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Factors impacting the acceptance of incentive programs in the high school setting
Abstract
School officials have been attempting to find ways to combat the specter of declining academic achievement and attendance through the use of incentives programs. One of the programs in greatest evidence is the Renaissance Program, used in 1993 in over 2,500 schools nation-wide (The Renaissance Foundation, 1993). While much encouragement has been provided for the use of extrinsic tangible rewards as means of increasing student motivation and performance, there is also a body of evidence that such incentives are counterproductive to learning and intrinsic motivation. With conflicting conclusions being drawn from the existing studies, a need existed to investigate student opinions about the motivational factors which impact program acceptance by those same students. Student attitudes toward a program can influence that program's success. Using social learning theory (Bandura, 1977) as a starting point, this study was conducted using four schools which were identified as "Renaissance Schools," those which ascribe to an incentives reward system for positive school behavior and achievement. Each school had been using the program for at least three years. Students who had achieved senior status were surveyed to determine the acceptance of the program by the students, and then to determine if prior academic success, the rewards offered as incentives, or the students' socio-economic status were related to the acceptance of the program. While strong student acceptance of the program was identified, determining the relationship among the factors studied and student acceptance of the programs was not as clear cut. Rewards influenced the students' acceptance of the Renaissance programs, but there was also a strong indication that the achievement levels would have been the same even if there were no incentive rewards. No relationship was evident in the socio-economic status of students and the acceptance of the program. Factors other than grades and economic status appear to relate to students' attitudes about the Renaissance program. Students indicated the desirability of the rewards keep students interested in the program and they wanted to receive incentive rewards, but that they will not alter their behavior or work habits to earn them.
Subject Area
School administration
Recommended Citation
Meyers, Robert Leroy, "Factors impacting the acceptance of incentive programs in the high school setting" (1993). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9415984.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9415984