Paying for Test Scores: Children with High Test Scores May Get Money

According to the Daily News, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg endorses the idea of providing monetary incentives for school-age children who excel academically on their interim assessments.

Launching in September, interim assessments will be required evaluations in all New York City schools, which will review students' knowledge of the material and provide necessary teaching tools for the remainder of the school year.

The monetary award for the academic success is suppose to encourage a greater number of students to invest more time in their studies, increasing academic excellence.

The advocates of the program deem the money will give the low-income students significant enough incentives to alter their study habits. The dissidents, on the other hand, are afraid that the financial rewards serve as a band-aide for an educational system deeply in distress, i.e., low teacher salaries, sub par curriculum, large class sizes, and lack of learning resources.

Significantly, the concept of providing monetary rewards for academic success already has a little bit of history in the United States.

In 2004, the Washington Post reported that the O'Donnel foundation in Dallas, the state of Texas, and various other sponsors raised money for the AP programs in their district. Students who averaged 3 or higher on their AP exam were financially rewarded; furthermore, the teachers of those students also received financial bonuses. As a result, the number of students participating in the AP program drastically improved, as well as the passing scores--particularly for minority students who prior to the program had very low interest in participation.

A similar concept exists in United Kingdom where students from lower socio-economic groups receive money to stay in school between the ages of 16 and 18--as opposed to leaving school and working. However, unlike in the United States, obtaining the money in the United Kingdom is mostly dependent on school attendance.

Greater test scores resulting from monetary incentives may sound like a step in the right direction in theory, but the protesters worry that such enticements will diminish intrinsic fundamentals of learning for students.

Ultimately, the financial rewards will be welcomed by families struggling to make ends meet, but at what price? Will those students feel a profound sense of obligation to do well, so their family can have more food on the table--and will those obligations be negatively enforced by some families?

The answer to those questions, and many more, will be examined as the test-score proposal undergoes the necessary groundwork before the official approval.

Sources:

Michael Saul and Erin Einhorn, "Nothing wrong with it, says mayor, of kids scoring dough for grades." Daily News. URL: (http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/education/2007/06/09/2007-06-09_cash_is_cool_mike.html)

Jay Mathews, "Paying Teachers and Students for Good Scores." Washington Post. URL: (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A53390-2004Aug10?language=printer)