Do you remember those students in high school that used to sit in the back of the class, pass notes, talk, disrupt, and simply not listen to the Chemistry teacher's details about the Periodic Table? The ones that thought Barium was the new chant aimed at opponents during football games? I know...corny, but you get the picture.
It's no mystery that a great number of our students aren't receiving the education they are sent to school for everyday and accordingly, only close to 70% are graduating nationwide. In the state of Georgia the number falls to an astounding 56%. Obviously, these children aren't purely dim-witted or don't have the capacity to learn, they simply don't have the motivation to find interest in school, specifically in math and science as they grow up.
In case you still don't care, the 2001 Hart-Rudman Commission identified the nation's failure in math and science education as the second-biggest threat to our national security. If we don't keep up with the world in education, we won't be participating in the decisions made.
The Learning Makes a Difference Foundation has created the "Learn and Earn" program that provides the kind of motivation that every human can relate to: cash. With its sights set on the
In its infant 'pilot program' state, the results to this possibly controversial approach to learning are promising, gaining praise from parents that say their child has turned a new leaf. Where some students were once failing a class they are now passing and are interested in the subject matter.
Sounds good for them, but if Joe Slacker gets $8/hour to come do some after school studying after spending the morning daydreaming in class, what motivation is there for the students that had the drive from the beginning? These rewards for bad behavior could create an environment that tells everyone studying is only worth it when it immediately stuffs your pockets. The urge that everyone has for instant gratification could soon be satisfied, taking some students' sights off of the more rewarding route they originally bought into.
The answer has to be discovered somewhere in the middle. In an effort to boost underachievers, the school cannot ignore self-motivated individuals. Obviously, the measly $8/hour for a couple of hours of work isn't going to get any adult concerns taken care of like paying off mortgages, but the goal that is actually achieved is igniting the pilot light in young people's brains that gets them interested in subject matter they were never really told they should or could understand with a little bit of work.
Motivation is the key, and sadly, money is the only factor left in high school students' minds that gets them going. As long as they are not written off and presumed to be lost cases incapable of learning, maybe we can discover the tactics that get them interested. It may take a few dollars to get them in, but once they realize they can succeed, the rest is on the house.
