So this isn't exactly news, but it is exactly disturbing and stupid.There are places in the United States (Chicago) and Canada (Northern Ontario Reservations) that are running pilot programs where students are paid for good grades and/or attendance. The reward may range from $50.00 every 4 weeks for an "A" per class, to $50.00 every month for good (not perfect, but "good") attendance.
Not surprisingly (to me, anyhow) the programs are mildly successful, but not a great deal more or less than any other incentive-based program (gold stars, certificates, candy, etc.) Schools are broken (and parents are too) and giving kids money definitely won't fix it.
CBC's The Current covered the topic on tonight's program:
http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2009/200903/20090311.html
scroll down to Part 3 and take a listen. There's a principal, some comments from kids in the program, and a former teacher who all weigh in on the issue.
And dear readers (those of you who are left) I would like to know, were your parents the kind who gave you monetary rewards for earning certain grades in school? If so, what are your thoughts on this? Would you (do you) do the same for your children?
4 comments:
I agree with Langford that an external motivator will only work for a short while. Students will not see the money as motivation, but as something the school owes them for showing up.
My parents always said school was not important and it was life lessons that mattered, so they didn't care if we went to class or if we got good grades.
I was given money for good grades and perfect attendance by my grandma, starting after 10th grade. But I'm decidedly in the group of people who have always done well anyway, so it was a welcome gift rather than a motivation.
My brother and sister said it worked to motivate them for a while, but it was more that my grandma showed a general interest in what we were working on and how we were doing that had them doing better in school.
I know I cared about school because I had teachers that cared, and tried to make sure that we were actively participating in our education rather than keeping seats warm while they talked.
I was afraid of my dad growing up so that was my motivation, I did well with little effort though. A bit of it though was just trying to beat everyone else in the class grade wise but it is exhausting to do over the whole school year and I wasn't the greatest in communication ways or something apparently.
Nobody is afraid of their parents anymore! This is the problem. Instead, parents are afraid of kids. Lord, if I ever reproduce those childrens are going to hate me.
Ick, no. This topic just makes me angry, although I'm finding it difficult to think up concrete alternatives for an opposing argument. Growing up, my ingrained perfectionism and love of books kept me motivated for good marks, so it's difficult for me to relate. My parents never, ever, gave me money or anything for grades. I mean, if it was something really special - like I won an award or something, there'd be a nice dinner, but that was it.
With some kids, external motivators can help kick start a desire to challenge themselves to do better in school - a la Sylvan, where the kids are given tokens by teachers when they do well, which they can redeem later for prizes - but for some kids they just get too focused on the external motivators ('where the f--- are my f--- tokens, Teacher??') and the learning never comes through. I don't know, it's a tough one. I mean, tokens are one thing, but cash? C'mon, how about pay attention put some effort into teaching your kids instead.
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