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The Grade Experiment
Overview
What happens when everyone gets the same grade regardless of effort? Would you still work hard if your reward stayed the same? The Grade Experiment follows a classroom where individual grades are replaced with a class average, revealing how disconnecting effort from reward changes behavior, reduces motivation, and lowers overall performance. Explore the free rider problem, collectivism, and real-world historical examples showing why incentives matter. Pair with: The Grade Experiment works well as a standalone introduction to incentives and economic systems. It pairs naturally with Equal Shares - Why Collectivism Fails, a longer video that explores collective ownership and economic systems in greater depth. It can easily be used with Lessons in Lyrics – Incentives Matter. It can also complement numerous videos about market economies, entrepreneurship, or property rights that are available on SITC.org.
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Grade level and subjects
• Recommended for grades 6-12
• Subjects: Economics
• Works in Classroom, Hybrid, and Homeschool settings
Sample discussion questions
• What policy does the teacher announce at the beginning of the video? Why does the teacher think this is fair?
• According to the video, what happens when effort and reward are disconnected? Why do students who used to work hard begin to lose motivation?
• What real-world historical examples does the video reference? What happened in those communities when resources were shared equally?
• Do you think a collective grading system could ever work? What conditions would need to be in place? What are the trade-offs?
• The Grade Experiment
What’s in the free teacher’s guide
This printable 3-page Teacher's Guide includes a lesson description and discussion and analysis questions.
Standards alignment
Aligned to state standards — use the SITC Standards Tool to match this video to the standards in your state.