the standardized tests is that each child who misses a test gets a score of zero factored in for them (seems silly – but you can imagine how it lowers the average).</p>
<p>In order to encourage every kid to be there every day (the testing lasts two weeks, tues, wed and thurs in the mornings) they send out mail and emails and make announcements the month before the testing. During the two weeks of testing, every kids gets to put there name in a raffle – one ticket in the raffle for every test they take. Then they raffle off some good stuff – TVs, ipods, gift certificates – stuff the kids want. also, all kids who showed up for all the tests get an afternoon “party” where they don’t have to attend class and get to hang out and have pizza and soda.</p>
<p>It seems to be working – each year the attendance has risen dramatically.</p>
<p>I know that if the incentive was something he really wanted (cash of $100 or more, an ipod, a trip somewhere he wanted to go) my younger son would study all year to raise his test score. I don’t think, however, that the majority of kids would.</p>
<p>I hate rewards, but sometimes they do work in the short term. This happened in a nearby district:
from Boston.com news October 24, 2004.</p>
<p>Instead of thinking of it as “rewards”, think of it as “merit pay”.</p>
<p>paying kids for good grades is the smartest thing… because so many kids,especially URM from bad neighborhoods, don’t have an incentive to do well in school… they simply just don’t care. besides… it is the overlying message of the American System anyway…why do ppl go to college? to get an education which = a bigger salary. why go to grad school?= an even bigger salary. money drives ppl anyways, so why not start young?</p>
<p>Money talks, and you-know-what walks… Programs like this work well in certain situations, and they can be used to introduce the concept of a college scholarship. That’s where you can <em>really</em> make money for top scores - just look at the amount of dinero that Nat. Merit Scholars are offered.</p>
<p>My daughter’s school has this for our state level testing. $50 for each “advanced.” There are pizza parties and trips to encourage attendance at review sessions, but they are scheduled after school at times that conflict with sports and theater practices so are of limited availability. My daughter cannot attend these, and it never occurred to her to actually prepare for these tests on her own. She got the $100 for the 9th grade testing without any preparation, but I had been wondering if the money would be enough to inspire her to actually prepare ahead for the more “high stakes” 10th and 11th grade testing, and assuming there may be others like her, I had actually been thinking of talking to the principal about something like hsmomstef suggests with Ipods, other electronics, and gift certificates as extra incentives. Stef, do the community businesses donate these things?
This is not to say that I feel this testing is really beneficial to the children or the system, but I am just the mother, not the educator.</p>
<p>Wow, this idea makes me sad.</p>
<p>Children need to be rewarded for good behavior, but not with money. They must be taught to do the right thing because it iwill mprove their lives and the world around them, not because they will be paid for it.</p>
<p>Apparently, educators and parents have failed to instill this ideal in some kids, so now they are looking at the easy way to make themselves look successful. What a shame.</p>
<p>Some kids – particularly in inner-city schools – are not exposed to adults who have the long-term perspective, so they aren’t imbued with doing “the right thing because it will improve their lives and the world around them.” </p>
<p>In an ideal world, doing the right thing would be reward enough. In the real world, not everyone has that perspective. So let’s do what works. I support this concept.</p>