The Good Life

I think this is a good idea because in kindergarten we are given golden stars to do good things and it works. Also, as a teen it's harder to perceive rewards in the future, such as you get into a better college in the future because of good grades now. Having a reward would add good incentive and make our kids smarter.

get paid to get good grades? Between grants, work programs, and scholarships we all get paid in one way or another...

Paying kids for performance, especially when the pay is directly tied to the performance, is at the heart of our society's declining volunteer base and other similar areas that require an internal sense of motivation. Behavioral economics research is confirming our intuition on this and, while it may be tempting and expedient to pay for grades or homework or just sitting still, we are producing little monsters in our schools, driving ever-increasing incentives that are unsustainable. The sooner we end these practices or change them to simple, unlinked, positive social reinforcements, the better.

The author's last name is Ripley, not Riley.

my mistake - now corrected - CP

* You are not getting the point at all. The fact that you wrote this really shows how much you really understand the topic, know about the topic, and even know what you are saying. You have to realize that the fact of the matter that this topic has nothing to do with the fact that students don't know how to get good grades, but moreover is whether they are making and effort in school and how we can get the endevor going in school districts. You have to pay attention to what the article is trying to say, the underlying message.The statement being if we should pay our students for getting good grades and whether or not this would make a difference in the work being handed in (in the long run) .