I give my kids incentives as well.
Not always money, but generally more or less priveledges.
I also reward on improvements.
Example: my daughter was having a horrid time with spelling, but instead of trying to guess at the word if she didn't know it, she left it blank, so it was harder to determine where she was having the problems. So we got her to start guessing and it helped her get a 100 on her spelling test and she got to stay up later and got to choose desert for dinner (this is a huge incentive in our house, being a decision maker for a day). Well, it encouraged her to guess and she found when she guessed, she often got most of the words right she thought she didn't know. Thus was born the improvement incentive and her grades in all subjects started to rise. She was suddenly interested in school again and studied harder as she wasn't just given a reward for grades, but improved grades. It helped her focus more where she was having problems.
My son's selective mutism can sometimes hinder his reading comprehension in class, but we've found workaround and with the improved grade incentive, he started concentrating more on his studying and grades (he also spoke his first ever word in a school setting, so this may well help ease his anxieties as well).
We also added negative incentives to balance out any discipline situations in school and a decline in grades as well. The kids have learned school is their job and they are awarded for going above and beyond on their jobs (the improved grades rather than just the "status quo" of the steady grades)
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