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Cash Incentives for Students and Teachers Boosts Performance on SAT and Advanced Placement Tests FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
STANFORD – A cash incentive program that rewards both teachers and students for each passing score earned on an Advanced Placement (AP) exam has been shown to increase the percentage of high ACT and SAT scores earned by participating students, and increase the number of students enrolling in college, according to new research by Cornell University economist Kirabo Jackson published in the fall issue of Education Next. The program appears to have the biggest impact on African American and Hispanic students, boosting participation in AP courses and exams. The Advanced Placement Incentive Program (APIP) is targeted to Texas schools serving predominantly minority and low-income students. On average, there is a 22 percent increase in the number of students scoring above 1100 on the SAT or above 24 on the ACT in schools with the APIP. The increase rises each year the program is in place so that by the third year there is roughly a 33 percent increase. The percentage increases in students achieving higher SAT and ACT exam scores are similar among white, African American, and Hispanics students—about 5 percentage points from the third year on. However, the differences in impact relative to the prior performance of each group are sizable, notes Jackson. While there is about a 12 percent relative increase in white students scoring above 1100 on the SAT or above 24 on the ACT, there is a 50 percent relative increase for Hispanics and an 80 percent relative increase for black students. Additionally, there is roughly an 8 percent increase in the number of students who enroll in a college or university in Texas in APIP schools. To gauge the effects of the APIP, Jackson compared the change in performance of students (before and after adoption) in schools that adopted the program to the change in performance, over the same time period, for students in other Texas schools that had been selected for participation but where the program had not yet been implemented. “These outcomes are likely the result of stronger encouragement from teachers and guidance counselors to enroll in AP courses, better information provided to students, and changes in teacher and peer norms,” Jackson explains. APIP students receive between $100 and $500 for each exam score of 3 or above (out of a possible 5) in an eligible AP subject. Lead teachers receive an annual salary bonus of between $3,000 and $10,000, and an additional $2,000 to $5,000 bonus opportunity based on results. Pre-AP teachers earn an annual supplement of between $500 and $1,000 per year for extra work. AP teachers receive between $100 and $500 for each AP score of 3 or higher earned by an 11th or 12th grader enrolled in their course. The total cost of the program ranges between $100,000 and $200,000 per school per year. Private donors defray between 60 and 75 percent of the total cost of the program, and the district covers the remainder. The APIP was first implemented in 10 Dallas schools in 1996 and has been expanded to include more than 40 schools in Texas. By the 2008–09 school year, 61 schools in Texas will have adopted the program. Responding to the success of the APIP in Texas, New Mexico and New York City adopted similar programs. The National Math and Science Initiative awarded grants to Arkansas, Alabama, Connecticut, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Washington to replicate the APIP and plans to expand these programs to 150 districts across 20 states. Read “Cash for Test Scores” online, or in PDF format. Kirabo Jackson is assistant professor of labor economics at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University. Education Next is a scholarly journal published by the Hoover Institution that is committed to looking at hard facts about school reform. Other sponsoring institutions are the Harvard Program on Education Policy and Governance and the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation.
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