The Education Wars: The Georgia Cheating Scandal

When there is so much pressure on school districts to teach to the test, when states are being bribed with federal dollars, when there is a movement afloat to tie teachers' evaluations to standardized test scores, when there is utter cluelessness on the part of politicians and "reformers" about how kids learn and what they really need, there is no surprise there would be widespread cheating on standardized testing.

People, especially in education, will resort to unethical and even criminal behavior in order to preserve their jobs.

Susan Ohanian comments on the scandal:

I would suggest that the children in the state of Georgia would be much better off if the state conducted an extensive analysis of lead poisoning instead of putting so much faith in standardized testing. Michael Martin presents solid evidence of the harm that comes from ignoring this threat.

In her blog, Maureen Downey asks, "How can parents know if their kids are learning if test results are not valid?" I'd ask How can parents know if their kids are learning if test results are valid? Has she looked at the test? I am unwilling to cede that kind of confidence to CTB/McGraw-Hill.

Downey also calls this changing answers on tests "educational malpractice of the worst kind." Educational malpractice? Yes. Of the worst kind? Not even close.

Am I condoning cheating? Of course not. "Understanding" and even "sympathizing" is not the same as "condoning. But what I am saying is:

1) CTB/McGraw-Hill tests are never going to tell you what you need to know about children's abilities.

2) The time spent prepping for CTB/McGraw-Hill tests would be much better spent doing other things.

3)The money spent on CTB/McGraw-Hill tests would be much better spent elsewhere.

Fat chance that is going to happen.

Another article today from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

A few dozen of their elementary school students had just finished high-stakes summer retests — exams first taken in spring but not passed. With just a glance at the answer sheets, Atherton Elementary School Principal James Berry and Assistant Principal Doretha Alexander saw they were in trouble.

“We cannot not make AYP,” Alexander said. Not making AYP, or adequate yearly progress, meant not meeting a required federal benchmark. These students, all fifth-graders, also faced being held back if they did not pass.

“OK,” Berry answered. He pulled a pencil from a cup on Alexander’s desk. “I want you to call the answers to me.”

With that, he began to erase the students’ answers.

State officials announced Wednesday that 191 schools — 10 percent of Georgia’s public elementary and middle schools — will be investigated for possible cheating on state tests. It was the second time in as many years that the state’s testing program has come under fire.

Oops:

To help readers understand the scope of the CRCT tampering results, the AJC offered this example in the morning paper: At Atlanta’s Gideons Elementary, an average of 27 of 70 answers on each fourth-grader’s math test were changed from wrong to right in one classroom.

I just went to the state report to look at statewide erasure rates: Georgia fourth graders on average each erased and changed only 1.87 answers from wrong to right. (Please look at the state report before you start suggesting the state targeted Atlanta. Tests from every system, every school and every student were reviewed.)

Administrators are doing the altering, since teachers hardly ever have the test score answers.