Posted on 09/21/2003 7:33:16 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Exams test educator integrity Emphasis on scores can lead to cheating, teacher survey finds
By Aimee Edmondson edmondson@gomemphis.com September 21, 2003
The stories she'd heard about cheating started to make sense when Kim McCrary Marsh's eighth-graders asked for answers during annual achievement tests.
"My students asked me, 'Are you going to help us on the test a little bit like So-and-So did?' " said Marsh, a former Trezevant High School history teacher.
These days it's not just students who feel pressure to cheat.
Marsh and other teachers in Memphis and Shelby County tell stories of adults taking shortcuts on the standardized tests Tennessee uses to rate schools and label some failures.
Cheating happens, although it is the exception rather than the rule, according to a survey conducted by The Commercial Appeal of 11,000 city and county public school teachers.
Of 1,433 teachers and administrators who responded, almost 9 percent said they'd witnessed impropriety on the part of teachers or principals during the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) or Gateway exams.
About 11 percent of city teachers said they had witnessed teachers or principals cheating; about 3 percent of Shelby County teachers said so.
In 124 instances, teachers outlined a laundry list of rule-breaking:
Weak students herded to the school library to watch movies all week while others take the TCAP.
Teachers casually pointing to wrong answers as students work with their test booklets and answer sheets, admonishing them with such warnings as "you know better than that."
School counselors locking themselves behind closed doors after the test is done to erase "stray marks" on students' bubbled-in answer sheets.
Suspending a few borderline students for infractions just before test week so they can't bog down overall averages. Some teachers even tattled on themselves.
"There are never any monitors in the classroom during testing," said a city schools second-grade teacher. "Teachers can just close and lock the door and do what it takes to get those scores up!"
Most respondents, however, said they had no direct knowledge of instances of teacher cheating and many insisted that it doesn't happen at their schools.
"I work with professional educators who would never consider compromising themselves in such a manner," said one city high school teacher.
Said a county middle school teacher: "Test materials are under tighter security than President Bush!"
Pressure on teachers and principals to deliver good test scores has never been as intense.
With their reputations and, in some cases, even their jobs on the line, some educators will cut corners, testing experts warn.
"In this high-stakes testing environment we will be seeing it more," said Lee McGarity, who heads up the city schools' testing office.
Teachers who cheat face suspension as well as possibly being fired or losing their teaching licenses.
School officials point to the lengthy state requirements and test security procedures designed to keep teachers and students honest.
In city schools, all teachers and administrators must sign a statement saying they understand testing rules and the consequences for breaking those rules.
City and county testing officials say they check every accusation and anonymous tip.
In the city, McGarity investigated 21 such tips last year and 17 the year before. Most are unfounded, she said.
In the county, no cheating accusations have been made at the central office level, officials said.
Anyone who knows of cheating must report it, said Bill White, the city schools' executive director of research, testing and accountability.
"Folks with evidence of any impropriety and don't report it are just as responsible for any testing impropriety that goes on," White said. "We consider these people to be professionals and they need to do the right thing."
School officials also questioned the informal survey's validity, mostly based on teachers' motives for answering it. Teachers could answer the survey anonymously, and most did.
"It could be an issue of disgruntled people who will take this opportunity to lash out at a principal or fellow teachers," White said.
But some education experts wonder if cheating might be underreported.
"Is this the tip of the iceberg?" asked Tom Glass, education professor at the University of Memphis. "How many more of these people would step forward and say there were irregularities if they didn't fear retribution?"
Critics of this new era of do-or-die testing say cheating is an inevitable side effect of putting so much emphasis on a single test.
"Teachers' heads are on the chopping block," said Larry Ward of the Cambridge, Mass., watchdog group Fairtest. "Teachers are scared. And when we get scared we do all kinds of things."
The city schools don't require that test proctors be on hand at every one of its 185 schools, but they're strongly encouraged.
Shelby County Schools post proctors in all classes where teachers have the same students all day.
"We've tried to be very proactive," said county testing supervisor Karen Woodard.
Education experts agree that requiring a trained proctor in every classroom would be nearly impossible because of the sheer numbers, and it wouldn't necessarily curb cheating.
A better idea, said Glass, is to have teachers administer the tests to a classroom other than their own.
"Would you stick your neck out for some other teacher's kids?" Glass said. "If you get caught your job is on the line." But others worry that a new person in the classroom at test time would distract the students.
Teachers say it's unfair that policy-makers didn't ask their opinions before instituting high-stakes testing and the federal No Child Left Behind law that enables it.
Another city second-grade teacher wrote:
"Thank you for letting me vent my anger and frustration. Unless you have a family member or close friend involved in public education, the general public just doesn't understand."
- Aimee Edmondson: 529-2773
Heh heh! Very good.
I'd add that emphasis on punishment discourages cheating. :)
Well just "duh". I'm not defending cheating, but why would someone cheat and then report it?
Exactly. . .what these Libs cannot stand is holding that student accountable for his behavior.
These test surely make life miserable to these so-called 'Educators'.
Cheaters pay the price at some point in time. Of course, they're the cat who will complain when a "worker" gets the promotion.
The bigger problem is "lousey teachers never pay!!
Then why haven't they reported it to the Superintendent and the School Board, so that appropriate action can be taken?
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