define "duh" again?

[acroyear]

Slashdot News Story | Kids Score 40 Percent Higher When They Get Paid For Grades:

A large number of schools participating in a pay-for-grades program have seen test scores in reading and math go up by almost 40 percentage points. The Sparks program will pay seventh-graders up to $500 and fourth-graders as much as $250 for good performance on 10 assessment tests. About two-thirds of the 59 schools in the program improved their scores by margins above the citywide average. "It's an ego booster in terms of self-worth. When they get the checks, there's that competitiveness -- 'Oh, I'm going to get more money than you next time' -- so it's something that excites them," said Rose Marie Mills, principal at MS 343 in Mott Haven. Critics, who are unaware that most college students don't become liberal arts majors, argue that paying kids corrupts the notion of learning for education's sake alone.

When money and "stuff" is what kids are told to value by society at large (especially all the tv they watch), "good grades for their own sake" simply can't compete.

Comments

[fiona64.livejournal.com]

Sad commentary, isn't it? As my friend Tom says, it's a pity when an iPod trumps literacy and literature ...

[scaleslea.livejournal.com]

Well, how can you expect kids to value education for education's sake when a) they are required to go to school, b) they see their parents doing unpleasant jobs ("work") solely for the money that it brings. Everything in our society tells kids that anything worth doing is worth getting paid for, but we expect them to study in a fun-free environment for the joy of it?

I don't think the kids are the ones with the problem here.

Now make it really interesting: make the kids pay to be in organized sports, and pay advanced-placement students a bigger wage.

Doc