Penalizing Teachers for Low Test Scores

Morning Edition had a segment this morning in which it touted new research from John List, a University of Chicago economist, that found that student test scores rose the most when teachers were given a bonus at the start of the year which they would lose, if their students didn't score at a certain level. The argument is that teachers will more fear losing money they have already received than they value getting a bonus at the end of the year.

While this is an interesting result, there is an...