Those who don't click the link may assume that the result was unsuccessful, but FTA: "Although critics have long argued that paying students for results can le

Those who don't click the link may assume that the result was unsuccessful, but FTA: "Although critics have long argued that paying students for results can lead to a decreased interest in learning, Fryer’s new results show no evidence to justify or support these claims." That said, the researcher found that while paying students for results didn't cause harm, they did find that what worked even better (that is, worked at all) was "when they were paid to perform specific actions, such as reading books or wearing their uniforms." “When you are paid to do something you may not know exactly how to accomplish, it’s not clear how you respond. But if you are being offered money to do something very concrete...then that might be easier to respond to.” Not a silver bullet as the researcher notes: “I’m interested in what are the four or five investments that, when put together, have the potential to close the achievement gap,” Fryer said. “Incentives could be one of [them], I don’t know yet. This is the first kind of large scale experiment in urban schools on incentives, and I hope it’s not the last.” But also I hope people don't just dismiss the idea of monetarily incentivizing children out of hand.