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Kids Score 40 Percent Higher When They Get Paid For Grades

A large number of schools participating in a pay-for-grades program have seen test scores in reading and math go up by almost 40 percentage points. The Sparks program will pay seventh-graders up to $500 and fourth-graders as much as $250 for good performance on 10 assessment tests. About two-thirds of the 59 schools in the program improved their scores by margins above the citywide average. "It's an ego booster in terms of self-worth. When they get the checks, there's that competitiveness -- 'Oh, I'm going to get more money than you next time' -- so it's something that excites them," said Rose Marie Mills, principal at MS 343 in Mott Haven. Critics, who are unaware that most college students don't become liberal arts majors, argue that paying kids corrupts the notion of learning for education's sake alone.

3 of 716 comments (clear)

  1. Dang... by scubamage · · Score: 5, Funny

    Glad it wasn't me. If I had that much cash back then it would have all been spent on pot. Smoking that much reefer would have to be bad for a developing mind... I might have become a physics major or something!

  2. Re:Education's sake? by interkin3tic · · Score: 5, Funny

    In some areas right now they argue you need a PhD to do silicon verification

    In my experience, nerdy professors are far worse at spotting fake boobs than your average joe.

  3. Re:Education's sake? by Kell+Bengal · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't know, society has a way of filtering out people that are destructive or at least finding creative ways to embrace the destructive nature of particular individuals

    Where else would we find police and armed forces recruits?

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