I have to admit that oftentimes I have mixed emotions anytime I hear about a school that has been doing poorly for years suddenly able to significantly able to raise test scores without making any major changes to the preexisting failing system.
Do I want to see kids improve? Of course I do. But I oftentimes find myself questioning if some of these reported “improvements” are really legit. Public schools are often under a lot of pressure to improve test scores any which way they can. People will be people and unfortunately folks will resort to anything to survive. Check out these stories.
From AJC.com
The DeKalb District Attorney’s office has launched a probe into allegations of cheating on school standardized tests that could lead to criminal charges.
[...]
State officials last week revealed they had found “overwhelming” evidence that someone had changed answers on retests for state Criterion Referenced Competency Tests that fifth graders at four schools took last summer.
All four schools would have failed to meet federal standards — Adequate Yearly Progress — without the retest.
The AJC reported last December that a handful of schools made nearly statistically impossible gains between the first test administration and the retests. The Governor’s Office of Student Achievement followed with an erasure analysis that identified unusual numbers and patterns of changed answers on test sheets at the four schools. (more…)
This second excerpt comes from an article from back in ’07.
From SFgate.com~
With so much riding on a single measure, corruption was bound to flourish under Campbell’s Law. In fact, since 2004, at least 123 public schools in California alone have been identified as engaging in cheating on standardized tests required by No Child, according to a Chronicle review of documents. In about two-thirds of the cases, schools admitted their guilt. While the number represents a small fraction of the state’s 9,468 public schools, it still is cause for deep concern. (more…)
I really hate this for these kids. Because for the remainder of their lives folks will look at them and say to themselves “Now did he really earn it?”
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Standardized tests
by Duane on June 17th, 2009 at 1:48 pmI have to admit that oftentimes I have mixed emotions anytime I hear about a school that has been doing poorly for years suddenly able to significantly able to raise test scores without making any major changes to the preexisting failing system.
Do I want to see kids improve? Of course I do. But I oftentimes find myself questioning if some of these reported “improvements” are really legit. Public schools are often under a lot of pressure to improve test scores any which way they can. People will be people and unfortunately folks will resort to anything to survive. Check out these stories.
From AJC.com
This second excerpt comes from an article from back in ’07.
From SFgate.com~
I really hate this for these kids. Because for the remainder of their lives folks will look at them and say to themselves “Now did he really earn it?”
Sphere: Related Content