Good Job on Your AP Test, Now Have a Lollipop

Reading Justin’s post about cash incentives for students, I’m wondering: Isn’t the $100 reward kind of low? I’ve seen rewards of that size proposed for younger kids — elementary school students don’t have many opportunities to earn money — which could be reasonable. But a senior in high school could work for 15 hours at a $7-an-hour job and earn that much. In contrast, studying all year long for an AP test adds up to a lot more than 15 hours, besides the few hours needed to take the exam itself.

If anybody at all responds to this incentive, I imagine it will be the few students who are well prepared, but weren’t planning on taking the exam because they don’t need the credits. I doubt this is going to cause a burst of achievement from any students who weren’t already at that level.