Response from David Langford about Paying Students to Learn

On December 11, 2008 I posted an article written by David Langford about paying students to learn.

An anonymous person commented that there is research that says there are positive effects of incentive based programs. I forwarded that response to David and asked him if he was interested in responded. He sent me the following:

Thanks for passing along my article to those who might listen. Unfortunately we are fighting a losing battle with extrinsic manipulation. It is so easy to implement these programs it is hard to stop politians and administrators. The new pick for Education Secretary Arne Duncan is also an advocate of pay-for-grades and implemented such a program in Chicago. I am fearful we may see an escalation of this thinking during the Obama administration.

I read through each of the studies the person who responded offered. None were credible comparisons of the blatant manipulation offered in the Chicago Public Schools or in Washington D.C.

Offering girls in Kenya scholarships to continue to go to school if they work hard does not compare to throwing money at kids who get A's, in a fabricated rating system, when they are already guarenteed a free education: Apples and Oranges comparisons. The study from Texas cited on paying students to take AP courses I believe lacks credibility since in order to get the predicted results they wanted they changed systemic factors such as opening AP courses to anyone interested instead of doing what they had always done by limiting class size to class rank. This is only one of a multitude of problems in this study.

The real problem is not how to make a better buggy whip, but should we be making them to begin with. I know I could produce the same positive correlation to improved work by beating children if they do not work hard. But, should we adopt that as a program and then start improving it? Automating or improving a bad process just means you can do something very bad quickly and to a larger number of people. Maybe Harvard would like to promote that study since they seem to be the source of promoting these pay-for-performance programs. I like the line in the movie Jurassic park that goes something like this, "You were so busy trying to see if you could you forgot to think about if you should!"

All of these types of programs and studies take time away from studying and fixing the real problems. No child will say I don't work hard at school because they do not pay me enough, but they will say it's boring or my teacher dosn't care. Who will work on these problems? Let's work on the real problems preventing high quality work and effort instead manufacturing new problems.

I'm interested in hearing from others about this very important topic.

Quality Learning: Paying students to learn?

David Langford is one of the smartest and best consultants I know working in the schooling world. His knowledge and experience of quality and it's application to schooling is beyond par. The following article came in a recent email newsletter from him. I couldn't say it any better! I've copied the newsletter in its entirety. Enjoy.

Quality Learning: Paying students to learn?
By David P. Langford

In the past, I believed most educators understood the inherent differences between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, and valued the latter over the former. However, this does not seem to be the case. Pay-for-grades, gold stars, student-of-the-month programs and attendance rewards are all too prevalent extrinsic motivators used to push students to do a better job. I've found an overwhelming amount of evidence that these schemes do not work in the long term, and can even dangerously affect attitudes toward learning. (Alfie Kohn does an excellent job of compiling the evidence against extrinsic motivators in his books No Contest and Punishment by Reward.) There is no lack of evidence that pay-for-grades programs do not work, so why do schools continue to use them? The short answer is: because they appear to work.

Extrinsic rewards and punishments always seem to work if you do not count the costs. Studies have shown that you can get people to do almost anything if you make the motivator—payment or punishment--strong enough. For example, would you sabotage a colleague for ten dollars? Most people would answer “no.” But what if I upped the stakes? Would you do it for one thousand dollars? Ten thousand? One million? If I continued to increase the reward, most people would agree sooner or later--especially if they got to pick the colleague.

The same principle is true with students. If you pay students to get good grades, more students will get good grades for a while. Very quickly students who were only working to get the reward will discover that it is hard work to maintain good grades, and they will decide it isn't worth the effort unless the reward is increased, because the motivation for getting good grades is not to learn, but to be rewarded. The concept of "learning" to improve one's self never comes into play with the reward system. Just as teacher unions negotiate for higher pay, so student “unions” will eventually want to negotiate for a higher reward.

Extrinsic Theory: Improved Grades = Reward

Most always these reward schemes are touted as a “new trial program,” as if the idea of extrinsic motivation is a new one. In Washington D.C., Chancellor Michelle Rhee, who is making a valiant effort to improve a failing system, was asked why they implemented a "new" program that pays students to get good grades and attendance and she responded, "When critics say that it's sad to pay students, I say it's sad that only 8% of D.C. eighth-graders are proficient in math. People in the suburbs use incentives for their kids all the time, like giving them $10.00 for an 'A.' Kids in our program can save money for college or get a bank account." (Parade Magazine, November 16, 2008, p. 26.) It's unfortunate that we have such huge education gaps in this country and I am certain Chancellor Rhee feels the need to do something about it, but the bottom line is that two wrongs don't make a right. Just because some parents bribe their children to get better grades does not mean we should apply the same principle to all students. We can easily sabotage motivation through the best efforts of well meaning people.

