from NewsOne.com/Left of Black
Can Paying for Grades Fix No Child Left Behind?
by Mark Anthony Neal
CNN’s recent “Black in America” captivated a nation still grappling with how race is lived in America. The series featured many of the most prominent “talking heads”—scholars, journalists, college presidents and preachers—in the Black community. If there was one of these figures that stood out, it was Harvard economist Roland Fryer.
Though “Black in America” was short on solutions to all that ails us, it was Fryer who offered up one of the most provocative responses. He suggested that students should be paid for good grades to counter the so-called achievement gap between whites and blacks in schooling.
As the Chief Equity Officer in New York City’s Department of Education, Fryer is in a unique position to make this claim. He has implemented such a plan in several New York City public schools at the behest of Schools Chancellor Joel L. Klein and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Under his program, forth and seventh graders will be paid up to $250.00 and $500.00, respectively, for earning high grades on standardized test.
Why pay our kids to do what is nominally expected of them? Criticism of the program have ranged from “there is no price tag for the love of learning” to “it’s common sense for students to earn good grades in order to better their opportunities in life.”
But common sense doesn’t take into account the realities of life in the era of “No Child Left Behind.”
Read the Full Essay @
by Mark Anthony Neal
CNN’s recent “Black in America” captivated a nation still grappling with how race is lived in America. The series featured many of the most prominent “talking heads”—scholars, journalists, college presidents and preachers—in the Black community. If there was one of these figures that stood out, it was Harvard economist Roland Fryer.
Though “Black in America” was short on solutions to all that ails us, it was Fryer who offered up one of the most provocative responses. He suggested that students should be paid for good grades to counter the so-called achievement gap between whites and blacks in schooling.
As the Chief Equity Officer in New York City’s Department of Education, Fryer is in a unique position to make this claim. He has implemented such a plan in several New York City public schools at the behest of Schools Chancellor Joel L. Klein and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Under his program, forth and seventh graders will be paid up to $250.00 and $500.00, respectively, for earning high grades on standardized test.
Why pay our kids to do what is nominally expected of them? Criticism of the program have ranged from “there is no price tag for the love of learning” to “it’s common sense for students to earn good grades in order to better their opportunities in life.”
But common sense doesn’t take into account the realities of life in the era of “No Child Left Behind.”
Read the Full Essay @
No comments:
Post a Comment