Sunday, March 08, 2009

Should schools reward students for good performance?

There is conflicting data on whether rewarding students for good performance in school is effective, but some school districts already have programs in place that offer students money for making good grades or taking challenging courses. Some say the rewards improve achievement in the short term, but could do more harm than good in the long term. The New York Times

3 comments:

Mr. Dugong said...

To stoop to this sort of behavior as mature adults means we haven't found a way to motivate our students to value their education for what it offers them.

This country seems to value the capitalist mentality over the formally educated (hence the reward systems).

It's a lack of educational discipline in American culture that we need to question, not whether or not these kids deserve financial incentives in primary/secondary school (that's ridiculous).

I have encountered all too often parents who treat public school as an elaborate baby-sitting service. Many of these parents don't know any better, so they wouldn't mind if their kids get paid to go to school since they have nothing to lose in that decision.

Unknown said...

Sad but true!

Anonymous said...

Cash rewards for academic performance sound like a sticking plaster to a much deeper prroblem re. motivation and relevance to me

- activeducator

Promethean Planet

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