If the pay-for-grades theory is correct, there should not exist a single example of students succeeding on their own. Yet there are thousands--if not millions-- of students who work hard because of a love of learning. Dr. W. Edwards Deming often stated that it only takes a single example to invalidate a theory. Having only 8% of students proficient in math is a dismal statistic to face, but the problem is in the system--not the students. Manipulating students with money will improve some students' performance for a short period of time, but what happens to students when you can no longer afford to pay them and their attachment to learning is for money? Smothering intrinsic motivation is a cost too great for even one student.

Intrinsic Motivation: Acquired Knowledge = Joy in Learning

When learning rewards and punishments are eliminated, systemic performance results will always return to what they were before extrinsic manipulation. Remember, 98% of the problem comes from the system, and students have little or no control over systemic factors. Manipulating student extrinsic motivators does not address the basic cause(s) of the problem. Try asking students with a Force Field Analysis to identify driving and preventing forces of learning, then prioritize the preventing forces with an NGT. You might be shocked to realize that existing factors preventing learning have nothing to do with lack of pay-for-grades. One of the most misguided efforts of quality improvement is trying to improve something that should be eliminated, such as automating grading systems, increasing training for behavior modification or improving the pay-for-grades program. I can guarantee you, in low performing schools there are fundamental problems with:

Teacher training and support
Leadership and management
Process Management
Communication
The way schools are built and maintained
The way technology is being used or not used
Funding for classroom books and materials
Vision and purpose


One of the reasons many extrinsic motivation programs have stayed around for so long and are continually resurrected and improved is because they are convenient for the people managing the system. They keep the focus off leadership and mistakenly place it on the people working in the system. In every education system I have consulted--from the U.S. Naval Academy to primary and secondary schools in the U.S. and Australia to pre-schools in Argentina--the story is the same: we blame students for poor performance without first considering the systemic causes. In psychology this is known as the fundamental attribution error.

If you want a significantly different result, you must first change the system. I applaud Michelle Rhee in Washington D.C. for trying to improve a broken system, and I offer my help. She has made many excellent systemic changes in D.C. such as closing 23 under-populated schools and paying for librarians, art, music and P.E. teachers at remaining schools. These systemic efforts will help to improve student motivation for learning.

Systemic problems are normally out of the circle of influence of students and none of these systemic problems will go away simply by bribing students to work harder within a failing system. Leaders must learn to, as Dr. Deming once said, "work smarter, not harder." If you want a different result, try changing the system and watch what happens to behavior, instead of continually doing what we have always done by leaving the system alone and trying to change the behavior of the people in it.


©2008 Langford International Inc. All rights reserved.
e-Mail: office@langfordlearning.com
12742 Canyon Creek Road, Molt, MT 59057
Phone: 406-628-2227 Fax: 406-628-2228

"Smart Drugs" for Young People

Making the mistake of thinking that schooling is education can lead to a very large number of additional choices that make sense in one context but are completely different in another context. If we continue to think about schooling the way we do we will force young people to do things they are not meant to do nor do they do naturally. 

Here's a perfect example of the kind of thinking that will ultimately lead to more problems than it solves. Researchers are predicting the development and use of 'smart drugs' for 'enhancing' the memory, attention, mood, or motivation of young people.

Think about this. These are the things that 'schooling' values and requires: memory, attention, mood, and motivation. 

The fundamental underpinnings of schooling has the need to control the behavior of the 'student' in order for them to demonstrate they can repeat the desired behavior (repeat behavior and also regurgitate desired bits of content to demonstrate both paying attention and the form a learning that is valued by schooling - memory).

In fact repitition is the primary tool used to 'teach' specific subjects. 

It makes sense then  that at some point people involved with schooling would conjur up the 'bright idea' to develop drugs as a tool to enhance the things that are valued.

