Paying Students to Study and Behave in school

It is a statement that is anathema to the very foundational beliefs of our social order. Students should be motivated to learn because of the intrinsic external and internal forces; the same forces that have always "force" those in the past to function well and do their work, dutifully. What has education come to when we have to be paying students to learn and to behave themselves in school? Well, that's what the Royalty Approach to Education (RATE) is all about. It believes that paying students for a combination of good academic performance and behavior is a good method for 21st Century education reform. The creator of RATE had been teaching for decades and became frustrated with the many failures of diverse methods in education. He believed that there was another way apart from the Piagets, the Maslows, the Bruners, the Watsons, the Hunters, the Gardeners, the Blooms, and the myriads that have emerged over the past 20 years, including those that have become so popular today. Instead, he looked as the idea of a parent telling Johnny that he will be paid $5 for every "A" he brings home next semester from school. Or he looks at a mother telling little 5-year-old Peggy that she cannot get eat her ice cream after dinner until she has eaten her vegetables. Or Lester who wanted to go to a school dance but his father, Mr. Parker, said that he must cut the lawn thoroughly before he can go. If they wanted something, they had to work for it. Sometimes it is money, other times it is ice cream and at times it is the privilege to imitate John Travolta. These were the "clips" that started the Royalty Approach to Education (RATE). What if we were to accumulate a series of privileges and rewards for students and make them work hard to get them? What if a bathroom pass becomes a Priward that students can work to receive? Other students will have to wait for permission from the teacher to go to the bathroom, but the special ones (the Royalties who have been selected) simply have to inform the teacher that they are going to the bathroom and get the permission slip from the teacher. Then, what if teachers looked around and found many things that can become Priwards and have students work to get them; things that will cost the teacher and the school nothing. Such as the right to be the "Teacher's Pet" for a week. This is what started the Royalty Approach to Education (RATE) 7 years ago and it has mushroomed into a very organized structure with philosophies, rules and regulations that make up its infrastructure. This year, RATE started another extension of services; it is now beginning to give students actual monetary Priwards based on the same basic principles: Students go home and study, go back to school, get a good grade and be on their best behavior and they will get a chance to win some money. The program is called the Royalty Approach Weekly (RAW). The main aim of RATE and everything associated with it is to increase the time that students spend at home studying. See it all at www.RoyaltyApproach.com.