If students won't work for the joy of a job well done, some schools are offering hard cash for improving test scores.
Students in Baltimore can receive as much as $110 each if they buckle down and improve their scores on state graduation exams, and New York City is dangling a carrot worth approximately $500 to about 9,000 fourth and seventh graders if they can do better on English and math tests.
In suburban Atlanta, a pair of schools last week kicked off a program that will pay 8th- and 11th-grade students $8 an hour for a 15-week "Learn & Earn" after-school study program (the federal minimum wage is currently $5.85).
In most cases, the efforts are funded privately through corporate or philanthropic donors.
The most ambitious experiment began in September, when seven states — Arkansas, Alabama, Connecticut, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Virginia and Washington — won spots in an Exxon/Mobil-funded program that, in most cases, pays students $100 for each passing grade on advanced placement (AP) college-prep exams.
Regardless of the amount of money or the prizes offered, it's sad to think that schools have to resort to paying students to raise their test scores. I frequently watch children beam and glow when they receive specific praise after completing an assignment. The praise itself puts a smile on their faces.
Sure, it's exciting to think about earning a bit of extra money. What happens the next year if the money isn't available? What about those kids who are already doing a great job? Will they lower their standards so they can qualify to get some cash?
Schools paying kids for test scores seems like a bad idea to me.