These same things that are valued in the current schooling system are some of the primary reasons why there are so many dropouts. The reason why mood, motivation, and attention are lacking in the schooling system is because the experience is NOT interesting nor connected to any other aspect of young people's lives. Humans have a natural ability to pay attention and be motivated when there is something that is interesting to them. People will naturally remember what they 'learned' when the experience they have is both interesting and challenging, and has some emotional component to the experience. 

Here is the article that stimulated this blog post:

Schoolchildren could be given 'smart drugs' in a bid to boost brainpower
By LAURA CLARK - Last updated at 9:32 PM on 19th September 2008

Schools will soon have to ensure all pupils have access to brain-enhancing 'smart drugs', according to officially funded experts.

They said teachers risk claims of bias against poorer children if they fail to give all pupils the same chance to take a new generation of pills which boost attention, concentration and memory.

Researchers predict that within a generation, cognition enhancing drugs - or 'cogs' - will be so advanced that parents and teachers will be able to 'manipulate biology' to enhance pupils' brainpower.

---

It also predicted that within 25 years, so-called 'smart drugs' will be specific enough for pupils to choose drugs for particular mental faculties.

These could include improving memory, attention, mood or motivation.

Where are the people advocating for the interests of young people? How could we allow this thinking to continue and come to fruition. It is wrong and damaging. But without a change in thinking about the difference between schooling and education this kind of thing is almost inevitable. 

Should schools be allowed to paddle young people?

Oh, I forgot to include paddling as an appropriate form of discipline! 

Here's an article about a school board that is voting to allow corporal punishment in schools. This is abuse and should be outlawed! But this is included in the 'theory' being employed in schools to 'force' young people to be obedient. If you can't provide something young people are interested in you shouldn't be in business! 

School board brings back paddling with parental permission
By JULIE HUBBARD - The Telegraph in Macon
JEFFERSONVILLE, GA. --Twiggs County principals will be pulling out their dusty paddles when school resumes and using them when students act up.
At least that's the school system's aim.

Will the public school system ever provide something that young people are interested in and want to participate in? Or does mandatory - by law - mean "do anything to force young people to sit in their chairs, pay attention, and regurgitate bits of data?"

This makes me sad...

External vs Internal Motivation and the Theory of Knowledge

More and school states and school districts are developing programs designed to 'motivate' students to improve on standardized tests. Combine that with incentive programs for teachers to improve test scores and we have a train wreck in the making.

I still marvel at the fact that good, well meaning people, have a limited understanding of how people (and the brain) actually work. Unless of course these aren't well meaning people (which I refuse to think about). 

Everyone acts from theory - whether they are aware of it or not. The brain develops 'models' of the world and how it works and we behave consistent with those models (even abhorrent behavior is consistent with some mental model in the brain). 

So what are the theories in use by the people that develop policies for the public schooling system? It appears, from where I sit, the theory employed in school policy and practice includes:

• people need extrinsic motivation
  
• incentives motivate people
• memory is learning
  
• control and compliance are highly valued
  
• learning is teacher and testing centric
• memory and tests demonstrate 'knowledge' 
  
• order and discipline are requirements for learning
• school can be disconnected from life
• curriculum determines what is learned
• schooling develops good people
• emotions have no place at school
• people aren't people when they are at school
• school is disconnected from the rest of life

The public schooling system is the one institution that touches just about every single person in the country. There is tremendous 'potential' there. But what happens when we use extrinsic motivation and incentives to 'produce' an outcome?

Extrinsic motivation slowly destroys self esteem, dignity, cooperation and a yearning for learning - all of which are innate and high early in life. They are diminished throughout our life by what Dr. Deming calls the forces of destruction - of which extrinsic motivation is one of these destructive forces.

To paraphrase Mary Walton's presentation on Dr. Deming's teaching on performance appraisals, such an approach will "encourage short-term performance...discourage risk-taking, build fear, undermine teamwork, and pit people working against each other for the same rewards." ("The Deming Management Method," chapter 19, page 91). As Dr. Deming noted in "The New Economics," Ch. 4, p. 113, "When children are given rewards, such as toys and money, for doing well in school...they learn to expect rewards for good performance." This leaves the child, and then the adult, extrinsically motivated, relying on "things to make them feel good." And that destroys essential self-esteem. Dr. Deming expanded on this in pages 147-153.

So what should schools do? Here's a quote from a review of Dr. Deming's book, The New Economics.

