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9486 in the collection
Earn an A? Here's $50.
Here's the subtitle: (Eke
out a C? That's still good for $20.) A Chicago
Public Schools pilot program will pay up to
5,000 freshmen for good grades. Is that a smart
idea?
Ohanian Comment: Note how they get
"Harvard-designed" into the first sentence. Of
course the reporter fails to mention who
supports this scheme in New York City and
elsewhere:
* Broad Foundation
* Harvard University
* Kaplan Educational Foundation
* National Science Foundation
* Smith Richardson Foundation
Familiar names--except the Smith Richard
Foundation. Financed by the Vicks Vaporub
fortune, this foundation is noted for funding
conservative and centrist groups, including:
Center for Strategic and International Studies,
$3,135,061
American Enterprise Institute, $2,942,532
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International
Studies (SAIS) at John Hopkins; $2,680,334
Brookings Institute, $2,629,870
RAND Corporation, $1,854,061
Hudson Institute, $1,595,510
National Institute for Public Policy,
$1,534,334
Urban Institute, $1,492,624
Freedom House, Inc., $1,109,500
Council on Foreign Relations, $883,023
This plan is the brainchild of Harvardite
Roland G. Frye, who argues that some children,
especially those from impoverished backgrounds,
lack the foresight and role models to be self-
motivated, so money is a substitute motivator.
Why don't they advocate changing the
curriculum? Offering children curriculum that
is enticing and engaging, instead of advocating
that children be paid for doing well on tests
that promote a curriculum of test prep?
This is what you get when you sign onto the
Broad Foundation plan for urban schools: Let
the strong mayor with his business model take
over the schools. Then you get districts like
New York City, Boston, and Chicago using
economic theory to set policy regarding student
motivation, completely ignoring what
psychologist have known for thirty years.
These assumptions that economists make about
human motivation, though intuitive and
straightforward, are false. In particular, the
idea that adding motives always helps is false.
There are circumstances in which adding an
incentive competes with other motives and
diminishes their impact.
Remember what happened when New York City
offered students up to $1,000 for scoring well
on Advanced Placement tests? The number who
passed the tests declined.
These chief honchos claim that no one has
figured out how to get more children living in
poverty engaged in learning. There are plenty
of teachers who can offer up anecdotes (which
David Berliner rightly insists we should call
data) about getting poor children engaged in
learning.
Let's start with Daniel Fader's Hooked on
Books. You can buy a used copy on
Amazon.com for $2.00 plus postage. I was lucky
enough to hear Fader describe his very simple
program the summer following my first year of
teaching. It transformed my life, not to
mention my pedagogy.
By Carlos Sadovi
Up to 5,000 freshmen at 20 Chicago public high
schools will get cash for good—and even average
—grades as part of a new, Harvard-designed test
program that city education leaders are rolling
out Thursday.
Students will be measured every five weeks in
math, English, social sciences, science and
physical education. An A nets $50, a B equals
$35 and a C still brings in $20. Students will
get half the money upfront, with the remainder
paid upon graduation. A straight-A student
could earn up to $4,000 by the end of his or
her sophomore year.
Parents have been rewarding children for
stellar report cards for decades. Chicago
Public Schools officials are nodding to that
tradition and saying the idea is to get
students to stay in school and do well while
they're there.
"The majority of our students don't come from
families with a lot of economic wealth. I'm
always trying to level the playing field," said chief executive Arne Duncan. "This is the kind
of incentive that middle-class families have
had for decades."
Critics suggest that what amounts to bribing
students to get good grades isn't the right
lesson to teach.
"It's a terrible idea, because you're getting
people to do things for the wrong reasons,"
said Barry Schwartz, a Swarthmore College
psychology professor who has written on the
issue. "They'll do well in school, maybe, but
they won't take any of it out with them.
Instead of trying to cultivate an interest in
learning, curiosity . . . you are just turning
this into another job."
The message is selling just fine, however, at
Uplift Community High School in Uptown.
Jeremy Kellum, 14, a freshman, said that
although he's accustomed to getting C's,
especially in science and social studies,
getting paid as much as $4,000 is all the
incentive he needs to hit the books harder.
"I do love green money. . . . I'll shoot for
A's instead of slacking off, getting by with a
C now," Kellum said. "My plan is to study more,
to not play in class as much as I did last
year, and basically pay attention to the
teacher and take good notes and pass tests."
Duncan said that's the type of dedication he's
after from students.
Focus on freshmen
The program is aimed at freshmen because
research shows a correlation between how well
students do in 9th grade to overall high school
success, he said. During the first two years of
high school, students are at most risk of
dropping out, which is why the district's
program covers students through the end of
sophomore year.
About 58 percent of CPS freshman students are
considered "on-track," up 1 percent from the
previous year. That means a freshman has earned
at least five course credits and failed no more
than one semester in either English, math,
social sciences or science, officials said.
Students must have earned six credits a year to
be eligible to graduate.
Under the reward plan, students who receive an
F in any of the five courses won't get any
money until they have scored a C or better in
that failed subject either the following
semester or in summer school, Duncan said.
"I see the freshman year as a life-changing
experience; I want to keep those kids in school
and reward them for doing the right thing,"
Duncan said. "We can't do enough to put the
spotlight on students who work very hard and
overcome tough odds."
District officials said the 20 high schools
were chosen by lottery out of 65 that applied.
Duncan noted that at the selected schools, the
"overwhelming majority" of students come from
families in poverty.
A parent's perspective
Kelly Taylor, a union carpenter who said he has
been without work for four months because of
the slow economy, had nothing but praise for
the program.
"It gives the students something to really
shoot for, she already likes school it makes it
better for her to meet her goals," Taylor said.
"I can't afford to give $50 for every A."
His daughter, Amanda Navarro, 14, an Uplift
freshman, said that although her father
constantly tells her he's proud of her for
getting good grades, the financial incentives
offer an added reward.
"I was already planning on going for the best
and getting straight A's; this just gets me
more excited to do it," Navarro said. "A 4.0
[grade point average] is good, plus $2,000 is
even better."
Chicago patterned its plan on New York's
voluntary program started last year. Fourth
graders there can make up to $250 a year and
7th graders double that by doing well on tests
10 times a year. But officials there say it's
too early to tell whether the program is
working.
New York experiment
"In NYC we face tremendous challenges and we
have a significant achievement gap . . . so we
are not wedded to these programs but we do
think its worth exploring, those students who
are not getting the motivation at home maybe
the school can help. We are giving it a shot;
we want to see how this works," said Maibe
Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for New York City
Schools.
Sol Stern, a researcher at the Manhattan
Institute, a conservative think tank, said the
program in Washington, which also rewards
behavior, amounts to a "bribe."
"Don't beat up your teacher—we'll give you
money," Stern said.
Uplift Principal Stephanie Moore said that
although she first disagreed with the proposal
because she did not believe it was right to pay
students for their academic success, she
changed her mind when she remembered growing up
as a public school student in a Chicago family
with little money.
"I thought kids should want to get good grades
because it's the right thing to do," she said.
"Then I saw the kids' enthusiasm and I thought
this would be a great incentive for kids who
want to do the right thing, who don't want to
be on the streets."
— Carlos Sadovi
Chicago Tribune
2008-09-11
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
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