Schools have always tried to incentivize their students to study harder. Although this can be achieved by rewarding students who excel in their studies. I believe that those who make progress should also be rewarded.
Admittedly, there are justifiable reasons to believe that elite students should be rewarded exclusively. Chief of these is that since they have diligently applied themselves to their studies, they deserve the praises and privileges. This may encourage these students and others to study harder to win the rewards, propelling overall academic gains. Added to this is the fact that this kind of competition is seen in almost every aspect of life where only the best individuals are rewarded. If students are used to this reality and thrive in the face of fierce competition, this will enable them to achieve success in later life.
However, there are more compelling reasons to say that schools should also reward students who show improvements. The key reason is that only a few smart students can come first and receive the rewards. This unequivocally causes others to think that their effort is to no avail because they cannot surpass those outstanding individuals. As a result, they are prone to feeling overwhelmed and disheartened and gradually lose the incentive to study. Furthermore, emphasizing improvement not only encourages all students to be diligent in their studies, but also helps students understand that they need to constantly improve themselves, irrespective of how well they have been or are performing. The constant desire to outdo themselves surely benefits them more than the competitive determination to win against all others.
In conclusion, even though it is arguably just to reward top students exclusively, schools should do this in tandem with rewarding those who show signs of improvement. This way, every student, those with best performance included, is motivated to exert themselves harder.