Buying better grades for high schoolers

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You have to hand it to American ingenuity for finding a way to showcase the American free enterprise system, creativity and quest for cash.

If students aren't motivated by good grades for their own sake, could they be motivated by the prospect of winning some cash? Educators are hoping both the students AND the schools will cash in on this idea.

 Steven Wolf and Jeremy Gelbart, two students from Queens College in New York, have created a website called Ultrinsic Motivator which can leave participants richer, as long as they earn good grades.

Here's how it works: if students want 'in',  they each pay $22 to participate, $20 of which is deposited in the pool of prize money.  At the end of the course, the pool is equally divvied up between all players who earn an "A" in their course.  To level the playing field, students with high GPAs are not allowed to enter.

 It's controversial, but the approach has garnered both grants and donations and has also been used to boost participation in after school tutoring or for higher achievement on standardized tests.

 Twenty Chicago high schools have started a pilot program with freshmen to test the idea, and every five weeks their grades are reviewed which can earn them $50 for an A, $35 for a B and $20 for a C. So far, it seems to have worked. But what has it taught?

Work = Money; isn't that part of the American value system? 

I am not advocating this, I'm merely reporting it......for additional information and even more ideas to try, see:   http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2009/03/04/better-grades-throug...


(By the way, I was fascinated to know that '...studies at charter schools found that simply stringing bright lights on the door of a high-achieving classroom was enough to positively affect the effort of both students in that class and nearby classes.')

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