I always thought the purpose of education was to discourage such irresponsible schemes as bribery. But when low-income New York City high school students are getting paid for passing Advanced Placement exams, there has to be something fundamentally wrong with the education system.
The pay-for-performance program, according to the New York Times, is called Rewarding Achievement (REACH), and pays students who received a 3, 4, or 5 on their AP tests, with a bonus for attending weekend tutoring sessions.
Yet this initiative runs counter to the core lessons America should be teaching its underprivileged children: that success in school enables the fulfillment of one’s ultimate career dreams. Instead of flooding them with cash, organizations need to be convincing inner city students that academic accomplishment in high school is what enables them to attend college.
Why is REACH showing students think that money is the best reward for their strong work ethic? Aren’t educators the ones most likely to preach, “Don’t follow the money; follow your passion?”
The other problem with this pay-for-performance program is that it encourages more emphasis on test-taking—at a time when schools need to be moving beyond textbooks to equip students with the leadership skills essential in a rapidly evolving world.
The rigidity of the high school curriculum has led teachers to “teach to the test,” a factor that I think contributes to the United States’ dropping its leadership role in science and technology.
In directing so much attention to exam scores, REACH seems to be undermining the purpose of the College Board’s AP program. College Board, with its broad course syllabi and its decision to release exams only once every few years, has deterred AP teachers from focusing solely on test preparation.
At Kennedy High School, we understand that we may not be able to answer every single question on the AP exam—but the grading scale takes this into account. New York City students, too, should worry less about preparing for exam day and more about absorbing the subject material.
Paying students who do well on tests is simply a misguided approach at boosting educational opportunities for minority students. A better model is QuestBridge, which connects talented low-income students with the nation’s top colleges. “The future of our democracy rests upon ways of finding opportunity and mobility that are not happening in our unequal world. Quest is at the crossroads of doing just that,” according to praise from Amherst College President Anthony Marx on Questbridge’s Web site.
Students in that network receive the right message: their ability to overcome financial obstacles is rewarded with a chance to attend a top-notch college and ultimately to reach their most ambitious goals.
