# Should I home school this barely passing child? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 11, 2010, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793 "2010-06-11T13:30:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793/41 "2010-06-14T16:52:02Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > “Could you teach calculus?” > > I’d just like to say that this question points out an area of general ignorance about homeschoolers. People usually assume that homeschooling = being home all the time. This is not true. What it boils down to is the family (parents and child together) being in charge of the child’s education. If you hire a tutor, sign up for a class, or use any of the many avenues available, you’re still a homeschooler. Good for you! Thinking you can teach calculus by being one chapter ahead in the textbook is a recipe for disaster. I got 800s in my Math SATs and math Achievement Test, and I’ve taken calculus, and beyond, and I would not have wanted to teach it to my kids. To really teach something well you need to understand it, not just read the book. Some people get calculus (like Feynman) and some don’t (like me. Based on seeing my kids struggle just like I did, I think it’s genetic.) My fear about home schooling would be for people who overestimate their ability to rush in and think they can teach anything. Your attitude is much more realistic. Are their networks of tutors for things like Calculus out there? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793/42 "2010-06-14T16:55:26Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Good for you! Thinking you can teach calculus by being one chapter ahead in the textbook is a recipe for disaster. I got 800s in my Math SATs and math Achievement Test, and I’ve taken calculus, and beyond, and I would not have wanted to teach it to my kids. To really teach something well you need to understand it, not just read the book. Some people get calculus (like Feynman) and some don’t (like me. Based on seeing my kids struggle just like I did, I think it’s genetic.) My fear about home schooling would be for people who overestimate their ability to rush in and think they can teach anything. Your attitude is much more realistic. > > Are their networks of tutors for things like Calculus out there? Absolutely. Or, like I said in my first post, there are homeschooling groups with math teacher parents, or you can take Calculus or anything else you like at your neighborhood school, even as a homeschooler\*. \*Theoretically. Calculus isn’t even on the curriculum of high schools in our area. School-schooled kids don’t get it, either. It was a hypothetical. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793/43 "2010-06-14T17:25:31Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Re: The negative aspect of rewards > My main source for this is[this book.](http://www.amazon.com/Intrinsic-Extrinsic-Motivation-Performance-Educational/dp/0126190704/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276512303&sr=8-10) > > By definition, a reward is given after a desirable action to encourage continuation of the action. Ideally, parents give a reward for say good grades hoping that the expectation of the reward forces the child to work as hard, or harder, than they used to. Does this happen? For some students, yes. For most students, however, the reward must increase to maintain the same level of effort. I’m sure many of us have had the experience of receiving a known reward, and then having the recipient say, “That’s all? That’s the same thing I got last time.” If the reward ceases, decreases, or even stays the same, the good action will be reduced or even eliminated. > > Punishments are similar. By definition, punishments are given to discourage the continuation of a negative action. For example, bad grades followed by a spanking. For some students, this works. However, for many students (and criminals,) the punishment actually accomplishes one of two things: the student no longer cares about the punishment having experienced it and finding out it wasn’t as bad as they thought, or they become resentful and start increasing the negative action even though they were unlikely to do it in the first place. > > Here’s an example from the above textbook. Three groups are given the task to fix radios. The first group must fix radios or pay a penalty for every radio they don’t fix in a given amount of time. The second group is given payment for each radio they fix. The third group is given a free choice whether they fix the radios or not. > > In group 1, they started out fixing the radios. However, as time went by, they preferred to pay the fine rather than fix radios, thinking it was “too much effort.” The second group also began fixing the radios, but as time went by, stopped because they felt that their effort was worth more than what they were being paid. The third group…well, I’ll leave it for now, but let’s just say there’s a third option besides rewards and punishments. > > Another interesting thing is that punishments actually result in an increase in the negative behavior when the punishment is eliminated. For example, if students are punished for staying up late, they will stay up extra late when their parents are out of town. In other words, the degree, amount and severity of the negative action is increased because of punishments. The same thing happens with rewards. If the reward stops, the action stops, even if the student did the action on their own accord previously. > > Therefore, if we go back to the definition of punishments and rewards, the actual result tends to be the opposite: negative behaviors are increased because of punishments, and good behaviors are decreased or even eliminated by rewards. > > Jobs, however, are a different story, although I do see many behaviors that would fit the above. For example, a person who feels they are getting paid less than they deserve would behave as above as though being punished. A person who goes through many jobs quickly at even the slightest hint of a raise may be displaying the reward behavior. However, I think that for most people, salary is secondary compared to the self-satisfaction in doing