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This summer more than a thousand Portland area students are getting ready for their first year of high school with help from the program Ninth Grade Counts. They'll visit colleges and business and talk with local leaders about their future. If they complete the program, they'll be rewarded with $100 gift cards. The idea is that if kids do well in ninth grade, they are far less likely to drop out of high school later. Rewarding students for academic performance is being tried in New York and other cities around the country, but not without some controversy. The concept of paying students to motivate them to learn irks some educators and worries others.
But for some students, options are limited. Some school teachers in the Portland area report dramatic results with learning disabled students participating in The Shadow Project, which rewards kids with "shadow bucks" that they can use to buy toys, school supplies and gifts.
Do you reward your children with money for grades? Did you get rewarded as a child or teenager with money for academic performance? If you're a teacher or work with students, how do you think a financial incentive affects the motive to learn?
Photo credit: drp / Creative Commons
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Pay for grades? Not exactly. Good grades were rewarded by dinner out at the restaurant of the student's choice. Grandparents joined us and lauded the hard working student.
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Rewards can improve grades and achievement, but they will have little impact on students' learning.
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Right on. High achieving students get good grades without necessarily learning anything.
Rewards and punishments teach children to jump through hoops. Engaging educational environments inspire them to learn.
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While I think that rewards would motivate unmotivated students or students who may drop out, what about the students who already get good grades and have intrisic motivation? I worry that they will then begin to feel that they need a reward before performing on the same level: they will lose thier internal drive. We would need to find a way to create a good balance between external and internal motivations.
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Absolutely. I am a high school teacher and smart, high achieving kids will often not engage in work unless it is attached to their grade. Really sad.
The system needs to be fundamentally changed. If children were not herded through grade level classes and instead treated as individuals, paying close attention to what they already know and can do, grades wouldn't even be relevant.
A system of feedback that is specific, not general like "A," "B," or "C" would be a better option.
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“If education is to profoundly touch the
heart and mind of a child, he must be learning
because he is curious and interested, not simply
to earn the highest grade in the class.”
- Dr. Maria Montessori
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Hahaha! That's great! I went to a Montessori school for kindergarten and first grade. I was kicked out for low grades...which were fine by most standards. I had to lower myself to go to a public school...*gasp*!
I was also a child that would make very little effort in classes that did not immediately interest me. Receiving video games for 4.0 average report cards in middle school and a car/insurance/gas in high school helped a lot. Though, in high school my drive for a successful life took over and carried me through college.
Now I am a successful engineer. Yay!
So much for the high-minded Montessori crap.
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I love Step Up! I love Hanif! I'm a math teacher at the POWER Academy at Roosevelt and this year we made AYP under NCLB. With the help of Step Up, excellent teaching, and other supports, we are focusing student on academics and engaging them in a school community. They feel connected to the school and form positive relationships redirecting them to earn good grades and set goals for their future.
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I am an educator in Pendleton, OR. I use motivators daily as I work with special education students. Sometimes those motivators are as simple as saying "good job". However, there are times when students need more motivation and I never go further than a small little prize. The best motivator I have found is to make learning fun.
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My parents used to take my brother and I out for ice cream when our yearly report cards came in - it was an acknowledgement and celebration of the good grades. That and positive reinforcement at home when we brought home good school work, as well as volunteering in the classroom taught us that our parents valued our educational acheivements. This was good feedback, as many student's parents didn't really pay attention to how their kids were doing in school unless they were in trouble. Also, for high-acheiving kids, some reward helps let them know that being smart is a good thing -- which is something that kids in school often get teased about, etc.
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I am currently a high school student and though I may be biased because of my previous experience, I firmly believe that students should not be rewarded with money, toys, cars, or whatever. To me, this system encourages the child to do well because of some material value and it begs the question, what will happen when parents aren't there to reward their children? Though I think it is a good system, I believe that the success of a child and their own motivation lies within themselves. I have held a fairly high GPA over my high school career and not once have my parents rewarded me through material things because of it. Instead, they have instilled in me the importance of self-motivation and hard work in order to achieve what I want in school and in life.
I understand that some students may be less motivated than others but is it really morally correct to buy the way to academic success?
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Financial incentives is a very effective motivation tool for most children. When I was growing up, my grandparents would award us a small monetary amount based on our grade average. It was a simple reward and acknowledgment for hard work that I truely appreciated. As I graduated from high school, it paid off as I was was awarded scholarships that paid for 5 years of my college tuition...and coming from a less than privaleged income this was a life changing experience for me. In order to maintain my scholarship, I had to maintain a certain grade point average as well...the same idea.
