Many believe “extrinsic” motivators, such as incentives,  “decrease student effort by eroding students’ intrinsic desire to learn,” they write. In a 1993 book Punished by Rewards, Alfie Kohn and others promoted this idea. But inspiring students to want to learn for its own sake is very hard, write Tyner and Petrilli. There’s evidence that external accountability can motivate students. Exit exams are effective in countries where the standards are high, they write. Here, states

At a high-poverty, low-performing K-8 school in Philadelphia, eighth graders don’t get into fights any more. Their principal promised to pay each student $100 if they reach graduation without any fighting, reports Kristen A. Graham on Philly.com. If any of the 33 eighth graders break the peace, they all lose the money. “They have a choice — to become the violence they see in their day-to-day lives, or to be peaceful models for our school and our community,” said Stephanie And