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Monday, August 21, 2006
Cold, Hard Cash
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There’s an op-ed in today’s paper titled, “It Pays to Learn: Money Rings Bell, Gets Even Poorest Students to Excel.” It’s on page A-9. Unfortunately, the ajc does not have the rights to post the piece online.
The author writes: “Why do we eliminate incentives from our public education system? We all agree that educating our children is important, but we fail to use the most proven performance-enhancement tool in the marketplace - cold, hard cash.”
He goes onto say he’s a partner in a law firm that offered cash prizes to students at a California school. Eighth-graders got from $25 to $250 based on their score on an algebra test designed to be graded on a bell curve to avoid ties, the author writes. Volunteers worked with the kids before the test. Later, when the kids took the state-mandated algebra exam, their performance was much better than the previous year’s eighth-graders.
“Our prize structure reflected the reality of our global economy, with the better educated receiving and ever-greater share of the pie,” he wrote.
Students thanked the volunteers for the cash prizes, saying their family needed it. The volunteers emphasized that the students had earned it. The program has since been expanded.
How about it, Get Schooled readers. Love it or hate it?