the job, and that most of us would prefer a job they are happy at rather than one with slightly higher pay but worse conditions. I don’t want to hijack this thread too much, so let me be brief with my criticism. The key to reinforcement is intermittency. When you want to increase a behavior, the first thing you do is reward it every time it happens. Then, gradually you start to thin the schedule of reinforcement until the subject is rewarded only every once in a while. The thinner the schedule, the stronger the behavior will become. Think of slot machines: the person who plays a slot machine is only rarely rewarded, but continues to put money in the machine over and over. This is also the best way to use reinforcement in a school setting. Start with praise, tokens, candy, etc. every time you see the behavior happen. Gradually fade your reinforcement so that the student is only receives reinforcement for the best effort. Remember that teacher you had in school who was very firm and no-nonsense, but when they gave out that rare praise they made you feel so great? Your criticisms of punishment are valid. Punishment can build resentment and many times the subject easily learns to discriminate when punishment contingencies are in place. They don’t steal cookies when grandma is around because that will lead to a spanking, but always steal cookies in mom’s presence because they know nothing will happen. That is why there are guidelines for punishment: 1) Never use punishment until other strategies have failed, 2) Use punishment in combination with reinforcement strategies, 3) Use the right amount of punishment. Too much or too little can have the opposite effect, 4) Punishment must be consistent across people and settings. In summation, **Superhal** , I think your textbook is not describing why reinforcement and punishment are ineffective, but why reinforcement and punishment fail when they are _misused._ ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793/44 "2010-06-14T18:41:33Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Are their networks of tutors for things like Calculus out there? Yes. My own SIL tutors for a company that does a lot of homeschooling work (both charter and independent\*) as well as public school work. My husband, who is one of those people who understands calculus, advertises in a homeschooling newsletter for tutoring in upper-level math and physics. He’s very good at it. Most people I know just take something that high-level at a CC, though. I think it’s not all that common to tackle those high-level math/science courses exclusively at home. \*In California, you can homeschool independently by doing the paperwork to establish a private school, which is very easy, or you can join one of the charter schools that cater to the market, offering funds for books and lessons and a teacher to track progress. I joined a charter last year when we went completely broke, and our teacher-person meets with us once a month to report what we’ve been up to. They’re as hands-off as you want them to be, and I prefer no interference, but our teacher is also certified to teach up through HS, specializing in math. So if you want tutoring, you can get it. Plenty of people start homeschooling because the school is utterly failing their child somehow, and those folks are often not interested in doing everything on their own. Wow, this got long, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793/45 "2010-06-14T19:16:11Z")
> [@moejoe](#): > > I considered homeschooling for my son who was failing in high school, but I work so there was no way I could manage it. What we did instead was enrolled him in the local “alternative” school. > > Most people have big fears about alternative schools since the assumption is that many of the students have behavioral issues or whatever. > > What we found was amazing and surprising: small classrooms (maybe 10-15 students in each class) innovative and interesting assignments that translated the material into real world knowledge, no homework, and faculty and staff who knew and really liked my son. > > The results were quite positive. He made and kept agreements with his teachers and principal about attendance and completing work, and his grades went from Fs to As. > > And since it was part of the local district it was free. I’ll second this! I spent six hellish months in the local high school before I got into an alternative school. It saved my life. Great and dedicated educators taught far more effectively in half a day than the hell-pit I had been in for a full day. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793/46 "2010-06-14T21:11:53Z")
> [@Acid\_Lamp](#): > > Don’t mean to hijack, but why? I wouldn’t go to work if I wasn’t paid; school is a child’s job, why shouldn’t they be paid for performance? I havent finished the book yet, but virtually all the research shows that rewards have a negative effect on essentially every aspect of work/education. getting a pay check isnt a reward, getting a bonus for doing X is a reward. school shouldnt be a job, it should be interesting in its own right. ask anyone who dropped out of school why, most kids who hate school are being forced to endure hours of sheer boredom to learn things in a way that the teachers are comfortable with. ask anyone who hates math when they lost interest, you never find a person who says well math was great until 6th grade, then 7th grade really sucked, 8th and 9th were ok but 10th blew chunks and I never went back. there is always a cut off point where some class was so boring/poorly taught that it ended all interest in the subject. one of the studies they did was to give a class full of kids a new juice drink (or some kind of drink anyway) for one group they just gave the kids the stuff, for the other group they rewarded the kids for drinking the stuff. the kids who had to be bribed to drink it had very little interest in the stuff once the rewards went away while the group who was simply given the stuff largely kept drinking it with no incentive at all. thats just one study and the results are typical. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793/47 "2010-06-14T22:06:51Z")
