AJC.com > Blogs > Get Schooled > Archives > 2008 > January > 22
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Paying Students To Learn
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With metro Atlanta public schools regularly offering goodies — such as MP3 players and bikes — to encourage students to attend classes, perhaps it was only a matter of time local educators decided to bait kids with cold hard cash.
According to a media advisory e-mailed to reporters this morning, Fulton County Schools will announce a new “Learn & Earn” initiative Thursday that will “test the hypothesis that extrinsic motivation (pay for attendance and participation) will improve academic performance….”
(Seriously, folks. I’m not making this up.)
For 15 weeks, 40 selected eighth-graders from Bear Creek Middle School and 11th-graders from Creekside High School — both in Fairburn — will be paid to attend free after-school tutoring in math and science.
According to the news advisory, the plan was conceived by former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and will be privately funded by Charles Loudermilk, founder of the Aaron Rents furnishings company.
“There are numerous variables involved when a student performs below expectations in school, including economics,” the e-mail stated. “The study seeks to show whether monetary incentives do, in fact, improve classroom attendance, grades and test scores.”
I wonder if it will also determine whether kids learn the value of an education?
UPDATE: AJC education reporter Michelle Shaw got some interesting reactions to Fulton’s initiative. Kati Haycock, president of the Washington-based Education Trust, which advocates for minority students, told her: “Are there risks of this? Sure. But are there risks of not trying it? Oh yeah, probably bigger ones.”
Services »
