Paying Students for Good Results

Whereas the phenomenon of differential performance in education is one that is an issue for debate in the US, in many societies and countries, there are distinct groups (often minorities) whose educational attainment is comparably lower than that of others. Explanations for these differences in attainment range from innate ability, poor parental supervision, the lack of appropriate models to institutional and racial biases. Still, some people retain vehement opposition to the proposal that students could be given financial incentives to study and perform well in spite of the clear evidence that many students do struggle to do reasonably well in school. It is understandable that it offends the strict moralist view that an individual should make the calculation that good academic performance is in his or her direct interest but that does not mean that such opposition is always well-informed.

Roland Fryer, a professor of economics at Harvard University and the American Inequality Lab is not only qualified to comment on the extent to which any of these answers are true but is also the person from whom one would expect tested solutions. According to this article in Times Online, Roland Fryer is testing an incentive programme in New York city schools. While it may be anathema to many, cash incentives seem to be working and this has attracted the admiration of teachers who were initially skeptical and ideologically opposed to the experiment.

Most fascinating is the professor's argument about why the incentive structure should work for black students. It is because white students often are alive to the benefits of education by looking at the material comforts that their parents are able to afford on account of their superior education. It may be expecting too much to think that this is a silver bullet for problems of the under achieving youth but better learning even for its own sake is good enough.