New York gets so-so results paying kids to study

Carol Vinzant
Updated

New York City's new program to pay students for passing Advanced Placement tests just got its first report card, and the results were nothing to brag about. The privately funded program by Rewarding Achievement (REACH) is one of many around the country that try to incentivize students to do well on tests, show up or behave. The New York City students at 31 high schools got $960,000 this year, according to the New York Times. More kids took the test, fewer passed. (The test is graded on a scale of one to five, with three and above passing.)

  • Number of students taking an AP test: UP 4,275 to 4,620

  • Number of tests passed: DOWN 1,481 to 1,476

  • Number of tests scored 5 (the highest): 184 to 207

  • This year's pay for scores: 3:$500 4:$750 5:$1,000

  • Next year's projected payouts: 3: $250 4: $500 5: 1,000


Obviously the program didn't get the improvement in scores it was hoping to inspire, but it points out that it started started after kids had already signed up for AP classes. That does seem like a huge handicap. Fellow Walletpopper Bruce Watson made some compelling arguments in favor of these programs last month.

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