Educators hoping to ‘bribe’ students to take tests

By Emily Richmond

Saturday, March 10, 2007 | 7:12 a.m.

Cell phones, iPods and televisions may be the anathema to a good education, but later this month educators hope they'll be the sweet siren to lure students to school.

They'll be given away as bribes to get kids in their seats for statewide testing.

There will be cash prizes, too.

"Money seems to motivate them," said Randi Friedman-Macosko, assistant principal of Basic High School, which will have drawings for $10 bills for students who show up for the Nevada High School Proficiency Exam later this month. "The altruistic student is going to see that what they're doing is positive for the school. But not everybody is motivated that way. Some people say, 'What's in it for me?' "

March 27 is the equivalent of D-Day for the Clark County School District. Student turnout for the proficiency test will help determine each high school's academic ranking in the eyes of the state and federal government. Schools that don't have at least a 95 percent participation rate are judged not to have made "adequate yearly progress." Schools that continually fail to make that threshold face sanctions, including intervention by the state Education Department and possible replacement of key personnel. So, to discourage students from sleeping in, schools are dangling promises of cash awards, raffle prizes and pizza parties to those who show up.

Part of the problem is that students have several opportunities to take the test during their high school career, so some tend to put it off. It's those no-shows who jeopardize a school's rating.

"For their benefit, they should take the test every time they get an opportunity until they pass," said Sue Daellenbach, testing director for the School District. "Some of them need a little convincing."

Enter the bribes.

Last year, attendance at Rancho High School for the reading and writing proficiency tests reached 94.22 percent - just a few students shy of making the critical mark. Principal Bob Chesto isn't taking any chances this year. Volunteers are calling parents, the hallways are being lined with banners, and the prize list includes gift certificates and the latest electronics must-haves, donated by local businesses.

"Are we bribing kids? Sure," Chesto said. "But who doesn't? You don't go to work without a paycheck. Most of our kids will show up because they know they should, not for the prizes. This is just an extra bonus."

Rancho senior Ashlee Warfield, who needs to pass the math proficiency test, said she isn't coming to school March 27 to win a television.

"That's not motivation. Graduating and getting out of high school is," she said.

Victor Gonzalez, a junior at Rancho, was surprised that his school could be penalized if the participation requirement isn't met.

"It's sort of not fair because schools don't have control over all the students," said Gonzalez, who will be at school March 27 for the math proficiency test. "One of the problems is kids can say, 'I'll just wait till next year.' "

At Western High School, which won the dubious distinction last year of having the lowest participation rate - just under 90 percent - Principal Pearl Morgan will hand out gift certificates, T-shirts and cash this year.

(The exact amount of the loot depends on the take from a few more in-school bake sales, Morgan said.) All the while, students are reminded of the virtue of taking tests.

"What we're saying is, 'This test is about you.' It affects all of us, but most of all it affects the student personally," Morgan said.

The schools' focus isn't just on participation. The percentage of students passing the tests has increased steadily in recent years, thanks to tutoring sessions, study groups and weekend cram camps.

But when it comes to the federal law, achievement and participation are equally important.

Not all schools are succumbing to materialism to tease students on test days. At Las Vegas Academy, which also fell just short of the participation requirement last year, Principal Richard Clark is sounding downright old-fashioned. The reward for showing up for the exam, he argued, is a high school diploma.

The decision to curtail incentives came after a meeting of the academy's faculty. Teachers were uncomfortable that the prizes might be viewed as bribes, Clark said.

Craig Walton, president of the Nevada Center for Public Ethics, said he, too, is unsettled by some of the schools' tactics, even as he empathizes with the pressure schools are under to make adequate yearly progress.

"I can see where the schools are coming from, but it's regrettable that anybody would think the only moral equipment we're dealing with here is self-interest," Walton said.

"These students are an age group that are presumably on their way to being citizens. So where is the citizenship? Where is the civics?"

Students must learn that their actions have consequences, not just to themselves but to their community as a whole, Walton said. He acknowledged that a video iPod might serve as a more effective teenage lure than the knowledge that they were helping their school. But that doesn't mean schools should cave in to instant, selfish gratification.

"This is about you, all of your classmates, your teachers and your school," Walton said. "This is about personal responsibility."

While Walton's argument is persuasive, principals say it won't go far with many of their students.

"In a perfect world we wouldn't have to do any incentives," said Richard Carranza of Eldorado High School, which is promising students gift certificates and a celebration assembly in exchange for attendance on exam day. "What we're dealing with is the reality."