Paying Kids for Grades Works (Kind of)

As a teacher, I ran across numerous families where children were paid for grades. Each letter grade was assigned a monetary value, and kids were compensated accordingly at report card time. Although I never encountered a parent willing to dock a child for a D or an F, plenty of them were pleased with the results that pay for grades produced in their own children.

It always made me a bit uneasy. I don’t really buy into the notion that students should study and learn for learning’s own sake. That flies in the face of real life. I didn’t always work hard as a teacher simply because I believed in the sacredness of educating the young. Sometimes – those odd years when every student sitting in front of me seemed spawned by the devil himself – I did it for the money, which paid my bills and kept my moderately comfortable. My motives aren’t always free of self-interest, so I don’t expect students to be either. Students are really just mini-versions of the adults they live with and most of us are not very Buddha-like.

But I wondered at the lessons that were really being learned by students for whom money was the driving incentive for working hard and achieving. Children don’t always learn the most obvious lesson, or even the lessons we think we are teaching them.

As it turns out, compensating kids for their effort in school does work, but not the way we think it does and not with all children. It turns out that age, circumstances and the way students are rewarded matters.

Roland Fryer Jr., a Harvard economist, conducted a study designed to test the merits of bribing. He set up experiments in four school districts – Chicago, New York City, Dallas and Washington D.C. and what he discovered has caused quite a stir in the education community, which routinely goes back and forth on the issue of “bribing” students.

Each city was given its own reward model. For example, in one city children were paid for doing well on tests. In another city the rewards were based on improving behavior. What Fryer learned was that in situations where the students had the most ability to control the outcomes, the reward model worked. When students couldn’t see how to influence the outcomes based on their own efforts, the experiment failed.

Rewarding students for improving scores on standardized tests failed because there is little a student can do to influence the outcome. They can’t study for these tests specifically. However, students who were paid for each book they read (Houston) or to improve their behavior (Washington) did succeed. The Houston children in particular made great gains even though their reward ($2 per book) was the smallest, although the fact that they were the youngest participants in the study might have also influenced their willingness to participate.

In the U.S. we have quite opposing views of the purpose of education. On the one hand, education is held up as a virtue to be aspired to while on the other it is seen as the path to economic viability. It is no wonder then that our children are equally as torn where motivation is concerned.

I don’t bribe my own daughter. She is told that school is simply her lot in life as a child. There are skills she needs to acquire and things she needs to learn so that she can someday leave home and take care of herself. However, my husband and I do reward her on occasion for her efforts. Report cards invariably lead to a stop at the school’s book fair on conference night for a new book and possible a bookmark or sparkly pen. At not quite eight, she views rewards differently than she will in a few years and that’s okay.

The Fryer study is important in this era of test taking as measures of both students and teachers, and school officials at all levels would do well to take a closer look at it.

Classroom by peruisay

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Marta W.

10:37AM PDT on Oct 16, 2010

it's ok once in a while, when a child puts much effort to succeed but not every parent can afford this on a regular basis, I guess.

send a green star

KayL N.

11:28AM PDT on Jul 2, 2010

Rewarding good grades and good behaviour with hugs, smiles and lots of praise can be just as effective -- if not more so -- than going the easy route and simply rewarding them with money.

Mathematics S.

3:19PM PDT on Jun 12, 2010

If it causes the kid's grades to come up then I don't see any harm in it.

Mario V.

9:13AM PDT on May 9, 2010

NO! To money or any material things. A nice compliment should go a long way.

Alison A.

5:20PM PDT on Apr 26, 2010

In some countries children have to fight to receive an education and if they succeed, they want to work hard. It is sad that resorting to bribery is the only way to encourage some children to learn.

Please read and share, rescued horses will die without your support.

http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/1473213

Georgina J.

8:23AM PDT on Apr 26, 2010

Good article Ann B. thanks for sharing, :-).
~hugs~

8:21AM PDT on Apr 26, 2010

Paying cash for good grades in school, to me is the
form of a Bribe. Somewhere if the child is not interested
in a particular subject, (which happens-they are individuals
too), you don't pay them because, they could not learn
the subject, so the child can use it against you and
say, you don't pay me, I won't study!
Then, now, it is time for College...whew..all is expensive
now!!! They way, where is my Money for my grades?! haa.

A child needs to know, that school is a form of everyone
of us learning to eventually go out and lead their
own productive lives (being well educated).

Allowances, (money) was always given to us kids
in the form of the chores we did around the house,
which is like going to work somewhere and getting
paid, (we learned responsibilties as well), but,
never got paid for Grades!
Each parent to their own, tho.
Just my 2 cents!! lol..
~hugs~

Mary S.

7:48AM PDT on Apr 26, 2010

Right or wrong, we live in world dominated by financial considerations. It does not seem inherently wrong to me to pay children for hard work in school, especially if it results in higher grades or better behaviour, if that is an issue. I do feel that the money must be paid by the parents, not the schools/taxpayers and based on family income. And for many children something other than money may be a better reward.

As an example of non-financial rewards, at my five year old daughter's school they have a program called C.A.R.E. which stands for compassion, academics, respect and extra effort. Slips are handed to any child seen to be exhibiting these qualities at school. They can be given by teachers, staff or other kids. Each Friday all the slips are placed in a draw for a small prize at the weekly assembly. My little girl got a number of care slips in her first months of school this year and her proud smile lit up the room and made her more aware that her behaviour was seen and appreciated by others.

It is interesting to note that we already have a system of bribery in place at the high school level. The students with the highest grades recieve the biggest scholarships to the best universities. As it was I didn't have to work at all in school to get "ok" grades, so I put no effort into it at all. If I had been rewarded for better grades I would likely have worked harder to achieve better grades and might have smaller student loans to repay today.

7:13AM PDT on Apr 26, 2010

High marks, at least at the high school level are generally always financially rewarded in the form of scholarships to university or college. Usually the higher the grades the more money you will get towards tuition. Why should it be any different for the lower grades?

I am not convinced that the cash needs to come from the school districts or tax payers, (and I know not all parents can afford to pay for good grades) but the higest achieving students will always benefit from extra recognition, whether from cash or non-financial rewards. Some form of "extra" or special treat would have made me want to work harder in school. I might owe less in student loans today. As it was I got by with no effort and saw no point in working harder. I was convinced (right or wrong), that no one would have noticed and it would not have made any difference in my future. Recognition, even in the form of cash, should not necessarily be considered a bad thing.

Debbie Z.

2:55PM PDT on Apr 25, 2010

Children should not be paid for grades by their school or their parents. What happens when they get to college, and they're no longer paid for grades? Other reward systems my fellow teachers and I have used with students work better. These include pizza parties for the entire class at the end of each quarter for appropriate behavior and improvement of their skills. Systems such as this make each kid responsible for the class' progress. A similar reward system implemented at home would be more beneficial than paying a child for grades. With school budgets being slashed, paying for grades isn't economically feasible, especially in poorer school districts.