Just when you think the emphasis on Advanced Placement tests couldn’t get more ridiculous, here comes an article about a new program that will pay students (mostly black and Latino) to take the Advanced Placement test.
That link above is to the New York Times article. There’s also an article about it in the Washington Post (remember that the Washington Post Company owns Kaplan, which sells materials to those who are desperate to raise their AP/SAT/ACT scores). Big surprise.
Dang it. I thought we were progressing. I though we were starting to understand that whole thing about the power of internal motivation in learning versus external control and rewards.
Guess not.
I’m sure there will be some happy kids who make money by taking the AP test. And I guess if they want to take the test, they’ll be taking the class, and they might actually learn something.
My fear is that the courses that will be offered will be dumbed-down and crafted for those who, well, wouldn’t take the test unless they were getting paid. Has it come to this?
It appears so.
This is a lot more about school standing than about helping kids. Why not pay kids to take community college courses instead? Get them started on the college path directly instead of dangling a check for a course and test that aren’t necessarily going to lead to college admission.
Honestly. We want kids to love learning, to get interested, to want to continue because they are excited about what they’re learning and not focused on what gadgets they will buy with the money they get for sitting through a test. Getting a check might “inspire” them to take a class, but what about the class after that? And the next? Are we assuming that once they get started, the love of learning is going to kick in and then they will happily pay for subsequent classes in college?
Well, one can hope.
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