You knew it would come to this, human nature being so often what it is. Schools accused of cheating. Schools accused of pushing the envelope on the ethics of testing and test administration. Of course schools don’t cheat, people cheat.
Here is an article about a principal who has resigned amidst accusations of test improprieties.
As the pressure mounts and AYP gets harder and harder to achieve, look for more situations where the people are accused of taking the easy way out.
My prediction is that this will get worse over the next few years as Barack Obama and Arne Duncan continue to push their “pay for play” ideas where teachers are rewarded with bonuses for improving test scores.
Tags: administrators · cheating · school testing · teachers · test ethics8 Comments
No doubt it will get worse! The current generation entering the teaching force is so naively confused at the question of, “Why are we required to teach and test children in this manner if so few educators believe it’s right for kids?” To our generation’s leadership credit, if we feel the task is absurd, we don’t take it very seriously. We don’t seem to take things at face value so much or take things lying down, despite our own experiences with standardized test (maybe because of those experiences)
Unfortunately, what one educator sees as apathy towards a ridiculously, unthoughtful requirement, another teacher (or politician) might see as cheating or not being ethical.
I don’t think you can possibly blame this entirely on Barrack Obama. Let’s be real- he hasn’t even been in office for 6 months first of all. Secondly if the alternative is George W. Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” then it’s better than nothing. Our achievement gap has been widening for 8 years and you can’t expect a turn around overnight especially with how much the new administration has to deal with at the moment.
The problem is our culture, our society, and our work ethic as a whole nation in general.
One caveat to my first comment…there is a definite difference in apathy and integrity, no matter what generation. Changing answers is simply wrong, low-class and lacking integrity.
Integrity is that thing that drives work ethic, which can be timeless. Check out the following 2nd place AARP contest winner regarding the new generation who has to work within (and solve) the situations created on any President’s watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA
I have to agree with the comment below that says our work ethic as a country is generally quite poor. Respect is hard to find, especially amongst our children.
I do believe that “cheating” will get worse. What the administrator did with the math test is clearly wrong. His cheating was pretty blatant. However, I think that with all the testing pressure, pushing the rules and ethics just a bit will become more and more commonplace. It really is the children that lose in the end.
I cannot imagine being so desperate for my school to make the grade that I would throw all my morals and ethics out the window to make it happen. People caught doing this sort of thing should lose their credentials so there will be no chance of them being involved in a child’s education again.
Testing is just one part of our broken system.
I was amazed while reading this article at how these principals did something so stupid. I understand the importance placed on these tests, but come on. Changing the answers on the test is just crazy. Wouldn’t it have made more sense for the administrators to diagnose the learning problems and fix them?!
I can’t imagine what people think when they do things like this. The reality is that teachers have had pressure for years and we will never know how many M&M’s were placed on a student desk for a right answer (real story). But now as administration is feeling the pressure instead of righting a wroing they are joining in. Texas policy to remove all staff during testing week may become a national policy if people can’t do this right.
I believe in accountability and there has to be a way to ensure that the data we get is accurate. I just don’t know how to avoid the work ethic issue in America today. What do we expect of our students if teachers and administrators are willing to go this far to pass state tests? Where does actual teaching and learning fit in?
Having been on 2 sides of this issue, the teacher and the principal, we need to set the stage and expectations. It always seems easy to say, “we don’t do this” until it happens.
The safe guards currently in place are minimal. I have a second person in every room, a parent paid a small stipened-who goes through the training video etc, and the teacher. The teachers feel safe, the parent gets to see the way things are done and I get to ensure, to a little higher level, that as our scores increase we are not questioned.