The Loss Aversion Contest: You Can Win!
Economist Roland Fryer has been trying for years to find the magic incentive that would produce higher scores.
He tried merit pay, and that didn’t work.
He tried paying students to get higher scores, but that didn’t work.
Now, he has at last found the key:
He and his colleagues have perfected a technique called “loss aversion.”
They give teachers a bonus (say, $4,000) at the beginning of the year. If the scores go up, the teachers keep the
The First Entrant Is A Strong Contender
He tried merit pay, and that didn’t work.
He tried paying students to get higher scores, but that didn’t work.
Now, he has at last found the key:
He and his colleagues have perfected a technique called “loss aversion.”
They give teachers a bonus (say, $4,000) at the beginning of the year. If the scores go up, the teachers keep the
The First Entrant Is A Strong Contender
In the contest to see who can come up with the best form of loss aversion to motivate high test scores, we have a first entrant that looks incredibly strong.
Supposing you say to teachers, get those scores up or we take away your first born.
Don’t you think those scores are going up?
Supposing you said it to doctors?
They would all become dermatologists, and no one would be a surgeon.
What if you say it to economists?
You can bet all their predictions will be very safe.
Can you top this?
True, it didn’t work for pharaoh–the Hebrews packed up and moved out.
But hey, maybe it will work for teachers. Where can they go?
Loss Aversion Contest: First Dropout
Supposing you say to teachers, get those scores up or we take away your first born.
Don’t you think those scores are going up?
Supposing you said it to doctors?
They would all become dermatologists, and no one would be a surgeon.
What if you say it to economists?
You can bet all their predictions will be very safe.
Can you top this?
True, it didn’t work for pharaoh–the Hebrews packed up and moved out.
But hey, maybe it will work for teachers. Where can they go?
Loss Aversion Contest: First Dropout
This reader warns about the danger of the loss aversion contest:
Supposing we agreed that teachers would produce higher test scores if we cut off their fingers or took their first-born?
How long would it be before a law was passed in Louisiana?
Keep it quiet.
| I would enter, but I’m worried someone would think it was a good idea and make it a law. At least in Louisiana……where I teach! |
How long would it be before a law was passed in Louisiana?
Keep it quiet.
