rewards

Some of American schools pay teachers more if their students improve on tests. Now there is a growing movement to pay the students in some cases even just for coming to class. Students at one school in New Maxico can earn upto 300 dollars a year for good attendance. A program in New York city pays upto 500 dollars for good attendance and high test scores. In Baltimore, Maryland, high scores on state education tests can be worth more than 100 dollars. And New Jersey school system plans to pay students 50 dollars per week to attend after school tutoring program. Schools that pay students can be found in more than 1/4 of the 50 states. Other schools pay students with foods or other rewords. Robert Schaefer is public education director for the National Center for Fair and Open testing and activist group. He says paying may improve performence in short turn, but students develop false expectations for the future. He sees a lack of long turn planning in these programs, because the pressure on schools to raise test scores.

Public schools need to show improvement under the education reform law signed by President Bush six years ago. Low-performing schools may lose their federal money; teachers and administrators may lose their jobs. Often these schools are in poor neighborhoods where getting students to go to school can be a continual problem.

Critics say paying students sends a message that money is the only valuable reward. But some students say it makes school more exciting. And some teachers have reported getting more requests for extra help.

In two thousand four, the city schools in Coshocton, Ohio, launched a program. They wanted to see if paying elementary school students as much as one hundred dollars would help in passing state exams.

Now, Eric Bettinger of Case Western Reserve University has reported mixed results. Math scores increased, but only while students were able to get paid. And there was no evidence of higher scores in reading, social studies and science. Officials will decide later this year whether to continue the program. Yet adults get paid for their work. And if teachers can be rewarded for their students' work, then why not the students themselves? This is what some people say.