Paying Students for Grades: Are we cheapening education?

Is merit pay for students common sense or a disaster waiting to happen?

Teachers have always sought out new and effective ways to motivate students, but now business leaders are getting involved. With private funding, schools across the country are testing a new strategy: paying students for good grades and higher test scores.

According to an Ed Week blog, a study done in connection with Boston College and the Educational Testing Service shows that NAEP scores went up when students were either paid to take the test or paid to do well.

"In the end, the study found, both of the monetary incentives spurred students to do better than they might have otherwise, although the second condition, in which part of the payout hinged on the students getting answers correct, proved to be the stronger incentive. Under both conditions, though, scores for both male and female students were, on average, at least 5 points higher than the scores for the no-incentive group."

The business community also supports this foray into incentivizing student achievement. USA Today got the lowdown from CEO’s on the subject:

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