To achieve notable improvement, the education system should abolish grades, merit ratings for teachers, comparison of schools on the basis of scores, and gold stars for athletics. Joy in learning comes more from learning than from what is learned. A grade is a permanent label for opening doors or closing doors, a way to achieve quality by inspection, rather than building in quality, a way to produce competition between people, rather than cooperation, a way to label people as winners or losers, a way to humiliate those at the bottom, rather than to promote their desire to learn and future achievement.

The California legislature has passed a law (awaiting the governor's signature) authorizing and encouraging school districts to provide non monetary "incentives to middle ad and high school students for achievement or improvement on standardized tests."

Here's an article about this.

Schooling vs Education

I've been remembering - and thinking about - the fact that words and language have a lot of power. There are studies and entire bodies of knowledge about the power of words and the connection between words and mental images and mental models. 

For many years I have considered the system of public schools in this country to be an 'education system.' It wasn't until recently when I really understood the roots of the free public school system that I understood that the network of teachers and schools in this country was not intended to be an education system - but a schooling system. 

Does it matter? What's the difference between schooling and education? 

In many dictionary definitions for school and schooling the use of the word education finds its way into the text. In the following definitions from the web I have purposefully chosen a number of the sentences that do not refer to education. This may shed some light on this subject - or it may tend to annoy people. But let's look anyway.

Form the Free Dictionary: 

school·ing (skooling) n.

1. Instruction or training given at school.
   
2. Education obtained through experience or exposure: Her tumultuous childhood was a unique schooling.
   
3. The training of a horse or a horse and rider in equitation.
   

From Webster:

Schooling \School"ing\, n.

Discipline; reproof; reprimand; as, he gave his son a good schooling. --Sir W. Scott.

School \School\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Schooled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Schooling}.]
To tutor; to chide and admonish; to reprove; to subject to systematic discipline; to train.

 

From Wikipedia:

Education encompasses teaching and learning specific skills, and also something less tangible but more profound: the imparting of knowledge, positive judgment and well-developed wisdom. Education has as one of its fundamental aspects the imparting of culture from generation to generation (see socialization). Education means 'to draw out', facilitating realization of self-potential and latent talents of an individual. It is an application of pedagogy, a body of theoretical and applied research relating to teaching and learning and draws on many disciplines such as psychology, philosophy, computer science, linguistics, neuroscience, sociology —often more profound than they realize—though family teaching may function very informally.

In my mind understanding the difference between schooling and educating is important. One reason this is important is because the system of schooling uses discipline and extrinsic motivation as a modality and a methodology - to "motivate" young people to learn. The formation of the free public school system in the United States was intended to provide the bare minimum for the poor to become good citizens.

A system of education uses intrinsic motivation and the natural desire of humans to learn and improve. A system based on internal motivation will support a person to achieve their full potential (move towards achieving their full potential) while a system of schooling will be satisfied with a minimum standard.

A system of schooling will intend to control and use discipline when students become noisy or out of control. A system of education will be based on relationships and respect. Discipline will be something one does because it is in their best interest and not because it is enforced from outside.

From Wikipedia on Schooling: 

Schools and their teachers have always been under pressure — for instance, pressure to cover the curriculum, to perform well in comparison to other schools, and to avoid the stigma of being "soft" or "spoiling" toward students. Forms of discipline, such as control over when students will and will not speak, and normalized behaviour, such as raising one's hand to speak, are imposed in the name of greater efficiency. Practitoners of critical pedagogy point out that such disciplinary measures have no positive effect on student learning; indeed, some would argue that disciplinary practices actually detract from learning since they undermine students' individual dignity and sense of self-worth, the latter occupying a more primary role in students' hierarchy of needs.

I think one of the reasons people involved in the public schooling system experience frustration when they attempt to make changes or improve is because there is confusion between what is schooling and what is education. I believe some of this confusion is caused because there is often overlapping and contradictory goals and objectives in each 'system.' 

Anyone engaged in a process of improvements would do themselves well by understanding these distinctions and clarifying their own goals and objectives relative to each system.

Unintended Consequences

I find it quite interesting that the intended goal for the education system was to provide the poor people in the US a way to learn discipline, order and just enough of the 'basics' (reading, writing, and arithmetic) in order to be good citizens (and reduce crime).

The unintended consequences of creating the free public school system is the dumbing down of the majority of the population rather than improving the lot of the minority of the population. Literacy levels in this country have actually declined since the introduction of free public schooling. Why is that?

