Should Kids Be Bribed to Do Well in School?

[classicman]

To find out, a Harvard economist named Roland Fryer Jr. did something education researchers almost never do: he ran a randomized experiment in hundreds of classrooms in multiple cities. He used mostly private money to pay 18,000 kids a total of $6.3 million and brought in a team of researchers to help him analyze the effects. He got death threats, but he carried on. The results, which he shared exclusively with TIME, represent the largest study of financial incentives in the classroom - and one of the more rigorous studies ever on anything in education policy. (See Roland Fryer Jr. in the 2009 TIME 100.)

The experiment ran in four cities: Chicago, Dallas, Washington and New York. Each city had its own unique model of incentives, to see which would work best. Some kids were paid for good test scores, others for not fighting with one another. The results are fascinating and surprising. They remind us that kids, like grownups, are not puppets. They don't always respond the way we expect.

In the city where Fryer expected the most success, the experiment had no effect at all - "as zero as zero gets," as he puts it. In two other cities, the results were promising but in totally different ways. In the last city, something remarkable happened. Kids who got paid all year under a very elegant scheme performed significantly better on their standardized reading tests at the end of the year. Statistically speaking, it was as if those kids had spent three extra months in school, compared with their peers who did not get paid.

"These are substantial effects, as large as many other interventions that people have thought to be successful," says Brian Jacob, a University of Michigan public-policy and economics professor who has studied incentives and who reviewed Fryer's study at TIME's request. If incentives are designed wisely, it appears, payments can indeed boost kids' performance as much as or more than many other reforms you've heard about before - and for a fraction of the cost.

Money is not enough. (It never is.) But for some kids, it may be part of the solution. In the end, we all want our children to grow into self-motivated adults. The question is, How do we help them get there? And is it possible that at least for some kids, the road is paved not with stickers but with $20 bills?

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If it worked it'd be cheaper than welfare and better for the economy.

[Shawnee123]

Gimme 60 bucks and I'll answer this question.

[skysidhe]

Some parents give their kids an allowance and withhold it if they get out of line. I wasn't one of those kids but we got things like horses and goats. Horses,NICE....the goat,,,not so much.

[Griff]

Heh, my kids only get goats.

[ZenGum]

Worse, his goats only get kids.

[DanaC]

Well, it does kind of seem strange that we, as adults, expect to be rewarded for our efforts, but we expect kids to just do it for love of doing it.

They grow up in a world where people are financially compensated for their time and efforts, but their own efforts are expected to be given freely.

[Clodfobble]

Parents began using the paychecks as progress reports, contacting teachers to find out why their kids' checks had gone up or down.

Just like with the iPods that school district was giving away in another thread... it's not just about bribing the kids.

It's actually a nicely self-selecting group: the parents who don't want their kids to participate in such a bribery program are the parents who are already going to be doing a better job of raising their kids. The parents who think it's a great idea for their kid are the ones who aren't going to be doing a great job anyway, so for those kids it might very well be the most effective option.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by DanaC

They grow up in a world where people are financially compensated for their time and efforts, but their own efforts are expected to be given freely.

There is a matter of that $100,000, or whatever it is these days, it costs to raise the average kid. Doing well in school is their job.

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

It's actually a nicely self-selecting group: the parents who don't want their kids to participate in such a bribery program are the parents who are already going to be doing a better job of raising their kids. The parents who think it's a great idea for their kid are the ones who aren't going to be doing a great job anyway, so for those kids it might very well be the most effective option.

There could also be a third group, parents that are doing a good job but struggling financially, or money hungry, that welcome any input.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by DanaC

They grow up in a world where people are financially compensated for their time and efforts, but their own efforts are expected to be given freely.

Room & Board are not free. Nor are the vacations, movies and most other whims parents pay for today. Kids today don't see that as much as I think those of past generations did. They all but expect mommy & daddy to pay for things.

[skysidhe]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

Worse, his goats only get kids.

HA!

Originally Posted by Griff

Heh, my kids only get goats.

I saw your goats. Cream sable and soft. They look like nice goats! and they produce babies which I am sure get lots of ooohs and awws.


This goat produced nothing but mayhem.He was white skinny and liked to knock us down and eat our hair.I don't think my dad liked running outside to save his kids (young at the time )from the man eating goat so the goat got sold. Well he disappeared anyway.

All the animals did after awhile until only the horses were left and we were old enough to take care of them ourselves by then and we never minded not getting an allowance or paid.

Originally Posted by classicman

Room & Board are not free. Nor are the vacations, movies and most other whims parents pay for today. Kids today don't see that as much as I think those of past generations did. They all but expect mommy & daddy to pay for things.

When I was a kid all of us kids used to pick berries to pay for concert tickets. I'm not sure what kids do these days to earn money.

[TheMercenary]

I don't see a problem with it.

We wanted our oldest to start to read more and so we offered her a nickle for each book she read. She started to really read a ton. So we had to go to a nickle for each three books, then it went to a quarter for 5 books. Eventually she just wanted to read. The money stopped but she never stopped reading. By the time we was tested in HS she was reading at the grade level of a kid in there second year of college. So it worked for that kid. It did not however work for the other two kids. They never wanted to do it, and still do not like to read to this day. The second one who is in college now is figuring out the hard way that he will not pass if he does not read more, a bit late but he is figuring it out. Different things motivates different kids differently, even in the same family.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Bah, they all need a good caning, the snot nosed whippersnappers.

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Well, it does kind of seem strange that we, as adults, expect to be rewarded for our efforts, but we expect kids to just do it for love of doing it.

They grow up in a world where people are financially compensated for their time and efforts, but their own efforts are expected to be given freely.

Knowing what I know about you...don't you love learning for the sake of learning? I was never compensated for my efforts as a kid, but there was a fair exchange of "if you did what you were supposed to do, yeah, I guess we can swing some money for you to go to the movies."

My mom did teach me to love learning. We actually talked about that today, my mom and older brother and I. She said "aren't you glad I wanted you to THINK?" My brother and I agreed that a free exchange of thought and ideas is learning, and its own reward.

They didn't have to bribe me to do well. I was happy with the results, and bolstered by the look of pride on my parents' faces when I succeeded.

Now, the looks on their faces when I fucked up? That's another thread!

edit: my older brother is quite the conservative, and, well, you know me.

[Shawnee123]

Addendum, just thoughts:

As kids, learning things was coming at full force. There was always something happening that was new.

As adults, we seek learning. We've seen a lot, we've been through a lot. Yet we still crave new knowledge. We take classes or read something or google something or try a new hobby or engage in conversation at a place such as the Cellar.

[classicman]

Great points Shaw, but I'm not convinced that its even many - certainly isn't most. Absolutely some though.