Paying for Student Achievement

End-of-Instruction exams (EOI) may be over, but a new round of testing is just beginning. Starting this coming week (May 5 - 16), students across the U.S. will sit for Advanced Placement Exams with the hopes of earning college credit and, in at least one place, some cold hard cash.

Wilby High School in Waterbury, Conn. has decided to offer money as a reward incentive to boost its AP program. Students who pass AP Exams will earn $100 for every test on which they make a 3, 4, or 5 (5 being the highest score). The fund for the cash incentives is supplied by a $451,113 grant from the National Math and Science Initiative.

The plan is to boost enrollment and participation in the Advanced Placement Program, an advanced studies program sponsored by the College Board (which also runs the SAT testing program) that can net students college credit. This Wilbury plan gets double rewards for students - not only can they get college credit for their passing score, they can also earn money. It's a win-win situation. Right now 112 students participate in the AP program. By paying students to participate, the school hopes to double the number of students in the program.

Sounds great, but I for one hope paying students for achievement doesn't catch on nation-wide. There are a couple of danger signs for our country evident in such attempts. First, usually the smartest and most motivated kids are directed toward AP - if we have to pay them to participate in an advanced program, we're down the tubes anyway.

The most important reason we should not pay students for their achievements, however, is that there is not enough money in the world to pay people, even youngsters who might need added incentive, for doing what is right. Paying students is a really bad precedent that can only undermine further the noble cause it is trying to promote, namely getting more students involved in their own education.

To me, a more rational way of "paying" students to participate in the AP testing program is the approach Muskogee High School has taken this year. The District has paid the exam fees, rather costly at approximately $80 each, for every AP course in which a student is enrolled. This gives students the opportunity to earn free college credit in a variety of subjects from AP English Literature to AP Chemistry. In a way, the student is being paid by being given the opportunity to take what could be $400 worth of AP Exams for free. Additionally, the student is excused from taking those courses in college, another savings of around $300+ per class.

We should ask ourselves, if we pay students for AP today, what will we pay them for tomorrow? Don't forget, these are our potential workers. If you own a business, can you forsee how much a plan like this will cost you?