Being a close friend of a California elementary schoolteacher, I can attest that the cases cited below are only the tip of the iceberg. (Emphasis added)
| Los Angeles (AP) 5.21.04, 9:15a -- More than 200 California teachers have been investigated for helping students cheat on standardized tests since a statewide exam program began five years ago, according to a newspaper report. At least 75 of the teachers investigated were found to have helped students cheat on the tests, according to documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times through a Public Records Act request. In some cases, the teachers were allowed to stay; others were fired or resigned, the paper reported.
Some educators say it's no surprised teachers are helping children get the right answers because, under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, schools with consistently low test scores can lose federal funding or have teachers reassigned. So far the state has intervened at 56 schools with poor scores, shaking up staffs. The federal government has warned 11 California campuses that they could lose funding or face other sanctions. "Some people feel that they need to boost test scores by hook or by crook," said Larry Ward of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, a watchdog group that has criticized many standardized tests. "The more pressure, the more some people take the unethical option." State education officials contend the numbers of proven cases are small in a state with more than 200,000 teachers. According to state documents, incidents in the last five years include teachers who gave hints to answers by drawing on the blackboard or leaving posters on the wall; coached children or hinted that their answers were wrong; told students the right answers; and changed the students' responses themselves. In the Inland Empire, a Rialto Unified School District third-grade teacher admitted telling students: "You missed a few answers; you need to go back and find the ones you missed." In the Ontario-Montclair School District, a student told investigators that a teacher read 10 math answers. Near Salinas, a Hollister School District teacher admitted changing about 15 answers. California allows districts to determine punishments, and most districts, citing privacy, do not disclose those decisions. State officials say they don't spend too much time checking up on districts. "We don't go out and do our own investigations; we don't have a staff to do that," said Les Axelrod of the state Education Department. "If we had a proctor in class, we would need another 200,000 people. Who is going to pay for that?" Beverly Tucker, California Teachers Association chief counsel, said before statewide testing started she saw one or two cases of cheating teachers a year. Since 1999, she said, the union has defended more than 100. "It's serious," Tucker said. "And I can understand there might be cases where dismissal is warranted because of a blatant violation." Association president Barbara Kerr said that the union didn't excuse cheating but felt bad for teachers who broke rules under "horrendous" pressure. "We have gone to such extremes -- where your whole life and existence is measured by one test -- that the pressure is on the kids, the pressure is on the teachers, the publicity is so overblown," she said. |
This article fails to point out that teachers who significantly raise their students' scores receive bonuses and recognition from the state (via their school districts), giving them even greater motivation to cheat.
(Update: This post referenced on Skippy TBK.)
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