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Let's go many years back to basics and remind ourselves about the mere fact that schooling is a reward in itself.
Before Liberals came up with the idea of taxing ourselves to pay for public schools, many children did not even have the opportunity to get an education, they remained ignorant and could only find menial jobs, so they lived very hard lives.
I think we ought to tell children that We The People work our butts off and willingly tax ourselves to pay for schools because we want to provide the kids with the reward of the best education opportunities that we possibly can.
Start each school year with an assembly with actual live workers or a film that tells the kids what we do for them and what we expect of them. Tell them that the school, the education, is a reward that we give them in advance so that they can have a good life.
And if some kids lose their way, maybe have a panel that includes workers who will talk to them and remind them what we do for them and what we expect them to do for themselves in return.
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That's a pretty abstract concept for many adults, let alone some kids.
Plus, there is another issue. To use myself as an example, I excelled in math, physics, computer science. I had no interest in chemistry, history, literature, english, etc. I did appreciate public education, but I did not see a reason to push myself in certain topics.
The monetary rewards my parents provided, at least pushed me to give those subjects a shot and to jump through the hoops.
Eventually, despite my strong belief that I should not be required to even take those courses, I developed a strong appreciation for how those subjects impacted me as a person and a member of society.
So, obviously monetary rewards are not the silver bullet, but I think it helps in certain situations without disrespecting hard-working people that pay taxes to fund schools.
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"Before Liberals came up with the idea of taxing ourselves to pay for public schools,"
By the way, it is not really clear from your post what you mean by that. Your post shows an acceptance of, but a lack of approval of, public education.
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A little recognition goes a long way. Kids (especially at risk youth) thrive on positive reinforcement. In a volunteer Program I was directing back when; we gave the kids as many recognition events and incentives as possible, it kept them volunteering, and when you say 'thank you' and 'well done' you can see them shine. These were kids htat didn't hear a lot of positive feedback in their lives, and they would strive to hear more of it.
AmeriCorps also provides a final service stipend after the time-committment of volunteer work... it can be used towards school, or obtaining school supplies, like a laptop.
If that sort of recognition works for volunteers, then it surely will work to keep students engaged and make them feel good about their accomplishments.
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There is something that definitely bugs me about a financial reward, but at the same time, there are perhaps some valuable ways that they may help. I am torn.
A reward can perhaps serve as a crutch, or an antidepressant of sorts. A financial reward is often the wrong reason to motivate someone, but perhaps forcing a student to engage in a topic or work harder, at some point the value of this work may begin to mean something in its own right. Sometimes doing something or trying something, even if it is for the wrong reasons, can lead to other things. Just as the way relying on an antidepressant is not the way to achieve good mental health, but sometimes it takes that boost for the mind to heal and help you sort things out.
Isn't life in a way all about rewards? Doesn't every action and interest give us some form of reward: emotional, fame, love. Most everything we do is predicated by a final reward of sorts, or else why do anything at all? Why even get out of bed in the morning? We all go to work, gosh knows we often hate it. Why? Financial reward. Is knowledge inherently different? Is learning sacred? Not sure! Not sure if this is the path we want to go down either. Perhaps, there is a difference in the quality of types of rewards. Isn't much of society already doing things for the wrong rewards? Or is some attempt better then nothing at all? Perhaps, at some time the 'right' reasons will take over.
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I have worked with low-income students for the past 10 years, and as a high school teacher the past 4 years. This past year I taught at Marshall High School. I wanted to clarify one point: at many public schools in Portland, students are ALREADY given bus passes. At Marshall in particular, that carrot on the end of the stick that Step Up supplies at other sites doesn't carry currency. However, the Step Up students I taught while there were some of the most motivated and successful. It seems to me they've internalized the intrinsic value of education.
Furthermore, if one thinks of school as the job of young people, providing incentives for them mirrors the working world. Generally speaking, the more successful you are in your job, the more money you'll make.
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External motivators or rewards are a part of life, not just education. Many companies provide bonuses to employees for meeting certain performance goals. It works for adults -- why not for kids who may not yet be able to see the reward of education itself?
Like Hanif said, if an incentive helps a student to buy-into education, then it is one less student who is going to drop out of school and one more student who can be a productive member of society.
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I don't like the idea of monetizing education.
I've been thinking lately that we have gone too far in treating schools like businesses, thinking about it in business terms like "efficiencies", "least costs", students as "products" for the corporate worker payrolls and training kids to be consumers.
I think we ought to go back to the idea of educating children to be good, successful, Critically Thinking, and participating citizens of our Democratic Republic.
