As 46 states move to adopt Common Core State Standards, the opportunity may never be better to rethink not only standards themselves, but also how we get students interested in learning.
Let's face it. We haven't always done a good job getting kids interested in learning. Studies suggest that the longer students stay in school, the less motivated they become; their intrinsic motivation in core subject areasbegins to drop off around age nine (PDF) and continues to fall throughout secondary school years. By the time they reach high school, a national survey of 81,000 students (PDF) found that nearly two-thirds of them (65 percent) report being bored in class on a daily basis.
As educators nationwide labor to bring Common Core standards into their schools and classrooms, a recent study conducted by economist Steven Levitt, author of the popular book, Freakonomics, may give us pause. Levitt and his colleagues gave some 7,000 students in the Chicago area small rewards (e.g., cash prizes up to $20 for older students or $3-value trophies for younger ones) to see whether simple bribes would entice them to perform better on standardized tests.
Surprisingly, the bribes worked: students promised rewards for good performance demonstrated about 5–6