Should we reward good grades with money and prizes?

[YES]

I believe we can offer prizes, food, money, or field trips to students for good grades. I don't see the difference between offering students prizes and money for good grades and having a "3.0 dance" or special assembly. A reward is a reward.

Most students who work hard for good grades would do it without the prizes and dances, so the prizes and money are simply an added bonus that they can choose to accept or decline.

Students who cheat, beg, badger, and whine for a good grade in order to earn money or prizes generally do not maintain a good grade for long. Intrinsic values usually have the upper hand in the end.

Margo Ungricht
Seventh-Grade English Teacher, Lehi, Utah

Students should be rewarded for good grades. I view school for students similar to the way I view a job for an adult, and I believe it's appropriate for parents to provide monetary rewards for good work and penalties for poor performance. If you are late for school, money is deducted. If you miss a day for illness, money is deducted. If your performance suffers, so will your pay. It gives students a chance to relate real-world experiences to school-related tasks.

This may not work for every family or for every child, but it's one of many things a parent can do.

My husband and I reward our eight nieces and nephews for earning good grades on their report cards. We give them $5 for each A and $3 for each B. Money is deducted for each C, D, and F. When their report cards come out, they call us immediately. They all do well in school and we want to show them we value their achievements, the same way a future employer will when they perform well in their jobs.

However, I don't think it is appropriate for teachers to use money as a reward. There's a fine line—a teacher giving the whole class a pizza party for a job well done could be appropriate, but a teacher giving money as a reward would cross the line.

Tennille Jones-Lewis
High School Guidance Counselor, Alliance, Ohio

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[NO]

The only money and prizes a student should be given for good grades are the better money they will earn as adults and the prizes of self-esteem, pride, and commitment to attaining the highest level of their educational and intellectual development.

Instead of the student asking, "What will you give me for trying?" we should be asking students, "What will you be giving yourself for your future if you apply yourself?" The ultimate reward for a good education is a secure and rewarding future.

Karen Barksdale
Ninth-Grade English teacher, Memphis, Tennessee

External rewards undermine students' natural eagerness to learn. When we offer kids money and prizes, we cheapen the value of learning. We have all seen kids who become so accustomed to external rewards that the presents, candy, or money are what they want, rather than the academic achievement itself. I recently overheard a teenage girl and her father arguing about how high her grades needed to be in order to get a car, and what kind of car it would be. The conversation had everything to do with the prize and nothing to do with learning.

Our ultimate goal is to create citizens who make decisions for the right reasons—not because someone is dangling a prize in front of them.

Brenda Nelson
Social Worker, Barrington, Illinois

When students receive good grades, it is because of a team effort. The parents in most cases have worked diligently in the evenings with homework, the paraprofessionals have put in time and effort, the teachers do the same. How do we determine who made that achievement possible?

We had a second-grade student who knew seven sight words when he came to our school. He was on target by the end of third grade. That happened because of his parents, classroom teacher, paraprofessionals, and the special education teacher who kept him focused, as well as the student's own motivation to learn. Who deserved a prize?

Mary Bungert
Special Education Teacher, Topeka, Kansas

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Voting Results

Have science fair projects grown out of control?

The tally on the question in the April issue of NEA Today:

89% Yes

11% No