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As a person that did receive monetary rewards (video games, a car, gas/insurance money) and turned out to be a self-motivated, successful person, I really do not see a link between monetizing education and treating schools like businesses.
However, I agree with the general concept that schools should be treated like businesses. That is essentially what Florida has done in the past couple of years by using a standardized test (FCAT) to grade schools and shifting funding to schools with the students that score the highest on the test. In my opinion, it has been very destructive and set Florida schools back significantly.
...of course, I also think that was the goal. Floridians tend not to believe that they have a responsibility to pay for public education.
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slakr007,
I turned out to be a procrastinating, lazy, wreck of a human being and I received many rewards. I'm somewhat successful, but so what---how much more successful might I have been?
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scottmil,
I think that is the undertone of this whole discussion. Different things work for different people. You cannot generally say monetary rewards work or don't work.
"I'm somewhat successful, but so what---how much more successful might I have been?"
Not sure where you are going with that question.
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slakr007,
Yes, definitely every person and situation is different. I suppose maybe it all falls to what we mean by work and success. Commissions in sales often work, but as a relentless shopper, I can't stand salespeople who generally work on commission. I am sure it works, but what kind of environment does it create and what type of people will it motivate?
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scottmil,
True about salespeople. Best Buy and Fry's, for instance, are definitely strikingly different experiences because of the way they pay their floor staff.
And, you are definitely right. I think some people mentioned it in the show, but applied to the wrong kids, applied without solid standards, or applied excessively, monetary rewards will definitely fail spectacularly in education.
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Students cannot be motivated to learn when their basic needs (housing, safety, food, etc.) are not met. Those children living in poverty, who are homeless, or who have experienced trauma have barriers that the average student does not.
We can motivate students to learn by helping the entire family meet those needs. Parents working two jobs, no health insurance, and who do not have an education themselves find it hard to prioritize excellence in education.
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Rewards seem to be a short term fix to students' motivation.
Based on personal experience, I would have been much more excited about high school if it had a been a safe place for me to be and study.
All the cash in the world would have not made me a happier kid then or made my school a more accepting and fun place to be in.
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I can't help but feel that casting the question so narrowly is a dis-service to the larger problem of how to improve education. Tangible rewards programs are really experiments in what approaches improve results. The healthy approach to improvement is that MANY THINGS should be tried in many places. Some of those things will fail, others not have much of an effect, and others improve the situation to varying extents. Remember, mistakes lead to experience, and experience leads to wisdom. There is no other path than to try many things, make some mistakes, and get wiser!
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I graduated from high school in 2001. When I was in high school, I got A's and B's because I was expected to.
Rewards were unnecessary, but that didn't stop the school from trying. Each year, my high school would "honor" everyone who received high grades in an assembly. Not only was that system horribly tacky, but gruesomely embarrassing.
There were systems in place for high-risk students in which the reward scheme was much more enticing. I don’t know whether this affected their grades at all, but I do know that other students would be jealous. After all, these students received rewards for showing up and doing their homework. Everyone else showed up and did their homework and received nothing. I worry that such a system may serve to alienate students in remedial classes.
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When my kids were in school, we regularly had the "so and so gets paid for good grades, why don't you pay me?" discussion. My reply was always that I felt it sent the wrong message. I expected them to learn for themselves not to earn money. I observed much the same thing at high school graduation, many kids families cheered loudly and I began to get a sense that this was something they'd never expected so was truly a huge accomplishment whereas with mine, I always expected a high school graduation as a step toward a college education.
I think the rewards offered need to carefully thought out so they are truly recognition rather than becoming the end.
I just read recently that middle class kids hear praise something like 70% of the time (not sure of the statistic but it was on the good side) and hear discouragement 30%. For kids at the poverty level, it's usually reversed. That says that praise and recognition are very important and we probably need to up the quantity so they're getting encouragement often.
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As a student, many years ago, I struggled in grade school (had about a 1.5) but showed steady improvement at each level from there on. I did have a melt down my first two quarters in college but then took 3 years off (military and service volunteer). Completed my BS degree with a 3.5 and have a master's degree. Never had a "rewards" program that I remember.
Worked as a teacher's aid during college where we had a heavy reward program. Had to be two grades behind your peers and a behavior problem. Script for good behavior, participation and academic progress. Script was used to buy from the "store". They could buy items and/or field trips. Saw this program get some student through Jr. High.
As the father of six kids, 5 of the 6 have advanced degrees (1 Associates, 4 Bachelor degrees and one Ph.D) we participated in all the rewards programs offered but seldom provided them as parents. Rewards programs we instituted were abused or ignored (maybe we weren't good at designing them).
