Cheating should be
something that teachers teach their students NOT to do, but it is becoming
increasingly more common for teachers and administrators to cheat on
standardized tests. There have
been numerous cheating scandals across the country, and the latest cheating
scandal in Atlanta has brought this issue back to the forefront. An Atlanta grand jury indicted 35
teachers, administrators, and principals for their participation in cheating on
standardized tests.
A recent article by
Jason Stanford for the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-stanford/standardized-test-cheating_b_2993239.html discusses this issue of high-stakes
testing and feels that this pressure makes cheating inevitable. No Child Left Behind offers no
incentive to catch cheating, so why not cheat? There are rewards and punishments attached to test scores
and everyone wants to look good.
But, when I read this article and others like this, they compared this
cheating scandal to the Lance Armstrong situation or steroids in baseball. When I think of those scandals, I
think, who was harmed in that situation?
In those cases, the public was fooled into thinking these athletes were
more than they were, but no one was really hurt in the matter. But in these cheating scandals with
schools making themselves look better than they are, they are hurting kids. Children are ultimately not receiving
the education they deserve, not getting the right instruction, and not being
taught by people who believe in them if they’re willing to cheat.
I understand that
there needs to be some way to measure the effectiveness of a school and it’s
teachers, but I wonder if standardized testing is really the right answer. Stanford brought up that standardized
tests have been around in education, but only in recent years have there been
punishments like school closures or rewards like bonuses attached to them. So,
perhaps the process of standardized testing would work better if there weren’t
these high stakes. In an ideal
world, district leaders would look at a school with weak data and use that to
decide how to help it improve.
Instead, that data is generally used to shut the school down. If we moved more towards using the data
to help improve our schools, instead of punish them, maybe standardized testing
would make a better impact.
What I feel from this
scandal and reading this article is that the state of standardized testing
needs to be seriously evaluated on a national level. I hope with this scandal in the national news and Common
Core and the PARC tests on the horizon, that a stronger testing system that is
better for kids can be created.
2 comments:
Michele,
With the recent standardized tests scandals that occurred in Atlanta, I have to question the effectiveness of evaluating school and student performance solely through evaluation metrics that align to standardized testing. First and foremost, standardized tests scores do not capture the overall, incremental progress that could have taken place throughout the entire year. Even with the suspension of AYP and the adoption of AMO, unrealistic expectations are the norm for both teachers and administrators. Instead of focusing on other areas of potential evaluation (school culture, community engagement, parental and student feedback, teacher performance, etc), school districts use one item, standardized tests scores, as a means of evaluating schools, teachers and administrators. This phenomenon presents multiple problems. First and foremost, since other areas of school development are not considered to be significant within the school evaluation framework, they are neglected by both teachers and administrators. Secondly, using standardized tests scores as a means of evaluating schools presents both teacher and administrators with the temptation to cheat since they know that most of their evaluation depends on the student test scores. Consequently, false or misleading test scores may result and indicate that our students are on track and making progress, but in reality, they are stagnating or falling behind.
I think you have really solid ideas about adults cheating on standardized tests. And like you, I'm not entirely surprised it has happened. Over the last few years, more and more educators are suffering at the hands of really bad policy. They are no longer able to teach the way that they want. (That's not to say that there were no problems in education before standardized tests became relevant.)
But when teachers are evaluated on tests in bad schools, a few things can happen: a teacher gives in and no learning happens, a teacher quits because they are disenchanted with the system, or a teacher cheats in order to do what they feel is saving their job. It's turning teachers into monsters.
I believe until we get a fair system, standardized tests should not be so high stakes for anyone-teachers or students. Everyone deserves chances to not get great scores on tests. It's progress that really matters anyways.
Thanks for your thoughts!
Joey
Post a Comment