Some D.C. Students to Be Paid for A's

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Get up to $100/mo</p>

<p>Middle School Students Get Cash to Show Up, Study and Not Goof Off</p>

<p>As Washington, D.C., students start back to school this week, that’s the thinking behind a new program just launched in the district. As early as October at 24 of 28 D.C. middle schools, students will get paid to perform as part of a pilot program that rewards kids for good grades, attendance and behavior.</p>

<p>Kids could rake in up to $100 per month, getting paid every two weeks through the program. </p>

<p>[ABC</a> News: Some D.C. Students to Be Paid for A’s](<a href=“Some D.C. Students to Be Paid for A's - ABC News”>Some D.C. Students to Be Paid for A's - ABC News)</p>

2

<p>New York recently tried this with testing and other academic milestones. The results were released in the last few weeks. It did not work.</p>

3

<p>I don’t like this kind of incentive, they would move back to square one when the money runs out. We can find better incentives to motivate kids.</p>

4

<p>We offer bonuses to workers-I think it is very difficult for kids to have education as a value when their community may not- inc their parents.</p>

<p>I agree that optimally, this would not be necessary, but I also think that middle school is a delicate time that may actually change the course of their academic career and influence whether they attend college or even graduate from high school.
I think it is worth trying.</p>

5

<p>If you want better performance, it is better to pay those who are expected to do the performing. Much better than paying the extra money to the teachers. </p>

<p>Hey, the U.S. military is paying $300 a month to 113,000 Sunnis in Iraq so they won’t shoot at us. This seems like a much better investment to me (even if it doesn’t increase performance one iota, although in this case, it is directly linked to performance.)</p>

6

<p>I think it’s worth a try. </p>

<p>My parents used to give me a dollar with every A on a test I got, and $20 if I brought home a straight-A report card (this was in lieu of an allowance). They stopped the test reward when I got to high school, but they kept giving me money with report cards. </p>

<p>It wasn’t the principle motivator for me to do well, but it was a way of making the whole “hard work in school pays off” idea tangible. </p>

<p>Money is a motivator and a tangible incentive, but like the educator in the article said, we would hope that there are better ways to motivate kids. I personally think an incentive program that allows students options for special activities and programs would be my ideal program–students can pick from a base group of programs, and then as they do better, they get more choices. Sure, it will probably cost a lot, but it will teach that more opportunities open up if you do better in school.</p>

<p>Who knows, I know that when I graduate and become a teacher I will face the task of motivating my own students and (eventually) my own kids to invest their energy and effort in work that isn’t always easy, isn’t always fun, and isn’t always “cool.” But from what all my teachers have told me, in teaching, like in school, the rewards are worth the effort.</p>