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Big payback seen in cash incentives for students By Or Kashti Tags: Israel News, Education Twelfth-graders who received a monetary reward for succeeding in their matriculation exams received higher grades and went on in larger numbers to higher education than their peers who did not receive such rewards. The finding is the result of a study by Prof. Victor Lavy of the Hebrew University and Prof. Joshua Angrist of MIT in the United States. However the research, one of the first of its kind in the world, showed that economic incentives improved performance only among girls. During the study, conducted in 2001 and backed by the Education Ministry, students from 20 schools among those with the lowest passing matriculation rates received NIS 6,000 for passing their matriculation exams. Twenty other schools were selected as a control group. The experiment, which encompassed 8,000 students, was to have continued for three years, however then-education minister Limor Livnat halted it after the first year. Nevertheless, researchers decided to wait five years and see whether the incentives had influenced whether students went on to higher education. Advertisement An article detailing the findings is to be published in the scholarly journal, American Economic Review. Students were told, about six months before taking the exams, that they would receive money for passing. The research showed the number of students eligible for matriculation certificates jumped by 20 percent compared to the control group. However, when checking the results by gender, boys showed almost no change while the matriculation pass-rate among girls jumped by about 30 percent. "The program particularly helped girls who, without any intervention, would have received 17 or 18 study units, but the monetary incentive got them to work harder and attain the minimum requirement of 20 to 21 units," Lavy said. However he added that the incentive did not help the weakest students, but that if it were to start in the 10th grade it might help those students as well. One argument against monetary incentives is that it encourages studying mainly for the test and the beneficial effect lessens over time. The researchers therefore waited until the 2006/2007 academic year and cross-checked data with the National Insurance Institute. The data revealed that 30 percent more girls who participated in the program had gone on to college compared to the girls in the control group, while the boys' rates of entry into higher education did not change. The girls were found to have mainly enrolled in public colleges and teachers colleges rather than to university. Lavy says interviews with the girls following the exams revealed that they had "spent more time preparing for the tests and took part in more 'study marathons' than the boys." However, he conceded that the research could still not fully account for the gender difference in the results. In recent years, various countries have increased economic-incentive projects to motivate students. New York City, for example, announced a project last year which included a $500 reward for students who succeeded. In other places in the U.S., students receive payments for not skipping school. Lavy, who teaches economics at the Hebrew University and at London University said: "There's nothing wrong with incentives. Clearly, money shouldn't be handed out to students who would succeed anyway; the focus should be on weaker students." Lavy also said such incentives were no different than university scholarships for excellence. Dr Nimrod Aloni, director of The Institute for Educational Thought at the Kibbutz Teachers College, called the experiment "vulgarization and total commercialization of the inalienable assets of the culture, such as the value of education and expansion of knowledge." Aloni said it was doubtful that people who had achieved scholastic success through monetary incentives would be better citizens or scholars, "because they had become used to selling themselves to the highest bidder." "The issue of encouraging students to achieve is always on the agenda. We believe that one of the efficient means is to encourage students even before the final result, that is, the attaining of a matriculation certificate." the Education Ministry said yesterday. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Israelis targeted abroad Gunman opens fire on Israelis working at shopping mall in Denmark. Iran silences dissent Newspaper forcibly shut down after article blaming Hamas for Gaza violence.

Read & React IDF recommends major, but brief Gaza ground offensive Responses: 97 Ari Shavit: Israelis who blame Israel are not helping Palestinians Responses: 94 Roi Ben-Yehuda: Pro-Israel camp would be wise to heed Muslim cries for peace Responses: 39 Israel Harel: Like it did in Lebanon, Israel blinked first in Gaza Responses: 41 Poll: Majority of Israelis support continuing military operations in Gaza Responses: 36 Haniyeh: Palestinian victory in Gaza is near Responses: 70 More Headlines 01:02 IAF bombs Gaza mosque used as terror hub 01:01 Egypt FM: Hamas gave Israel the excuse to launch Gaza attacks 22:23 Livni: Cease-fire in Gaza would grant Hamas legitimacy 23:11 Barrage of Gaza rockets strikes Ashkelon, Be'er Sheva, Ashdod 23:24 Not just air strikes: Israel takes the fight to Arab media 22:44 Danish police arrest Palestinian on suspicion of shooting Israelis at shopping mall 15:02 Israelis who blame Israel are not helping the Palestinians 13:27 Get up to the minute coverage of the warfare in Gaza directly to your email 15:03 Poll: Most Israelis support continuing Gaza military op 15:01 Like in Lebanon, in Gaza Israel blinked first 18:34 Tel Aviv, Rishon Letzion prepare bomb shelters in case of attack 13:57 AMIRA HASS / Thousands of Gazans near Rafah displaced by IAF bombing of tunnels 18:00 12 Palestinians hurt in Gaza fighting being treated in Israeli hopsitals 17:59 Czech FM: Finding Gaza truce is a 'main role' of the EU Previous Editions Select Day 01 jan 31 dec 30 dec 29 dec 28 dec 26 dec 25 dec 24 dec 23 dec 22 dec 21 dec 19 dec

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