I remember reading a book by John Gatto (former teacher of the year) called Dumbing Us Down: the hidden curriculum of compulsory schooling). I'm sorry to say that beyond 'getting it' on a superficial level I really missed the point that John was making.

Schools are designed to confuse, and to 'school' people - not educate them!

Duh. I guess I really am a slow learner. It brings tears to my eyes to re-read some of what he wrote in that book. The book I wanted to write has already been written!

Classic

Here's something that is just so classic for this day and age.

As I've mentioned before there are so many contradicting studies showing results for (or no results) for various aspects of the education system. Here are two studies - one showing improvement in achievement when merit pay plans are used. The other shows that incentives don't keep teachers from being absent from school.

I've argued previously that incentives are NOT good for schools. I believe that incentives, merit pay, pay for performance, and other such measures are a clear signal that there is something wrong with the education system. These measures have been used in business for years and there as well I see them as a sign that there is something wrong with the way the business is managed and run.

Why is it that the Education System is just now grabbing on to these methods? I believe it is because making real and substantive changes are NOT part of the plan nor interest of the people involved in education and education policy. Using incentives and the like are just one more distraction from actually doing something useful to help young people learn.

Study: Student achievement improves under merit-pay plans
Student achievement improves when their teachers are paid for their performance, according to an analysis published in the September issue of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. "The evidence certainly suggests when you offer incentives, you're likely to get better results," said co-author Michael J. Podgursky, a University of Missouri-Columbia professor of economics. ScienceDaily (9/4)

Florida incentive programs don't keep teachers in school
Florida schools aiming to curb teacher absences through incentives found that sick days actually increased at most schools. "Teachers tried very hard about being here because it puts more work on them when they're out of school," said elementary principal Helen Gleicher. "When you have a staff that big, things happen." The Palm Beach Post (9/3)

More about NY paying students

Here's another article about NY paying students for doing well on tests and not missing school:

Schools Plan to Pay Cash for Marks
By JENNIFER MEDINA • Published: June 19, 2007
New York City students could earn as much as $500 a year for doing well on standardized tests and showing up for class in a new program to begin this fall, city officials announced yesterday. And the Harvard economist who created the program is joining the inner circle of Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein, according to an official briefed on the hiring.

More Extrinsic Motivation

Here's another example of paying young people to motivate them...

NY is thinking about paying young people to do well on standardized tests.

New York may pay students for high test scores
A Harvard economist has captured the interest of New York City's mayor with a plan to give students $5 to $50 for high standardized test scores as a way to change behavior and reduce poverty, although a similar plan was dismissed as laughable by some education officials a few years ago. The New York Times (6/9), New York Daily News (6/9)

And here's the other side of the story - 1000s of young people cheating on high stakes tests in Texas.

Analysis shows TAKS cheating rampant
State says it's addressed the problem, but News uncovers more than 50,000 cases
05:29 PM CDT on Sunday, June 3, 2007 • By JOSHUA BENTON and HOLLY K. HACKER / The Dallas Morning News jbenton@dallasnews.com; hhacker@dallasnews.com
First of three parts

Tens of thousands of students cheat on the TAKS test every year, including thousands on the high-stakes graduation test, according to an in-depth data analysis by The Dallas Morning News.

This is two sides of the same coin. Unless WE (the infamous we) start thinking differently about this it is only going to get worse.

This one just might work!

Here's another external motivator for high school students - finish early (complete all your courses) by mid-term and you receive a $1500 scholarship. Now I can imagine a lot of young people will buy into this idea. Lawmakers say they will allow students to continue to participate in sports even if they graduate early.

Arizona lawmakers offer $1,500 to seniors who finish early
Arizona lawmakers this week signed off on giving $1,500 scholarships to students who complete necessary high school course work by the middle of their senior year. Lawmakers hope the measure will encourage high school students to buckle down; schools will continue to receive student funding for the whole year less the $1,500 advanced to the student. Arizona Daily Star (Tucson)/Capitol Media Services (5/3)

I think this is interesting for a lot of reasons. We know that school is based on the principle of 'seat time' - the amount of time a young person is in their seat - and on the principle of ticking off subjects from a list. Does learning matter? I still don't see anything that tells me that these young people learn anything that will help them to be successful in their life after they leave school. So this incentive motivates young people to get 'out of school' and into the rest of their lives - without any clear knowledge they have what they need in order to be successful in that life.

