<p>When I began to read the article, I did not think this was a good idea at all until I got to the part where a school principal said it would provide an incentive for students to spend time studying for the tests instead of working to earn money. When I thought about it that way, it seems to make more sense, especially since the students involved are very poor and therefore are likely to need to earn money one way or another while in high school.</p>
<p>ctober 15, 2007
Making Cash a Prize for High Scores on Advanced Placement Tests
By JENNIFER MEDINA</p>
<p>The city is expanding the use of cash rewards for students who take standardized tests with a $1 million effort financed by philanthropists who will pay students who do well on Advanced Placement exams.</p>
<p>High school students who get a top score, a five, on the exams will earn $1,000. A score of four will be worth $750, while a three will earn $500.</p>
<p>The program, which will be in 25 public schools and six private ones beginning this year, is enthusiastically supported by Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein, who is expected at the announcement of the initiative today at Frederick Douglass Academy in Harlem. In a statement, Mr. Klein said he was grateful that the private group was stepping up to tackle the critical goal of increasing the number of students who succeed on Advanced Placement tests.</p>
<p>The private initiative comes as the city Education Department is beginning its own program to pay some students in the fourth and seventh grades for taking and doing well on 10 standardized tests given throughout the year.</p>
<p>The A.P. program is intended to increase the number of low-income, black and Latino high school students in New York who take and pass A.P. tests. In city schools, less than 1 percent of black students pass an Advanced Placement exam, according to city data analyzed by the program.</p>
<p>Its just absurdly low, said Whitney Tilson, who runs a hedge fund, T2 Partners, and helped create the program after reading about a similar one in Dallas. These are intriguing ideas based on performance, to try to say this is what the bar is and you have to meet it.</p>
<p>Were not going to tell you how to meet this goal, were just going to reward you when you do, he added.</p>
<p>The citys program pays students just for taking the standardized tests, and offers more cash for good results. Seventh graders can earn as much as $40 for a top score. The program has provoked much debate about whether paying students for test-taking undercuts the notion that learning is its own reward.</p>
<p>But the criticism of the latest pay-for-performance plan may be more muted. Sol Stern, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative research group, who is critical of the citys program, said that it was difficult to find fault with a program to reward students for high performance on A.P. exams. This is closer to the ideal of getting an award for a lot of hard work at the end, Mr. Stern said.</p>
<p>Mr. Tilson approached the Council of Urban Professionals and the Pershing Square Foundation to finance the project. The foundation will give $1 million for the first year. Mr. Tilson expects to attract other donors.</p>
<p>In addition to the rewards to individual students, the program will give $2,000 to each participating school and invite them to apply for a grant of up to $10,000 to invest in their Advanced Placement classes. Principals will also be eligible for bonuses if their schools passing rate improves, but that aspect of the program is still subject to approval by city officials under conflict of interest regulations.</p>
<p>The schools chosen for the program, called Reach, for Rewarding Achievement, all serve a high proportion of low-income black or Latino students and have at least 15 students taking Advanced Placement exams with more than 10 percent of them passing each year.</p>
<p>Mr. Tilson said he focused on Advanced Placement tests because he believes that they are more widely respected than other standardized tests and that passing these tests was a good indicator of students performance in college. Passing A.P. tests allows students to earn college credits while still in high school.</p>
<p>The dropout rate for Latino and African-American kids in college is just as astounding as their dropout rate in high school, said Edward Rodriguez, a lawyer formerly with the education department who is now running the Reach program. We know that if they have some modest success on these tests, the chance of them doing well in college improves tremendously.</p>
<p>Long Island City High School in Queens is one of the schools participating in the program. Its principal, William Bassell, compared the program to a college scholarship, adding that it was just another way to reward students who have made academics a priority. But like the citys own program, the money will be given to students without any stipulation of how it must be used.</p>
<p>We dont think Advanced Placement classes should be just an elitist thing, Mr. Bassell said. It should be for any kid who is willing to do the work. A lot of these kids surprise themselves. A financial reward is always a great motivator for teenagers.</p>
<p>Gregory Hodge, principal of Frederick Douglass Academy, which is also participating, said the cash incentives would help students decide between working to earn money for the prom or spending the time to study for their exam. At his school, roughly 80 percent of the 200 students who take A.P. tests pass.</p>
<p>It takes some of the pressure off of the student, he said. Believe me, this is going to mean we have more students wanting to take and study for the test.</p>