To Order Close Print Help



|  Segment# |

| 13 |

| Location |

|  |

|  Date |

| 2/18/2008 |

| |

|  Story Name |

| EARN TO LEARN DOES PAYING FOR GOOD GRADES WORK? |

| |

|  Notes |

|  |

| |

|07:41:08 |

|Prepared by The Transcription Company, , (818) 848-6500 |

|Which takes sole responsibility for accuracy of transcription |

|07:41:08 DIANE SAWYER |

|(OC) And now, this question we've been asking and hope to get some |

|answers about this morning. What about the programs that actually pay |

|children to get good scores on tests? And to attend school? A new |

|educational program is rewarding good grades with cold hard cash. The |

|goal, to close the learning gap between kids in low income areas and their |

|wealthier counterparts. So, is it working, will it backfire? Here's |

|parenting contributor Ann Pleshette Murphy. |

|07:41:33 ANN PLESHETTE MURPHY, ABC NEWS |

|(VO) At recess time, East New York Family Academy looks like any other |

|school. But at test time, it's a different story. Students at this |

|Brooklyn school get paid to take assessment tests, and get paid even more |

|if they do well. |

|07:41:47 STUDENT, FEMALE |

|I made $131.60. |

|07:41:50 STUDENT |

|$106. |

|07:41:51 STUDENT |

|$130. |

|07:41:53 SHEILA RICHARDS, PRINCIPAL |

|At first I was a bit reluctant about having the children participate in |

|the program, but I felt if there was something that was going to help us |

|motivate the students, we would try it. |

|GRAPHICS: STUDENT INCENTIVES |

|07:42:05 ANN PLESHETTE MURPHY |

|(VO) Schools in a dozen states have similar programs. In Albuquerque, |

|students at Cesar Chavez Charter School can earn up to $300 a year for |

|good attendance. In Santa Ana, California, doing well on their math tests |

|can earn up to $250. In Baltimore, students can pocket $110 depending on |

|their test scores. |

|07:42:27 DOCTOR ANDRES ALONSO, BALTIMORE CITY SCHOOLS |

|This is about making sure that students who might drop out, might not be |

|able to get a high school diploma, get it. |

|07:42:34 ANN PLESHETTE MURPHY |

|(VO) Family Academy is one of 60 New York City public schools who |

|volunteered to participate in the SPARK incentive program which is open to |

|fourth and seventh graders for one school year. The program pays seventh |

|graders $10 just for taking required assessment tests. And up to $40 for |

|a high score. That means as much as $500 can be deposited into their very |

|own new bank accounts to spend on whatever they wish. And they have big |

|plans for their earnings. |

|07:43:04 STUDENT |

|I'm going to put my check in my bank account to save up for college so I |

|can get a good education. |

|07:43:10 ANN PLESHETTE MURPHY |

|(VO) SPARK is the brainchild of Dr. Fryer, a Harvard economist whose goal |

|is to narrow the education gap between the haves and the have nots. |

|07:43:20 DOCTOR ROLAND FRYER, CHIEF EQUALITY OFFICER |

|Try to figure out an innovative way to make school tangible for kids. |

|Short-term rewards to do what's in their long term best interest. |

|07:43:30 ANN PLESHETTE MURPHY |

|(VO) The battle lines are drawn. Those who oppose these programs, saying |

|school should concentrate on getting kids engaged in what they're doing, |

|not just how they're doing. |

|07:43:41 ALFIE KOHN, AUTHOR |

|The idea that poor kids can only be bribed with money, rather than |

|authentically engaged with meaningful learning tasks is insulting and in |

|some cases borders on racism. |

|07:43:53 DOCTOR ROLAND FRYER |

|The idea that we shouldn't be giving kids rewards. Come on. Many in |

|affluent neighborhoods they're giving kids allowances. They're taking |

|them out to dinner when they get good grades. Heck, they're buying them |

|shiny new cars at graduation. We've gotta get past this menal block of, |

|it's just wrong, to this is bribery, to - I've heard it all. If it |

|doesn't work, we're arguing over nothing. |

|07:44:16 ANN PLESHETTE MURPHY |

|(VO) What does the research say? Although these programs are too new to |

|be evaluated, research on rewarding children for good grades shows that |

|despite short-term gain, it may do long-term harm by decreasing |

|motivation. What do kids think? |

|07:44:34 STUDENT |

|I'm very inspired. I'm in the fourth grade, and I get money just by |

|taking a test. |

|07:44:41 STUDENT |

|It's just a reward for doing good on a test. And you're supposed to do |

|good on every test. |

|07:44:45 ANN PLESHETTE MURPHY |

|(VO) Principal Sheila Richards hopes the sense of accomplishment lasts |

|not just through this year, but for a lifetime. |

|07:44:52 SHEILA RICHARDS |

|Once a child has learned they can be successful, they can see this is |

|what I can actually do, and I can be successful and get good grades. |

|07:44:59 DIANE SAWYER |

|(OC) By the way, those are not taxpayer dollars. It's privately funded, |

|so far. Parenting contributor Ann Pleshette Murphy is here. Short term, |

|to the extent it's worked for a few months, increase in attendance or |

|what? |

|07:45:14 ANN PLESHETTE MURPHY |

|(OC) A lot of them are rewarded for different things. If they're paying |

|them to get there and show up, it is increasing attendance. It is true, |

|if it's rewarding them for better grades, they seem to be getting better |

|grades, short term. Bit the question is, Diane, and there's a lot of |

|research that says, once the incentive is removed, are you rewarding the |

|right behavior. Are you getting them connected with what they're |

|learning, or is it just, I have to get through this test. |

|07:45:39 DIANE SAWYER |

|(VO) You mean, you remove the incentive and you're no longer working to |

|what they love or for their own future, and you've taken away that |

|component? |

|07:45:48 ANN PLESHETTE MURPHY |

|(OC) Yes. For a lot of critics would say it's like giving them steroids. |

|It's short term. It makes the teachers look good, and the principals, |

|but is it good for kids. |

|07:45:59 DIANE SAWYER |

|(OC) What about if parents do it? |

|07:46:01 ANN PLESHETTE MURPHY |

|(OC) There there's a lot of research that says it's not a good idea. For |

|kids whose parents pay for A's or punish them for C's actually do worse |

|than those whose parents say, why did you ask that question, or what did |

|you learn in school today, as opposed to what did you get on the test? I |

|have to say, when Mr. Fryer says we've got to try things, we really do. |

|There's a major problem. |

|07:46:26 DIANE SAWYER |

|(OC) That's right. It stays with you, where he says let's try anything. |

|If it doesn't work, why the debate. |

|07:46:32 ANN PLESHETTE MURPHY |

|(OC) There's a crisis. Yeah. |

|07:46:34 DIANE SAWYER |

|(OC) Thank you. If you'd let us know what you think, we'd love to hear. |

|Go to . Voice your opinions on paying for grades and |

|attendance. |

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download