Atlanta School Testing Scandal

[BGIF]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/30/u...-in-cheating-scandal.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0


First defendants in Atlanta cheating scandal surrender - CNN.com

 

[irishff1014]

This a really sad.

 

[BGIF]

Cheating The Children.

Some will do some symbolic time, most will be fined.

A generation of kids got defrauded out of an education while their teachers, principals, and administrators got bonuses. The superintendent got half a million in performance bonuses.

 

[ACamp1900]

This is no isolated case here... I have worked with teachers that come from others schools that claim they were ordered by administrators to walk the students through portions of the tests... I know of schools that work it so classes collectively take the important exams with the smartest kids leading… I have always heard of rumors of cheating on larger scales... and have had my suspicions of other teachers/admins in schools I worked at in ways very much similar to this case. A very sad sign of the times… too often students are nothing but a stat on a graph used to get funding.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

This is no isolated case here...

Exactly. Unrealistic expectations and state pressure cause some cases, and personal gain others. Either way it stinks, and the actual people in the classroom working their butts off suffer the most when these slimeballs cheat.

 

[irishpat183]

This sucks.


Unions stick together.....

 

[IrishSteelhead]

too often students are nothing but a stat on a graph used to get funding.

Kids can still have a large accountability for their learning. When admin, teachers, and/or parents fail them, they are still the ones that can pass if they care enough.

I digress, most states already have shifted to common core standards, and the rest will soon enough. CCS ensure this monkey business ends, or at least is considerably cut down, and ensures teachers can once again do the job they went into the profession to do, not read from a script, although it sounds like some states are pushing scripts even more with CCS....

 

[GowerND11]

As a teacher I completely agree, but we need more. Education is not something done in a concrete/brick building from 8 to 3 for 180 days. It is an everyday event that takes more than teachers. Parental involvement is HUGE when it comes to student success. As a student and as a teacher I have seen friends and students not succeed because parents were not there to push the student at home. More often than not this problem is with lower income students. I even had a student tell me their parents think school is stupid and have told them they shouldn't study or do homework. How F'ed up is that?

No Child Left Behind was a huge failure. It set standards that a lot of schools could not reach. On top of that, these standards were not flexible. In PA, at least, every year the bar would be raised for the entire state in writing/reading and math. Example: Year 1 a school district has to reach 56% proficiency for writing/reading and 58% in math. Ok, doesn't sound so bad, but what if a school was only making 42% in each the year before? Obviously there is a lot wrong already with this school, but that is besides the point. In Year 1 this school does not meet the bar. Students were, say, 45% in writing/reading and 47% in math. Now Year 2 comes along. This year the goal is 60% for both. Well how in the world is that failing school going to grow 15 percentage points? Then we see these same schools fail to meet AYP(Adequate Yearly Progress) every year. State reduces funding (that makes sense), parents complain, teachers are labled bad, students are dumb, etc. A better measure would be a flexible bar, where school districts are consistently achieving growth without having to meet unrealistic expectations.

One more thing, I think we are seeing too much babying of students as well. Can't fail them, no homework in some districts, can't yell, etc. Students currently have too much power over educators which is a manipulation of the system.

I think they can be effective when coupled with other factors. There has become too much emphasis on standardized tests and students know this. The sad part is that, because students know there is an emphasis on these tests, students either psych themselves out/get stressed over them, or simply say screw it I'm not trying. I remember taking these standardized tests in elementary school (mid to late 90s) that our teachers would tell us about the week before. There wasn't this emphasis on them and I think we relaxed. We took the tests as ONE of the measures of our abilities. Today they are THE measure.

Teachers have certainly changed the way they teach. They teach to the test now. We are seeing PSSA (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment) prep classes. Students taking math classes about how to take the test. Teachers teaching students how to use the calculator correctly for the test, instead of why they are doing the functions they are doing. Social Studies, Science, Electives, Languages, Gym, Art, Music, etc. are being taken away or reduced to teach for the test.

These tests were created by politicians and/or Department of Education employees who have limited to no teaching experience. A lot of why they were created was to vilify teachers and show they were not doing their job, despite many that were. With these standards they want the entire USA to be 100% proficient in reading and math. The problem with that is there is no wiggle room. Think of this, you can't do better than 10/10 from the foul line. You can't go 11/10. Therefore even if all school districts got to 100%, they then cannot have even 1, 1!!! student not pass.

Two posts I had about education in the "Just out of Curiosity" Thread. And some of you are right, this isn't isolated, and unfortunately is caused by these unrealistic expectations.

 

[Me2SouthBend]

This a really sad.

Oh the irony.

 

[Jebediah Springfield]

Didn't PBS run a little segment on that Michelle *can't remember last name* lady who took over DC schools and raised scores and now they are finding problems with tests...

 

[SaltyND24]

This shall continue to be the case when teacher compensation is tied to student test performance...doesn't surprise me one bit