Penalties for Truancy Don't Work

Here's a recent article in British News that tells about a study of British School Districts that used truancy notices for parents as well as other punitive measures such as jailing and fining the parents of students who missed school. They have discovered that these measure don't work! It says that irresponsible parents may not be the main cause of truancy! The report calls for empowering parents rather than punishing them. What a concept...

Study: Parent fines fail to curb truancy
Penalizing parents for student truancy doesn't work, a study finds. While the report's author noted short-term improvement in some cases, he said there were no long-term beneficial effects on attendance observed in the 150 British districts that were studied over a three-year period. BBC (4/17)

Another External Motivator

Here's another tact the State of Maryland is taking to get young people to stay in school. They have decided to withhold the ability to get a drivers license if a student misses more than 10 days of school.

Truant Maryland students could be denied driver's license
Maryland lawmakers approved a bill that would deny driver's licenses to students with 10 or more unexcused absences. Under the bill, each student would have to present an attendance record to the state to get a permit, but students who already have a license would not be at risk of losing it. The Washington Post (3/16)

The sponsor of the bill that passed in the House of Delegates said, "This does give us a tool to use to combat truancy," said Del. Gerron S. Levi (D), the bill's House sponsor.

Why not give them a reason to go to school rather then a reason to avoid something else?

OK, so let's see, I have to go to school so I can get my drivers license, but if I come to school I might win an iPod, and, if I pass a certain exam I can make $250, and if I graduate I could possibly win a car. Hmmm. Why do I need to learn anything? I'll just sit through this whole boring mess and get the money and the perks!

Another External Motivator

Here's another tact the State of Maryland is taking to get young people to stay in school. They have decided to withhold the ability to get a drivers license if a student misses more than 10 days of school.

Truant Maryland students could be denied driver's license
Maryland lawmakers approved a bill that would deny driver's licenses to students with 10 or more unexcused absences. Under the bill, each student would have to present an attendance record to the state to get a permit, but students who already have a license would not be at risk of losing it. The Washington Post (3/16)

The sponsor of the bill that passed in the House of Delegates said, "This does give us a tool to use to combat truancy," said Del. Gerron S. Levi (D), the bill's House sponsor.

Why not give them a reason to go to school rather then a reason to avoid something else?

OK, so let's see, I have to go to school so I can get my drivers license, but if I come to school I might win an iPod, and, if I get an A in certain classes I might make $450, and if I graduate I could possibly win a car. Hmmm. Why do I need to learn anything? I'll just sit through this whole boring mess and get the money and the perks!

The Beginning of the End

Well, not really. The beginning of the end already started - but this is more of the kind of thing that will ultimately end in the ruin of Public Schooling. Can you imagine if incentives - paying students to go to school, paying them to get good grades, paying them to pass tests, paying them to graduate, etc. - continues?

I've already written about teacher incentives and charging parents if their children don't come to school or if they miss a parent teacher meeting.

I've also written about the different incentives being used on young people: enticing them with iPods, breakfast, paying third graders and paying $5 per A, $4 per B, etc. and offering the enticement of a car for graduating.

Here's another article along these lines:

A $250 incentive for passing an AP exam
A group of educators and business executives will offer some D.C.-area Advanced Placement students and teachers $250 for each passing score on science, English and math tests. In Dallas, where a similar program launched more than a decade ago, the number of passing AP scores in 10 targeted high schools increased from 71 in 1995 to 877 in 2006. The Washington Post (3/9)

The reason I was saying this is the beginning of the end is because if this continues and one school finds out about some incentive another school has; or schools in one state find out about something going on in another state; the only logical outcome of all this is an escalation of this kind of thinking with the need for greater and greater rewards being offered.

This is NOT SUSTAINABLE!

Bush Creates Teacher Incentive

So here's more along the same lines. President Bush (or someone on his staff) wants to create more money for teacher incentives (merit pay) for teachers that improve student achievement. How come student achievement is measured by scores on standardized tests and not on whether a young person can survive and thrive in the world?

Bush wants more money for merit pay
The Bush administration wants $199 million to put in its year-old Teacher Incentive Fund, a system that would extend merit pay to teachers who improve student achievement in low-income schools. Last year, the government awarded 16 grants totaling $40 million. The Washington Times (2/11)

More Extrinsic Motivation

In the few posts I've made about the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation I completely forgot that the public education system is a mandatory and forced education system. Back in the late 1800's young people were forced to go to public school by gun point. So today, since we can't force people to go to school by gun point we have to find other ways to do it.

