Atlanta test cheating, Lessons not yet learned... Test cheating inevitable result of high-stakes testing mania
[Editor's Note: The following was distributed by our friends at Fair Test as "Atlanta Test Cheating: Lessons not yet learned" By Robert A. Schaeffer, Public Education Director, National Center for Fair & Open Testing (Fair Test). The analysis following the conviction and incarceration of the Atlanta teachers and principals following the long Atlanta cheating trial. There is a lot to discuss and debate here. Substance editors have heard from many many people who complained about unequal justice in the USA. Here in the USA, teachers convicted of conspiracy to cheat on standardized tests are taken out of court in handcuffs. Meanwhile, the bankers who ruined the economy are still making millions a year and not one has faced a criminal trial. The hypocrisy of the Obama and Emanuel administrations are on display.
But.... Having faced a "copyright infringement lawsuit that was filed by the Chicago Board of Education and Paul Vallas to try and put us out of business (and which successfully got me fired and blacklisted despite the First Amendment, those of us at Substance have some idea of the feelings involved. But we are still thinking this one through. The Atlanta defendants who were taken out of court in handcuffs chose to stand trial even though they knew they were facing a RICO conspiracy charge that could end in serious jail time. When we were persecuted by Chicago Public Schools 16 years ago, we demanded a jury trial, too, but our demand was to prove that it was the Board of Education that had been cheating the taxpayers out of a million dollars or more by creating and disseminating the CASE exams (which we had published proudly in Substance). We hope our readers will pardon some of the editors of Substance if we are less than outraged at the recent events in Atlanta -- especially since we have not heard in a long time anyone proposing that our "conviction" be reversed here in Chicago after the predations of Paul Vallas, Mayor Richard M. Daley, Gery Chico, and the leaders of corporate "school reform." George N. Schmidt, Editor, Substance].
FAIR TEST STATEMENT by Bob Schaeffer
Those convicted were immediately put into handcuffs taken into custody following the verdicts in the Atlanta test cheating conspiracy trial.The sad story of educators caught manipulating standardized exam scores has focused attention on one type of �fallout� from the testing explosion that has swept across the nation�s classrooms in the past decade. Federal and state lawmakers are scrambling to incorporate lessons from Atlanta as they work to overhaul testing policies in the face of an increasingly powerful assessment reform movement.
So far, however, policymakers have grasped only the most basic message from the Atlanta scandal: sharp score gains may not be what they first appear to be. Most state departments of education have hired �data forensics� firms to examine test answer sheets. Using computers, they now search for unusual numbers of erasures or odd patterns of score gains. Many have become more willing to pursue reports by whistleblowers citing improper exam administration practices.
The ensuing investigations confirmed cases of cheating in 40 states, the District of Columbia, and schools run by the U.S. Department of Defense. Adults manipulated test scores in more than 60 ways from shouting out correct answers to barring likely low-scores from enrolling. The Atlanta scandal is just the tip of a test cheating �iceberg.�
In the wake of Atlanta, many jurisdictions stepped up test security. However, tougher exam administration policing has not made test cheating disappear. In just the past few months, new examples have surfaced in Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Ohio, Louisiana and several other states.
Understanding the widespread �gaming� of standardized exam results requires addressing its root cause.
Nearly four decades ago, acclaimed social scientist Donald Campbell forecast today�s scandals. He wrote, �[W]hen test scores become the goal of the teaching process, they both lose their value as indicators of educational status and distort the educational process in undesirable ways.� The horror stories in Atlanta and many other communities are case studies of what is now called Campbell�s Law.
Many policymakers still ignore the most important lesson to be learned from Atlanta. Cheating is an inevitable consequence of the overuse and misuse of standardized exams. Federal, state and local testing policies put intense pressure on teachers, principals and other administrators. They create a climate in which educators believe scores must soar �by whatever means necessary,� as the Georgia Bureau of Investigation concluded.
It is hardly surprising that more school professionals cross the ethical line.
Photos of the teachers and principals from Atlanta who were originally indicted in the test cheating scandal. Supt Beverly Hall (center) died before the trial. A dozen of those indicated went to trial, and 11 were convicted in April 2015.Across the nation, strategies that boost scores without improving learning are spreading rapidly. These include changing answers, narrow teaching to the test and pushing out low-performing students. These practices are immoral, unethical and, in many cases illegal. But they are completely understandable.
The damage done by a heavy focus on standardized exams is twofold. The test score fixation takes time away from broader and deeper learning, leaving students inadequately prepared for college or careers. Simultaneously, it inflates test results by making it appear as if there is real academic growth when there may be none. These are the two kinds of corruption described in Campbell�s Law.
To eliminate cheating, reliance on standardized exam results for high-stakes educational decisions must end.
Put simply, test-driven schooling cheats students out of a high-quality education. At the same time, it cheats the public out of accurate information about public school quality.
Until assessment policies are overhauled, Atlanta will stand out as the ugliest example of a continuing national epidemic.