> [@Pyper](#): > > The key to reinforcement is intermittency. When you want to increase a behavior, the first thing you do is reward it every time it happens. Then, gradually you start to thin the schedule of reinforcement until the subject is rewarded only every once in a while. The thinner the schedule, the stronger the behavior will become. Think of slot machines: the person who plays a slot machine is only rarely rewarded, but continues to put money in the machine over and over. This is also the best way to use reinforcement in a school setting. Start with praise, tokens, candy, etc. every time you see the behavior happen. Gradually fade your reinforcement so that the student is only receives reinforcement for the best effort. Remember that teacher you had in school who was very firm and no-nonsense, but when they gave out that rare praise they made you feel so great? > > - and again all the research shows this to simply be untrue, seriously I cannot recommend the book enough. (punished by rewards) I plan on checking out the other one linked as well. this is one of those things that seems so obvious but the data just is not there. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793/48 "2010-06-14T22:25:29Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > and again all the research shows this to simply be untrue, seriously I cannot recommend the book enough. (punished by rewards) I plan on checking out the other one linked as well. this is one of those things that seems so obvious but the data just is not there. I just don’t see that. A big part of life is learning that we all have to do things that are unpleasant. In return for that steadfastness we are rewarded with monetary compensation, or other rewards social, or physical. Surely you don’t expect students to be interested in school for no reason other than the love of learning? That may be true on certain topics in certain classes, but nearly every child is bored to tears on a daily basis by most classes. A consistent reward for good behaviour, attention to homework, etc is demonstrating in miniature the real world. Math class might be boring and stupid, just like a redundant office task is. Failing to perform results in negative consequences in both worlds: the loss of money. Doing the unpleasant task results in a reward: the usual pay; exceptional performance results in exceptional rewards: promotions or special treats. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793/49 "2010-06-14T23:22:42Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > and again all the research shows this to simply be untrue, seriously I cannot recommend the book enough. (punished by rewards) I plan on checking out the other one linked as well. this is one of those things that seems so obvious but the data just is not there. I would very much caution you from concluding from one author’s presenting a case arguing that punishments are rewards don’t work, that “all the research shows this to simply be untrue” - such is certainly not the case. Rewards and punishments are the basis of [operant conditioning](http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/introopcond.htm) and operant conditioning, done correctly, may not be all that Skinner thought it was, but it most assuredly “works”, and drives large portions of human behaviors. Rewards and punishments can be done badly and ineffectively and even counterproductively - but that informs naught about whether they work if done correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793/50 "2010-06-15T00:49:35Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > and again all the research shows this to simply be untrue, seriously I cannot recommend the book enough. (punished by rewards) I plan on checking out the other one linked as well. this is one of those things that seems so obvious but the data just is not there. Um, cite? What research? Because I’ve got three textbooks and hundreds of journal articles going back to the 1960’s that say reinforcement does work. Like I said to Superhal, the misapplication of reinforcement is not proof that reinforcement does not work. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793/51 "2010-06-15T01:15:38Z")
Alfie Kohn is a well-known critic of American educational systems in general, and while that does not negate his opinions, I would not necessarily take a single book written by an author with a well-known and biased agenda as being a balanced view of the issue. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793/52 "2010-06-15T06:02:06Z")
> [@Acid\_Lamp](#): > > I just don’t see that. A big part of life is learning that we all have to do things that are unpleasant. In return for that steadfastness we are rewarded with monetary compensation, or other rewards social, or physical. Surely you don’t expect students to be interested in school for no reason other than the love of learning? **That may be true on certain topics in certain classes, but nearly every child is bored to tears on a daily basis by most classes**. A consistent reward for good behaviour, attention to homework, etc is demonstrating in miniature the real world. Math class might be boring and stupid, just like a redundant office task is. Failing to perform results in negative consequences in both worlds: the loss of money. Doing the unpleasant task results in a reward: the usual pay; exceptional performance results in exceptional rewards: promotions or special treats. bolding mine, why are they bored? because the way they are taught is what is easiest for the teachers and the other adults responsible for education create a curriculum that works for them instead of whats best for the student. I would love to see the actual research that backs your claims that this works. and I mean studies as opposed to opinions. if you I suppose I could dig through the book and post a list of studies that he pulls from, but really its a great read. and W. Edwards Deming was fairly rabid in his condemnation of rewards and punishments in both the work force and education. I see lots of people claiming that rewards work but no one is offering actual research. