Should Kids Be Bribed to Do Well in School?
A recent Time magazine article by Amanda Ripley discusses a study performed by Harvard economist Roland Fryer Jr. to determine whether financial incentives really improve student performance. The experiment involved four different payment schemes implemented in four different cities. Fourth and seventh graders in New York were paid $25 and $50 respectively for good test scores, but the test showed no change on scores over the control group. In Chicago, 9th graders were paid different amounts for each grade they received–$50 for an A, $35 for a B, and $20 for a C. There, students received better grades than the control group, but standardized test performance did not improve. In Washington D.C., “middle schoolers [were] paid for a portfolio of five different metrics, including attendance and good behavior.” These students performed better on standardized reading tests. In Dallas, second graders were paid $2 for each book they read and successfully completed a test on. The Dallas experiment seems to have been the most successful, with students showing significant improvement on standardized reading comprehension tests. The article is lengthy, but worth reading for more specific details as well as Fryer’s overall conclusions.
