The last education topic that I discussed was the “Race to the Top” policy and some of the problems caused by competing for limited government funds for education. This blog will discuss a disturbing problem which may have resulted, which has been referred to as “Erase to the top.” Most of the time cheating in schools does not reach the public eye via the media, with the exception of the recent Harvard cheating scandal. In the past few weeks, however, there have been many articles publicized in the news, about cheating…by teachers. A grand jury indicted 35 teachers in Georgia schools for cheating. These teachers altered test answers. They made some up and falsely certified tests. Educators in Atlanta had “erasure parties” in which they gathered together to change student’s test answers. One teacher even told investigators that she was afraid to not participate because the district was “run like a mob.” This is a criminal matter in Atlanta, but whenever and wherever teachers cheat, students are cheated, and these articles suggest the problem may be much more wide spread.
Another example of teachers cheating came from our nation’s capital of Washington, D.C. It was reported that close to 200 teachers cheated on a 2009 standardized test. The cheating included rereading test questions to students, and reviewing test material with students while they took the test. A USA Today investigation showed that an unusually high number of wrong answers were erased and replaced with the correct answers. Test experts stated that the chances of students actually correcting that number of answers purely by chance was smaller than the odds of winning the Powerball grand prize in the lottery. One article that summarized the most outrageous cheating scandals by teachers showed that West Virginia was doing better than the national average on standardized tests which threw up a red flag due to the fact that West Virginia had high rates of poverty and illiteracy. An investigator looking into this found that supposedly 48 states were doing better than the national average on these tests!
It makes sense that educators would be tempted to help students cheat on standardized tests with such high stakes. These tests have an impact on the jobs of the educators, principals, and leaders of the school district. It is important that districts score well on these tests in order to get the government funding promised by the “Race to the Top” policy. School districts have begun to cheat and alter test answers due to the increasing pressure to improve standardized test scores. This is not the only cheating that has been going on in school districts. The narrowed curriculum that teaches strictly to prepare for standardized tests cheats the students. Students must focus mainly on subject areas that will be tested leaving out other extremely important subjects. Even math and reading content is being geared toward the test, with vocabulary drills taking the place of creative writing and arithmetic practice taking the place of complex problem-solving. Many children are not as proficient in math or reading, but excel in other subject areas that are not a part of the standardized tests. As a musician, I never found these tests applicable to my passions and desired career choice. These so-called “high stakes” standardized tests and the cheating surrounding them represent a civic issue that needs to be addressed before school districts lose their integrity and students suffer.
Beckett, Lois. “America’s Most Outrageous Teacher Cheating Scandals.” ProPublica. 1 Apr 2013: n. page. Web. <http://www.propublica.org/article/americas-most-outrageous-teacher-cheating-scandals>.
Carter, Chelsea. “Grand jury indicts 35 in Georgia school cheating scandal.” CNN US. 29 Mar 2013: n. page. Web. <http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/29/us/georgia-cheating-scandal>.
Strauss, Valerie. “How they cheated on D.C. tests: Excerpts from new report.” Washington Post. 14 Apr 2013: n. page. Web. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/04/14/how-they-cheated-on-d-c-tests-excerpts-from-new-report/>.
Strauss, Valerie. “Teacher: Yes, the testing culture does contribute to cheating.” Washington Post. 16 Apr 2013: n. page. Web. 18 Apr. 2013. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/04/16/teacher-yes-the-testing-culture-does-contribute-to-cheating/>.
Weiss, Elaine. “Missing the Point on Cheating — The Incentives Problem is far Bigger .” Huffington Post Politics. 15 Apr 2013: n. page. Web. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elaine-weiss/missing-the-point-on-chea_b_3085718.html>.