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793/53 "2010-06-15T10:42:48Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > I see lots of people claiming that rewards work but no one is offering actual research. In my experience, behaviorists remind me of the old “sun revolves around the earth” people. As the evidence mounts, the explanations become more and more complex to account for observed phenomena. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793/54 "2010-06-15T11:50:07Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > bolding mine, why are they bored? because the way they are taught is what is easiest for the teachers and the other adults responsible for education create a curriculum that works for them instead of whats best for the student. I would love to see the actual research that backs your claims that this works. and I mean studies as opposed to opinions. No, as a parent, they are bored because that is a natural state for children. I’ve seen mine bored by Disney World, bored by a house full of video games, computers, and movies, bored by their friends. “Mom, I’m bored.” Seriously, you could have them taught by Cirque du Soliel performers and kids would get bored. Adults eventually would to, but we learn not to whine ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793/55 "2010-06-15T13:19:38Z")
Have we even established WHY this kid’s grades dropped so dramatically? I know several people suggested that the kid is being bullied, or has an undiagnosed learning disability, and that’s really where the treatment needs to start. Sometimes a kid just missed an important learning tool, and needs to get that one tool for everything to make sense. Maybe the child has been subliterate, or even illiterate, all these years, and now it’s catching up to him/her? ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793/56 "2010-06-15T18:36:43Z")
The effect of token rewards on “intrinsic motivation” for doing math. [http://seab.envmed.rochester.edu/jaba/articles/1999/jaba-32-03-0375.pdf](http://seab.envmed.rochester.edu/jaba/articles/1999/jaba-32-03-0375.pdf) Competition between positive and negative reinforcement in the treatment of escape behavior. [http://seab.envmed.rochester.edu/jaba/articles/1999/jaba-32-03-0285.pdf](http://seab.envmed.rochester.edu/jaba/articles/1999/jaba-32-03-0285.pdf) Sensitivity of children’s behavior to probabalistic reward: Effects of a decreasing-ratio lottery system on math performance. [http://seab.envmed.rochester.edu/jaba/articles/2002/jaba-35-04-0403.pdf](http://seab.envmed.rochester.edu/jaba/articles/2002/jaba-35-04-0403.pdf) Those are just a few articles I found using the search term “reward” on my school library’s psych database. The [Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis](http://seab.envmed.rochester.edu/jaba/) is free online with the exception of articles from the past six months. You can read hundreds and hundreds of articles on reinforcement. Whether you choose to accept the empirical research of countless scientists over one guy’s opinion is your choice. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793/57 "2010-06-15T18:49:32Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > In my experience, behaviorists remind me of the old “sun revolves around the earth” people. As the evidence mounts, the explanations become more and more complex to account for observed phenomena. That’s nice, but I notice you didn’t respond to any of my points. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793/58 "2010-06-15T18:51:30Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Have we even established WHY this kid’s grades dropped so dramatically? I know several people suggested that the kid is being bullied, or has an undiagnosed learning disability, and that’s really where the treatment needs to start. Sometimes a kid just missed an important learning tool, and needs to get that one tool for everything to make sense. Maybe the child has been subliterate, or even illiterate, all these years, and now it’s catching up to him/her? No, nor has the OP addressed the question why this is her problem to solve and not the kid’s actual mom. I think it’s pretty damn out of line for a grandparent to just decide for the parent and kid what they need to do and go start researching homeschooling. But it’s also damn out of line for me to assume that’s the situation. However, with no additional postings from the OP, I and others, am left to make shit up for myself. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793/59 "2010-06-15T18:57:37Z")
This study of 18,000 school children ([reported in Time](http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1978589-3,00.html) in four cities found that a very specific type of reward system is effective: reward the child for something that a)they know how to do b)is wholly within their control. The study found, in Dallas, that paying children about $1-2 per book read improved reading ability and test scores more than the HeadStart program did, and cost approx $14 per year per child. It even boosted grades which the pay-for-grade reward system (used in NYC) failed to do. In some of the failed pillots, they attempted to reward students for things that, it turned out, they didn’t know how to do. Like “study.” In other words, reward programs work BUT you have to be very careful how it is structured. It can also be fairly said that “most” reward programs are ineffective. That doesn’t mean rewards, as a concept, are ineffective. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793/60 "2010-06-15T19:03:16Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > In other words, reward programs work BUT you have to be very careful how it is structured. It can also be fairly said that “most” reward programs are ineffective. That doesn’t mean rewards, as a concept, are ineffective. If indeed most reward programs are ineffective (although I would like to see a cite for that), I would say it is because the programs are poorly designed and poorly applied by people who have no experience or training in behaviorism. (P.S. I’m agreeing with you, even if it doesn’t sound like it. ;)) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-home-school-this-barely-passing-child/542793.md?page=4)