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Fryer Challenges Status Quo with Incentives
At long Assembly this morning, Fryer said nine-month-old babies of varying races often have the same levels of intelligence, but there's a marked discrepancy in SAT scores between racial groups. "We need to figure out how to change this," Fryer said. "I'm an economist, so I pay the kids." For the past few years, Fryer has been running an incentive program in New York City public schools that pays students for achieving high test scores. This unusual program aims to introduce young students to the learning process and, by extension, ultimately narrow the testing gap between races. Fryer told the Assembly audience that the program has received its share of criticism: "I'm asked all the time, 'Shouldn't kids naturally want to learn?' The answer is 'yes' ... and we should have world peace, too." Fryer believes that natural motivation is unrealistic because the students in his program are rarely presented with clear paths to success. "These fourth graders have to look down a path that few have taken and they have to believe that 10 years later there will be a payoff for them," Fryer said. In addition, these students encounter a variety of external incentives, including the lure of drugs. To combat this, Fryer simply creates an incentive of his own. Interestingly, Fryer noted that group incentives appear to be more productive than individual incentives. He attributes the difference to peer pressure -- students in groups push one another to achieve so everyone can cash in. "Before, everyone hated the nerds, but now the nerds can make you money," Fryer laughed. Fryer's incentive program is not always tied to financial gain. For example, Fryer said his team was able to reverse tardiness at one school by installing two Xbox gaming system in the gymnasium. Students were told that if they arrived at 7 a.m. they'd be given one hour of gaming time before school. "Now, there's a line out the door," Fryer said. The incentive program, Fryer said, is built to go beyond instant gratification. "The point is to create short-term rewards aimed at long-term interests," Fryer said. "Learning begets learning, so the more you read, the more you'll like to read." Long-term results from the study are not available because the program is still relatively new. Nonetheless, Fryer believes he and his team are on the right track. "I have a suspicion that the students' efforts may fall once the monetary incentives are gone, but they'll be on a very different trajectory." The incentive model is representative of Fryer's larger quest to address social issues with powerful problem-solving tools. As a graduate student, Fryer was exposed to complex mathematical systems with far-reaching potential, but he watched as these systems were used to solve "trivial problems." Fryer saw an opportunity to redirect these resources toward societal problems, such as the racial testing gap and cultural bias. A science-based exploration of society also corresponded with his own natural curiosity. This confluence of internal and external influences continues to push his research. For instance, he noted in his presentation that of the roughly two million Americans in prison, half are black. In addition, there is a six-year difference in the life expectancy between whites and blacks. "These facts trouble me," Fryer said. "Frankly, they keep me up at night. We need to put all of these issues on the table and then knock them off one by one." Date: 11/9/2005 Source: Photo by Roger Boulay By: Mac Slocum |
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