On the Colbert Report last night, guest Roland Fryer discussed his plan within the Education Innovation Laboratory, at Harvard University, to help stimulate education by paying students for better grades. This idea is already being implemnted in schools in Washington, D.C., Chicago, and New York. The goal behind this plan is to give students the incentive to work harder in school by paying them for better grades.
For the most part, this seems like a well thought out and attainable plan, but one of the problems I see with it, as well as the one Stephen Colbert mentioned on the show, is what happends if students start to bribe other students to copy their hw, or even do their hw so they can get better grades? Money is a great incentive for these kids, who most likely live in the poorer areas of these cities, but perhaps there are better motivators to be used.
6 comments:
I actually have seen this type of schools in a lot of towns in Vietnam. In poor areas, this is not only the incentive for students to get better grades, but also a way for them to actually afford going to school (because not only children have to go to school, they won't get any money that they do otherwise by working). It's possible that students could bribe others, but I think a lot of richer kids already go to richer schools (that wont offer these types of incentives) and almost all kids in these incentive schools are at the similar economic situation.
Wow! I first heard about this just over a year ago when it was just in New York and there wasn't very much support! I am glad it's really off the ground now!
Jessica, I agree with you about the potential problems. But I believe at the end of the day much more good than bad will come out of it. Especially since it has grown this popular already.
In regards to "students start to bribe other students to copy their hw" doesn't that happen already? Of course it is a problem before and it is a problem now, but I don't see that as a fault that is a direct derivation of the program itself. And when you say "or even do their hw so they can get better grades?" I ask the question "why do they want better grades in the first place?" I know I say "I need to study for this test so that I can get an A" way more than I say "I need to study for this test so that I have a better understanding of whatever the topic is" And really the question could go even further. What do you think?
I think this is a great idea too, but I see another big problem. Students with learning disabilities are at a severe disadvantage here. Take two students who get similar poor grades. One student doesn't apply himself, the other has a learning disorder, or just isn't capable of better grades because of something he or she can't control. If they are paying for good grades, both students could work equally hard to try and get better grades. The student without disorder has a lot of potential to maybe raise a letter grade or something, whereas the other student might just only be able to get a C no matter how hard he or she works. In this case one student would be paid much more for the same amount of work. Just something else to think about.
...Point well taken, Grant, but this situation isnt much different from the status quo; students with learnign disorders get left behind all the time, even when they are supposed to get help.
am I the only one who sees this as a flawed approach to education? Do we really want to teach 3rd graders that learning isnt important but cramming for a test for $10 is a worthy cause. I agree that this may work in extremely low income situations where kids cant afford to go to work but that isnt the case in america. This is a short term solution to a long term problem. In the long run, the government will have to spend more on primary and secondary education to bring students' learning potential up to par.If we want to be economically competitive with other countries we must invest in our education system, not bribe students to get an A.
Which then Katie E is a perfect seg-way into my original question. Why is it that they want the A in the first place? Is the getting of the A the ultimate goal, or just another means to something greater? If it is the ultimate goal then fine. But if it just another means then we must expand the question to totality of life.
I am not sure what you mean by the comment "extremely low income situations where kids cant afford to go to work but that isnt the case in america". Would you mind clarifying?
uh? doesn't this seem to lead to problems later in life. kids are getting gifts for good grades and so later in life they may want to be rewarded for every little thing they do. why not just work hard for the satisfaction of working hard. what the hell is the world coming to that we need to bribe bratty kids to do what they should be doing to begin with.
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