I think positive reinforcement is great, and I think the System that this particular school has set up is not entirely bad considering the money is not real money. I do, however, disagree with over reinforcing. The problem you get when you start paying kids for grades, it's something that they associate with grades and well-doing for the rest of their lives. They develop a "what's in it for me" mentality and won't do anything unless they'll get some kind of reward for it. I see this now in our school district. Many of the kids get excessive rewards at the elementary level, so at the high school level, they're always expecting something, and alot of the times, they won't do what you ask until you bribe them with some kind of reward. Rewards aren't bad, but students need to learn to respect and value education because it's an education. They need to be raised to actually value their learning instead of being bribed by rewards. Don't get me wrong, it actually works when it comes to achieving good grades, because what kid wouldn't want to get paid for good grades? The problem, is that schools are held hostage by funders based on grades, so some schools will do anything to get better grades, even if it means bribing students. What they don't realize, is that students will also do anything to get better grades to get paid, like cheating.

I think rewards can be good if applied in the right way.