The Effects of Monetary Incentives on School Performance

Abstract

Interest in the use of monetary incentives as a means to motivate students to attend school or to improve their performance has been growing. In the present study, teenage girls at risk of school failure were randomly assigned to either a control condition or to one of two year-long experimental programs aimed at improving their academic work and attendance: (1) a “payment” program in which they were given only monetary incentives for improved performance or (2) a case-management program in which social workers, teachers, the girls, and their parents. worked together to develop and implement ways to help the girls do better. Both experimental programs surpassed the control condition with respect to positive changes in grades and attendance. The case-management outcomes were clearly superior to those of the payment program. However, neither program's effects appeared to carry over to the following year, which suggests that more sustained intervention may be necessary to bring about enduring improvement in the girls’ school performance.

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