What do you think about paying students to get good grades?

I’m all for motivating them to do well, but we’d be far better off to teach them how much a good education pays off in the first place.

No, just give them lurve and silly awards… :P

I think that grades are backward, and don’t promote learning. Education should be about the application of the natural desire to learn which all student have, given the right subject.

But if we have grades, then sure why not, give it a shot. I doubt it will really work though, we need to completely rethink education, not bribe students to give a crap about their own future because we can’t think of anything else to motivate them.

“Here sport, have some money, now you’re becoming a true capitalist, just like Mommy and Daddy! When you go up, you’ll earn money just like this! And you can buy even more things with it, that’s why you should learn in school so you can consume more products and feed the economy. Good job.”

Are there not enough vacancies at McDonalds anymore?? Let them pay their own way I say… if they fail so be it…….
In the UK it’s just been stopped….... too many freeloaders….

It’s gunna suck when they have to pay to learn in college.

Too desperate for my taste. I heard about something like this a few years ago and if I could recall correctly this program would not hand cash to the students but put the money in a savings program of sorts. I would be willing to give it a try and do a thorough analysis of its effectiveness while at it.

Stupid idea. It is actually demotivating because as soon as they don’t get paid, they feel like there’s no reason to learn. In addition, there are too many ways to game the system. Teachers could give out A’s for kickbacks, for example. Stupid, stupid.

@everephebe has it right. Grades don’t promote learning. They are beside the point. Grades are for unimaginative education systems that need to prove they are doing something to equally unimaginative government officials and also unimaginative employers.

Last night, my daughter, who is, for the first time in a public school (9th grade) was complaining bitterly about how the school stifles a person’s interest in learning. She says they could not find a more boring way to present the information. It’s no wonder no one is interested in the text books.

She is used to learning by getting involved. No matter what subject, the school she went to made it personal. There were no textbooks. Of course she is getting straight A’s, but I am really worried about what they are doing to her. We’ve suggested all kinds of remedies, but she isn’t interested. It’s as if she is doing her prison time so that she can get into college. And get this: this is the top high school in a major city. 99% of graduates go on to college.

It isn’t grades that will motivate students. It is teaching methods that will motivate students. Administrators have to get over their “discipline first” mindset and let kids explore their world and do work that is relevant. You want to teach history? Take them down to the archeological dig where they proved that George Washington had slaves. You want to teach ecology, take them to the farm land and have them test run-off from the fields.

I could go on and on. This isn’t difficult to figure out how to teach things that actually matter and that actually lead student on to bigger questions. Or maybe it is difficult for teachers who have been brought up within this system. It’s a kind of regression toward the mean that speaks of the general uncomfortableness with thinking in our society. Not just uncomfortableness, but actual hostility if you listen to many government and religious officials. “This is a thought free zone.” That sign should be hung over the doors of the capital building in Washington.

I think it’s not a good idea. People should want to learn and not treat education as a means to an end. They shouldn’t treat college education like that either.

I’m fine with the idea. I think it is worth a try.

I think it is ridiculous.

I think it should be up to the parents to determine what the incentive should be for their children when they bring home good grades. Not all kids respond to the same stimulus.

Are we talking about non-postsecondary students here? I don’t think it’s a good idea. That money could be better spent improving the school system and training teachers in new ways to better “reach” kids.

At a lot of Canadian universities, the school will give the students a tuition break depending on their average marks the previous year. For example, if your average was between 80% and 85%, you might get $1000 off your tuition. If it was between 85% and 90%, you get $1500 off. (I’m not sure of the actual figures, and they likely fluctuate from school to school anyway; that was just a f’rinstance.) I like that system, personally. Because we have to pay for university education, it’s nice to be recognized for doing well academically. But it’s not really an incentive, more of a reward, at least in my mind.

However, I do see a wide gap between knocking a grand off a university student’s tuition and paying an 11-year-old for getting As.

With kids, I really think it’s up to parents to decide whether (and how) to reward their children for academic performance.

I think it’s bullshit. ;)

Here is an article on the topic.

This explains it is working in some cases.

working to do what though? How are good grades teaching children how to be happy healthy adults?

@FluffyChicken Good grades can affect the rest of your life if you want to go on to college.

No, it’s preposterous.

I like the idea, but I have seen some plans that actually raise a student’s grade in exchange for various favors, such as donations and community service. That is very wrong.

A good program I saw was when a prominent businessman promised a first grade class he would pay for college for every student in that class that graduated. He recently made good on that promise.

I see nothing wrong with states giving students credit towards college for good grades. Georgia has a program that a lot of people seem to like a lot. Personally, I think students should be tested in 11th grade, and then tracked towards either 2 years of vocational/trade education or 2 years of junior college. Going vocational/trade wouldn’t stop someone from going on to college if they desired, and would help provide some marketable skills if they decided they didn’t want to. Even people who decide to cut grass for a living would benefit from basic business education and horticulture classes.

As a parent, I offered a bonus for good grades, which was either money or a priviledge, and we took the report card to the ice cream shop for the free cone that you got if you had a B average or better.

Isn’t that what scholarships are??

Also, there is already far too many extrinsic rewards given to students. I feel that is one of the problems with the current education system. More parents have to start instilling intrinsic motivation within their children towards education and it’s consequences.