Studying: Does cash make it better?

Kids are not always very good at seeing the long-term value of their actions, such as studying. But immediate rewards, like cash? Is pay an effective incentive?

Education Week takes a look at some of the school districts trying the idea. Baltimore, New York City and suburban Atlanta have all got cash-incentive programs.

But at a time when so many teenagers are carrying cellphones and iPods and wearing $100 shoes, can a little money make them study? The Baltimore program, for example, provides rewards up to $110. Would that work for your student?

And there still are questions about the concept. The writer Alfie Kohn, an opponent of the cash-incentive programs, says they are counterproductive. A Cornell researcher looked at a program in Texas.

What do you think?

-- Mary MacVean