So here's a school district that wants to charge parents money every day their child misses school.

Scotts Valley parents asked to pay $36.13 if their kid skips school
By Matt King MediaNews
SCOTTS VALLEY - Parents whose kids take a day off from school will be asked to open their wallets. That will be $36.13, please.

Paying Students, Fining Parents

So here's another example of theory in use in public education. On the one hand, we're creating high stakes testing for young people at an early age and continuing that through their lives - punishing young people with greater and greater punishments. On the other hand there are school districts and schools that are resorting to creating incentives and paying young people to attend or to get good grades - with greater and greater extrinsic motivators. And now, a bill has been introduced in the Texas legislature that would fine parents $500 if they miss meetings with their children's teacher.

Bill proposes fining parents who miss teacher meetings
A bill introduced in the Texas Legislature would impose a $500 fine on parents who miss conferences with their child's teachers. The representative who filed the bill said it was designed to encourage parents to be more involved with their child's education. CNN/Associated Press (2/1)

I've written in a previous post about how the education system is based on a model of compliance. One of the results of a compliance type environment is these acts of desperation - to force compliance where voluntary compliance isn't taking place.

Instead we should be spending our resources creating a system that instills intrinsic motivation and enthusiasm for learning with voluntary participation from everyone involved - young people and parents and teachers and community members.

Here's another example of the desperate attempts to get young people to come to school or keep them from skipping school:

Truancy attacked with iPods, food
Schools throughout the nation are enticing students with everything from breakfast to iPods to keep them in school. Attacks on truancy help boost academic performance, administrators say.

W. Edwards Deming on the Future of Capitalism

Extrinsic motivation slowly destroys self esteem, dignity, cooperation and a yearning for learning - all of which are innate and high early in life. They are diminished throughout our life by what Dr. Deming calls the forces of destruction - of which extrinsic motivation is one of these destructive forces.

More Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation

This time it's on the teacher side. So now we have School Districts paying teachers to improve the test scores of their students, School Districts paying students to come to school, and parents paying students to get better grades. Does anyone see a train wreck coming?

This will spiral to a system that is so distorted and has absolutely nothing to do with learning.

Mixed feelings over bonus pay
On Tuesday, the Houston Independent School District began giving out the first of its $14 million set-aside for performance pay to those teachers who raise student test scores. Some teachers are concerned that the pay will create rifts among those teachers who reap bonuses averaging $1,800 and those who get nothing. Houston Chronicle (1/24)

If it isn't already obvious, a person that is motivated by extrinsic rewards must continue to get greater and greater rewards or they will become disappointed and lose interest.

Extrinsic vs Intrinsic Motivation II

Many years ago I attended a workshop on continual improvement in education. In that workshop, David Langford made a poignant point when he asked us to consider the trajectory the current educational model is on when it comes to making mistakes, getting the wrong answer, discipline, etc. He suggested the only likely end point is killing people (literally).

If we make a similar extrapolation about the prevailing education system and how many educators use competition and external rewards as motivators it would make sense that educators would at some point pay people to not only attend school but also pay them for doing well on tests.

Both of these things are happening now. Here's the latest:

Ohio District Tests Performance Pay—for Students
Geralyn Raach, a teacher at Central Elementary School, has a favorite slogan for motivating her 3rd graders to put in their best effort, but it’s not what you would expect. Borrowing a line from the movie “Jerry Maguire,”the veteran teacher likes to call out, “Show me the money!”

And here is an older article on parents paying their children for grades:

Parents Offer Kids Pay for Good Grades
Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:13 AM EDT
Ben Feller, AP Education Writer

WASHINGTON — Sure, learning is its own reward. But some kids respond best to cash. Andrew Waller's grades soared when his parents started offering $5 for A's and $4 for B's. Now he pockets about $25 each report card, saving it for video games and summer camp.

As I read through this post I realized that there are some people that might feel this is a good idea - motivating young people to 'stay in school' or 'do good in school.' Isn't it obvious that schools in themselves are creating the need for this kind of behavior (on the part of the school districts, on the part of the parents, and on the part of the young people)?

If schools were designed as places of learning, where there was discovery and intrigue and mystery and curiosity - and god forbid, fun - young people would be naturally motivated not only to go there but on their own accord to continue to want more!