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: BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog

Incentives have their benefits . . . we think

Ahhh to be in school again. BoardBuzz would have loved to receive gifts for being a good student. There were no such rewards back in BoardBuzz's day, but many of today's students are much luckier. There are a growing number of schools that are providing cash, MP3 players, and other gifts to students for such things as displaying good behavior, completing assignments, and performing well on tests. Incentives for learning are not new -- in fact, BoardBuzz has covered this topic before, here, here, and here. According to preliminary results from a Stanford University study, these incentives have led to an increase in student reading scores. But what is not known is the whether students will continue to improve when the incentives are taken away. It's great that incentives increase student achievement but there is something to said for instilling in students the love of learning and the curiosity that comes with it. But time will only tell if increasing student achievement will come at the expense of love of learning. As with many decisions school board members across the country have to make there is no clear cut answer on whether to provide incentives or not. BoardBuzz would be interested in hearing whether incentives are used in schools in your district. If so, how have they changed teaching and learning? Also, how do you feel about providing incentives for student performance?

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on May 28, 2008 (boomark / email).