I beleive rewards do good for some students but many others just aren't ready or motivated by them.
Cliff
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I'd like to see the idea of school reframed from "you have to go to school", to you get to go to school".
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Again, not that I wholly disagree with you...but do you wake up every morning and celebrate that you "get to go to work" instead of "have to go to work"? It's the same thing, but it's not like you hate freedom if you get up in the morning and grumble because you do not want to go to work.
And, I would argue that you do have to go to school. Yeah, it's great that you get the opportunity, and we should celebrate that at least from time to time, but you do have to go to school. 200 years ago, you could make a great life for yourself without school. School was a luxury back then.
Public schooling ended the idea of schooling being a luxury and brought us into an age where almost everyone has a fair chance at doing almost anything. The cost is that education is a life requirement now because life is so complex.
Even college level education is becoming more and more of a requirement.
Besides, short of sending children to Afghanistan for a few months, I'm not sure you can really get them to appreciate such abstract concepts. Some will get it, many will not.
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Although I am not completely against rewards, I believe they are overused in our schools. If our schools were set up in such a way that we could reach the whole child through music, art and reasonable class sizes, we would not need rewards. I do not use rewards in my primary classroom. I feel it stresses out small children when we resort to this token system and robs them of their internal satisfaction. Punished by Rewards is an excellent book to read which sheds light on this viewpoint. That being said, I believe there are some situations where rewards could be helpful. Proper support and routine, however, should be the baseline.
My children attend a school where rewards are not part of the system in any way. They are very motivated and engaged with the material and can eloquently explain just why rewards are not needed at their school (MLC). I believe this system grows more independent people who can think for themselves.
I also believe that we are forgetting just how negative rewards and labels can become. I am aware of a primary classroom where children are awarded at assembly based on whether or not they can write their numbers to 100. If you cannot do this task for whatever reason, you must sit down while the other students stand. I believe this is an example of the worst kind of reward system where children are punished because they are not properly supported at home or are not on the same developmental plane as their peers.
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I am one week away from beginning my 25th year teaching middle school. I was an intrinsically motivated student who loved learning. My own kids, 13 & 16, are different. The 16 year old is just beginning to see beyond today when he undertakes something. Thus far, he has been motivated extrinsically, and rewards of money and privileges have helped get him through school. He's beginning to think about the future, and we'll see this year if he can look beyond the present moment when he's doing schoolwork. At my school, a Title I school, we reward effort by basing our honor roll on effort, rather than achievement. It makes a tremendous difference for the lower achieving kids, including many of the special education and ESL kids. School is such hard work for them in the first place, that being acknowledged for their hard work at a school-wide assembly goes a long way toward building ongoing improvement in school. Begin with extrinsic rewards and mentoring relationships and, over time, the intrinsic motivation will come.
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Very good post! keep up the good work.
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I was not rewarded for good grades because a 4.0 GPA was the minimum standard to be met. I never achieved 4.0 but I'm still here. My parents hammered home the need for me to be self motivated. They taught me to seek satisfaction from my efforts and not to wait for approbation from others.
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Research shows that rewarding incremental student achievement or behaviors has a positive impact on students' motivation and academic performance. As stated above, there are a number of programs across the country that are exploring the use of incentives in the educational arena. The key to effective incentive programs is implementation - there is a research-based online platform called uBoost that allows teachers or administrators to effectively implement an incentive program. It lets the teachers decide what to award, when, and how much "value" to place on the behavior or achievement. Students earn points which can be redeemed for a variety of rewards (all online!) or even donated to charity! uBoost was used in some of the NY programs... check it out - www.uboost.com.
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Comments are now closed.
I'm a mom who struggled with motivating our kids to get good grades and was going to say I didn't think a financial incentive would be a good idea. Then I remembered that when our older son wanted to get a car, we told him we would buy his insurance only if he maintained a B average to get the insuance company's "good student" price break. And you know? It worked. Now I'm only sorry we didn't set the bar a littler higher to see how well he might have done...
By the time kids get to high school, they either think learning is fun or they don't, so whatever will help keep them interested and involved in school is a good idea. And isn't money what we're using to get our kids to go on to college, with all those statistics about how much more money people with higher degrees can make and scholarships dangling in front of kids with the best grades?
By the way, both our kids did graduate from college, not with an eye toward making lots of money, but because they found something else that really inspired them. As they matured, they figured out, as many people do, why education is important, but at 13 they sure didn't understand it.