An article today in The Baltimore Sun tackles the sensitive issue of cheating scandals on standardized tests. In the wake of this week’s release of MSA 2011 scores, the buzz about cheating is louder than ever. After the disclosure of several instances of cheating in Baltimore City Schools in past years, Baltimore City Schools CEO Andrés Alonso initiated a reform for increased security during standardized testing. Education officials and critics debate the role of school and teacher assessment based on standardized tests, arguing that the high-stakes of test results drive cheating.
Once again, the issues of teacher accountability and measures of student progress rear their ugly heads. As a “seasoned” teacher, I recognize now the tremendous qualitative growth that takes place in a classroom, and the frustration of not being able to provide hard evidence of this progress. On the other hand, I strongly believe that quantitative growth is critical… at the end of the day, if students can’t pass tests, they won’t graduate. This article contributes to an ongoing, circular debate: teachers must be held accountable, but at what cost? As Diane Ravitch stated in the article, the responsibility aligned to test scores may be more detrimental than inspiring: “They're putting pressure on principals and teachers … to do all the wrong things” (Marbella, 2011, para. 12). I can’t say that I have a solution to this problem, but I do know one thing for sure: student growth needs to be measured by more than just a scantron.
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With principals and school staff slowly receiving and releasing MSA results to teachers, I think it's particularly valuable to discuss the frustrations that align with standardized testing. As a teacher, it's incredibly frustrating to think that some teachers feel the need (or pressure) to cheat on such a test. What kind of message does that send our students? We don't believe that you can pass this test on your own, but I'm willing to correct your answers in the scantron booklet to ensure our school receives high marks? It's unbelievable, even after the crackdown that the district had this year with an additional $400,000 spent on test monitors and other security measures for testing. Clearly, there are much bigger problems going on in schools that feel the need to cheat on a standardized test in order to receive passing scores.
Your comment on Ravitch is interesting, considering that we are currently reading her book. She was once a proponent of standardized testing as a means of accountability. Yet she has since reversed course and feels as though such tests are crowding out other measures of a quality education. This absolutely speaks to what you mentioned with qualitative growth in your classroom. But if we don't have such tests across the board to hold our teachers accountable, then what can we do? As the end of the day, we need a measurement to compare schools. But what extra measures do we really need to take to ensure that cheating is not a problem? It hurts our kids, our scores, and our integrity. But how many measures are too many?
I agree completely with what Erin says. Schools and school districts are continually scrutinized for these cheating scandals. However, shouldn't we be scrutinizing the system in place that makes people feel like they need to cheat? I'm not validating the cheaters but I do understand their incentive to cheat. These tests are tied so closely to not only student success, but also to teacher success. People's livelihood depend on these tests that the students take. Teachers are given so few resources and so little help in many schools and are expected to have phenomenal test results at the end of the year. I believe that the worst aspect of all of this is that teachers are not rewarded for progress that they make. City, State and Federal officials only look to see what the passing rates are. But what about those teachers that taught students that were so under grade-level and moved them two years closer? If those students still didn't pass, then this teacher is seen as unsuccessful. I do understand the need for standardized tests. I do believe that the schools that cheated should be punished. However, I do believe that a greater change needs to be made to the entire system. I do not think we're making anything better this way.
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