.
Some American schools paid teachers more if their students improved on
tests. Now there is a growing movement to pay the students --- in some cases, even just for coming to class.
Students at one school in New Mexico can earn up to three hundred dollars a year for good attendance. A program in New York City pays up to five hundred dollars for good attendance and high test scores.
In Baltimore, Maryland, high scores on state graduation tests can be worth more than one hundred dollars. And a New Jersey school system plans to pay students fifty dollars a week to attend after-school tutoring programs. Schools that pay students can be found in over one-fourth of the fifty states. Other state schools reward students with food or other things.
Robert Schaefer is public education director for the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, an activist group. He says paying may improve performance in the short term, but students develop false expectations for the future. He sees a lack of long-term planning in these programs because of pressure on schools to raise test scores.
Public schools need to show improvement under the education reform law. Low-performing schools may lose their federal money; teachers and administrators may lose their jobs. Often these schools are in poor neighborhoods where getting students to go to school can be a continual problem.
Critics say paying students sends a message that money is the only valuable reward. But some students say it makes school more exciting. And some teachers have reported getting more requests for extra help.
60. What is the passage mainly about?
A. Some American schools pay teachers more for improving students’ scores.
B. Some American schools pay students for good attendance and high test scores.
C. Public schools need to improve their teaching management.
D. Some American schools pay teachers for after-school tutoring programs.
61. In _________ of the fifty states, schools pay the students.
A. less than one half B. less than ten
C. more than ten D. more than one half
62. We can learn from the text that _________.
A. all the people are in favor of the movement to pay the students.
B. not all the people think the movement to pay the students is good
C. in New York City students can get food for high test scores.
D. teachers can’t lose their jobs in some schools in American poor neighborhoods
63.The text is probably taken from_________.
A. education report B. health report
C. information report D. science news
