Date of Award

2011

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

Scientific investigations of monetary incentives on students' academic achievement have not explored effects on performance of students from low socioeconomic status (SES), nor has there been exploration of teachers' perceptions of how monetary incentives impact academic performance of students from low socioeconomic status. The present study explored how low SES students perceive their academic performances being impacted by extrinsic monetary incentives. The study also explored the fourth-grade teachers' beliefs about the impact of monetary incentive on students' academic performance. The study found that students believe monetary incentives will increase academic performance, depending on the size of the cash incentive. The results were mixed for teachers. The findings from this study suggest that there is a need to delve deeper into the concept of cash for grades because of unanswered questions: What amount of money is sufficient, and why are teachers' beliefs incongruent with their students' beliefs?

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