Week 5, Blog 1 - Test-Cheating Scandal

The article is from the following link: http://www.ongo.com/v/1325402/-1/B376A3FACA1A90FD/atlanta-cheating-scandal-tied-to-pressure-of-high-stakes-standardized-tests

This article addresses the issue of high-stakes exams and how teachers have doctored student tests in order to raise student test scores.  Part of the reason that teachers were erasing wrong answers and replacing them with the correct answers on bubble sheets was because of the pressure put on them by the APS (Atlanta Public Schools). 

Atlanta is not the only area where this scandal is taking place.  Other areas, according to the report, have had evidence of test tampering, including Maryland, California, Ohio, and Florida.  For Michigan, there were gains in test scores that did not seem to be probably, so there is a likelihood that there was test tampering going on there as well. 

This is very problematic.  First, this has given teachers another black eye.  Constantly in newspapers, I see teachers getting blamed for a lot of the ills in our society.  This right here makes teachers look unethical and dishonest.  Even though these were not the entire teaching force, it calls into jeopardy the ethics of all teachers.

Furthermore, it reflects how judging teachers and schools solely on test scores is not the solution to ensuring our students receiving the best education.  I understand that the test scores provide us with information on how to better instruct our students.  However, judging a teacher’s entire body of work based on how students perform in a three hour time span (while not thinking that that student was sick, was worried about his / her parents’ argument, worried about teenage drama, etc.) is ludicrous.  I know that I have students who are very good writers, but when their writing is judged in only 30 minutes’ time, their writing is not nearly as good as what it could be.

What’s needed is a portfolio of student and teacher work combined with observation from colleagues and administrators.  Of course, this brings the issue of logistics into play.  How can the States fund the judging of the portfolios?  It’s very difficult and not an easy solution. 

Of course, the other issue is this:  the education of the students is not only the responsibility of the teachers.  It is also the responsibility of the students.  And the parents…


Toppo, Greg.  “Atlanta cheating scandal tied to pressure of high-stakes standardized tests.”  7 July 2011.  Web.  Ongo.com.  16 July 2011.  http://www.ongo.com/v/1325402/-1/B376A3FACA1A90FD/atlanta-cheating-scandal-tied-to-pressure-of-high-stakes-standardized-tests.