January 30th, 2008
Does Money Talk When It Comes to Education?
We’ve all heard the saying money talks, but can money teach?
In a handful of cities across the country, school districts are offering their students money in exchange for improved academic performance. According to a recent article in the Baltimore Sun, more than 5,000 city students who have failed state-mandated exams will be eligible to receive up to $110 if they improve their test scores. The Fulton County School District in Atlanta will begin a similar program, giving kids cold hard cash to attend after school and weekend tutoring sessions.
I commend school districts for trying to make a difference, especially in high-poverty areas that need it the most. But is bribing a student to produce results the answer?
Harvard Professor Roland G. Fryer thinks it is. Over the past few years, the economist has experimented with a reward system in schools throughout New York City. Although he’s tried a wide range of prizes, Fryer has found cash to be the most effective. “The kids like it better,” and they perform better on tests. Ten high schools in inner city Dallas have witnessed similar results. Since instituting a $1,000 reward for students who pass an AP exam, the number of passing scores has risen from 29 in 1995 to 664 in 2007.
Despite these two compelling examples, many educators, administrators, and parents disagree whole-heartedly with Fryer. Author Alfie Kohn, who writes on a number of educational topics, believes that students who receive incentives fail to develop an interest in academics when there’s no money on the line. Touche’!!!
The results in Dallas are undeniable, but do they simply reflect a short-term solution where money is the be all and end all? And are the efforts in Baltimore and Atlanta a desperate attempt to combat the often-difficult ‘No Child Left Behind?’ We can debate the positives and negatives of these programs till the cows come home, and I welcome you to do so here. Yet in the interest of higher education, let’s take a look at this from a slightly different perspective.
Baltimore schools chief Andres Alonso anticipates spending $4.1 million on the cash-reward initiative. Although I couldn’t find a concrete number, I assume Fulton County will allocate a similar amount to their program. Considering these gaudy numbers, shouldn’t these funds be put to better use? I shudder at the thought of so much money not being used to improve educational resources, revamp curricula, increase teacher pay, and sponsor extracurricular activities. And what about the countless students who want to continue their educations after high school but don’t have the financial resources to do so? Millions of dollars put toward tuition incentives could help these young adults enroll at universities, community colleges, or even in online programs.Â
All right education gurus; let’s hear your take on the issue.Â
Ok, so the first thing that comes into my mind when I read this was how screwed up we are that we have to pay kids to perform better. Yikes, I really don’t like the focus on money as incentive, although I suppose someone with a more practical (and less of a utopian) outlook might roll their eyes at what I’m saying. For the exact reasons that Alfie Kohn noted, this is a terrible idea. Plus, this is a classic bandaid approach. We’re not attacking the problem, as you said, we’re not putting money into improving education, we’re throwing money at students in order for them to fix the numbers – make test scores higher so that we can all feel better about education in this country. Regardless of where it gets them or how it affects them. While at the same time it places even more emphasis on wealth, and the value of cash in this society. This will of course motivate some kids (the ones who are the most interested in money), but not all. Those who don’t get hot thinking about the $1000 they’ll get after passing the AP test (by whatever means necessary, cheating, if they have to) well, those kids will be (dare I say it?) left behind.
Comment by Nearly Graduated Office Worker — January 30, 2008 @ 9:28 am
You anticipated my suggestion in the last line of your post. Well played! You’re right, this money could be used a lot more effectively. College tuition incentives is a real incentive. Cash in hand is merely a reward.
Yet, educators shouldn’t completely underestimate the power of individual incentive, as Dallas has shown. The incentives need not be cash or huge prizes. Small individual incentives COUPLED with all those things suggested above could seriously improve schools. Spread the wealth, I say.
I think that those school districts who offer just cash incentives merely play off and FEED monetary greed. Every child is interested in academics and learning, they just don’t know it yet. The skills learned in high school, benefit all people whether they’re mechanics, sports professionals, waitresses or full tenured philosophy professors. For instance, I was never really interested in reading until I found subject that interested me. I think that is the case with a lot of kids these days.
Comment by jz — January 30, 2008 @ 9:44 am
As someone who has dealt with the routine let-downs of the public education system his entire life, I can only imagine the reaction of my school district if students were bribed to pass tests. As a student, my knee-jerk reaction would be to celebrate at the notion of actually making money for acing my tests — I’m reasonably intelligent, I have a decent work ethic… it would be easy money. After all, I would have passed the tests anyways. But therein lies the problem, and my objection to such policies.
Rewarding underachieving students for a temporary display of perseverance and acceptable study skills in such a grandiose fashion is unreasonable – if they are coddled so in high school, what will become of them when they land in college, or grad school, or in their first full-time job?
Some schools refund the costs of AP Exams to passing students (or subsidize off the top). I am fine with that much. But (especially in the case of Baltimore) bribing students to finally work up the gumption to move beyond mediocrity, while some students go unnoticed despite being motivated during their entire scholastic career? Not so much.
Comment by Glenn — February 18, 2008 @ 9:49 am
Thanks for the comment, Glenn. I agree with your sentiments wholeheartedly. All of this bribery business seems like a short-term solution to a long-term problem; like a gardener who waters the leaves but fails to care for the roots; like a carpenter who builds a house from the top down. I could ride the analogy train all the way to cliche’ville if I wanted to, but I think I’ll get off here.
Comment by A. Dupin — February 19, 2008 @ 5:37 pm