Should students get paid for attending school? Do incentives matter

See Detroit schools aim to reduce absenteeism, support teachers in $1.1 billion budget by Edith Pendell of Michigan Public Radio on June 17. Excerpt:

"The new budget broadens the district's existing attendance incentive program, which has provided $100 per week in Visa gift cards to high school students with perfect attendance. Middle schoolers will receive $50 a week for perfect attendance in the coming school year."

Also see Detroit students have a chance to earn up to $1,000 for attending school again this year by Hannah Dellinger of CHALKBEAT. Excerpts:

"Nearly half of all high schoolers in the Detroit district were paid for their attendance last year as part of an effort to reduce high rates of chronic absenteeism."

"Average daily attendance for high schoolers increased by 2.6 percentage points last year, Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said, while chronic absenteeism declined by 7.4 percentage points." 

"More than 7,300 students got a $200 Visa gift card at least once last year from the district for showing up to each class every school day in a 10-day cycle from January to March in 2025. Some students received the incentive more than once."

"Studies on attendance incentives suggest the practice may have small effects, if any" 

"This year, $100 gift cards will be given for perfect attendance in five-day cycles."

"The incentive began last week and will continue through the week of March 16, giving students the opportunity to earn up to $1,000."

Related posts: 

How to Make Up the Covid Learning Loss: Paying students for attendance, behavior and homework can boost achievement (2022)

Should We Pay Students To Study? (2008) 

The Ethics of Incentives (2012)

Why are Chinese parents buying empty milk cartons? (another case of incentives matter) (2024)

How Metrics Or Formulas That Supposedly Measure Quality Of Services Can Create Incentives To Engage In Misleading Behavior (2018) (sick patients tend to worsen the performance measures by which VA hospitals are judged and they get turned away)

 

Do artists today respond to financial incentives? The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the tax code (2020)

 

Can you choose when to have your baby born if it brings you some money (2024)

The Economy Affects The Birth Rate (2010)

Did The Recession Help Lower The Birth Rate? (2011)

U.S. Fertility Rate Hits Lowest Level on Record (2012) 

A number of women who put off having babies after the 2007-09 recession are forgoing them altogether; more educated women and student debt also contribute to decline in birth rates (2018

Births in U.S. Drop to Levels Not Seen Since 1979 (2021)

Dim economy drives women to donate eggs for profit (2009) 

"An advertisement in campus newspapers at three elite colleges offers $35,000 for the eggs of a young woman with an SAT score above 1400."

"College newspapers and Craigslist carry advertisements seeking women and men, particularly students with high GPAs and SATs, who are willing to "donate" their gametes."

"Egg donors in the United States are typically paid $5,000 to $10,000, a voluntary ceiling established by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Sperm donors get about $100 per donation;..."

Companies and governments are paying people to get healthy, and it works (2019)

How Parents Might Get Their Kids To Eat Vegetables (2017) (See Here’s Why You Should Pay Your Children to Eat Their Vegetables: Study finds short-term cash incentives yield more-healthful eating habits in the long term by Beckie Strum of the WSJ)

How to Motivate Your Teen to Be a Safer Driver (2021) (paying teen drivers not to use phones while driving lowers phone use)

Paying Americans to go to the gym may not be enough to help them build a habit of regular exercise (2017)

Ohio sees surge in vaccinations after offering $5 million lottery (2021)

Incentives Matter, Even When It Comes To Returning Bottles (2011)

In Maine, which has a more expansive bottle-redemption law than neighboring states, three people have been accused of illegally cashing in more than 100,000 out-of-state bottles and cans for deposits

Should the Government Pay People to Have Sex? (2007) 

Financial Rewards for College Students Could Help Curb the Pandemic (2021)

Should People Be Rewarded For Voting? (2006)