Incentives for Test-Takers Run the Gamut

By Bess Keller

What if the schools gave a test and nobody—or at least not many of the students taking it—cared?

That's the situation educators and policymakers around the country believe they face as new state-mandated tests arrive in classrooms without built-in consequences for students.

Too often, educators complain, many older students, especially high school sophomores or juniors, find little to motivate them on the tests, even though their scores may determine whether a school looks good in the local press, keeps its accreditation, or...