According to a recent article in the New York Post, paying students to learn and to perform well on tests really does seem to get results. Apparently, many schools have chosen to participate in the Sparks program, which pays seventh grade students up to $500 and fourth grade students up to $250 if they perform well on 10 different assessments. Although the program is controversial, the New York Post performed an independent analysis and found that some of the students who participated in the program increased their grades by nearly 40 percentage points when compared to test results from the previous year.

Fourth grade students attending PS 188 on the Lower East Side in New York, for example, saw dramatic improvements in their scores. This year, 76% of the students met or exceeded benchmarks in English, which was a 39.6% increase over the previous year. At MS 343 in the Bronx, a whopping 94% of the seventh grade students met or exceeded math standards this year, which was 37.3% more than those who passed while in sixth grade.

Overall, the schools participating in the Sparks program did quite well. In all 61 fourth and seventh grade classes participated in the program. 45 of those schools improved at a rate tat was greater than the citywide average on their math examinations, while 40 of those schools achieved greater gains in reading than the citywide average. Principals in these schools, however, insist that the Sparks program was just one of many different factors that helped the students improve their test scores. Nonetheless, they had to admit that the program seemed to help motivate the students to achieve good grades and to engage in more healthy competition with their peers.

“It’s an ego booster in terms of self-worth,” commented Rose Marie Mills, who is the principal at MS 343 in Mott Haven, in the New York Post article. “When they get the checks, there’s that competitiveness – ‘Oh, I’m going to get more money than you next time’ – so it’s something that excites them.”

The Sparks program, which is in its second year and was created by Harvard University economist Roland Fryer, has already given more than $1.25 million to more than 8,000 students. The higher they score on the tests, the more money they receive. Seventh graders can earn up to $50 per test while fourth graders can earn up to $25 per test. With each grade level taking ten different tests, that amounts to up to $500 for seventh graders and up to $250 for fourth graders.

Despite criticism from those who feel the program corrupts students because it fails to teach them to learn for the sake of learning, similar programs are also receiving trial runs in Chicago as well as in Washington, DC. Those who support the program are thrilled to see it expanding, as they feel the program helps students to more clearly see the connection between getting a good education and earning money in the future.