In March 2013, Atlanta Schools superintendent Beverly Hall and 34 other educators and administrators were charged in a 65-count indictment on racketeering charges in what prosecutors say was a conspiracy to cheat on high-stakes standardized tests. Those 35 were just a fraction of the more than 175 principals and teachers found by state investigators in 2011 to have cheated to make it seem as if students were doing better on tests than they actually performed because the scores affected the adults’ jobs.
Many of those educators have been fired or quit since, and 21 pleaded guilty — and received probation — to an array of charges including making false statements to authorities. (You can read scathing excerpts from the original indictment here.) Now a dozen of the indicted educators are going on trial, though Hall, who prosecutors say was the mastermind behind the cheating enterprise, won’t be one of them. Hall, who is suffering from breast cancer, won an indefinite delay in her trial from a judge.
The start of the proceedings for the Atlanta 12 is a good time to look at all the ways that some school administrators and educators “cheat” on high-stakes tests. It was compiled from government and media reports by the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, known as FairTest, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the misuse and abuse of standardized tests. Here are 50-plus ways to “cheat”:
PRE-TESTING
Fail to store test materials securely
Encourage teachers to view upcoming test forms before they are administered
Teach to the test by ignoring subjects not on exam
Drill students on actual test items
Share test items on Internet before administration
Practice on copies of previously administered “secure” tests
Administer “practice” version(s) or the real test to prepare selected students
Exclude likely low-scorers from enrolling in school
Hold-back low scorers from tested grade
“Leap-frog” promote some students over tested grade
Transfer likely low-scoring students to charter schools with no required tests
Push likely low scorers out of school or enroll them in GED programs
Falsify student identification numbers so low scorers are not assigned to correct demographic group
Urge low-scoring students to be absent on test day
Leave test materials out so students can see them before exam
Set up classroom desks and chairs to facilitate answer copying
DURING TESTING
Let high scorers take tests for others
Overlook “cheat sheets” students bring into classroom
Post hints (e.g. formulas, lists, etc) on walls or whiteboard
Write answers on black/white board, then erase before supervisor arrives
Allow students to look up information on Web with electronic devices
Overlook calculator use where prohibited
Encourage reliance on special calculator programs that can answer questions
Ignore test-takers copying or sharing answers with each other
Permit students to go to restroom in groups
Shout-out correct answers
Use thumbs-up/thumbs-down signals to indicate right and wrong responses
Tell students to “double check” erroneous responses
Pass out notes with correct answers
Read questions aloud to students not allowed this accommodation
Urge students who have completed sections to work on others
Allow class extra time to complete test
Reclassify native English speakers as English Language Learners to give them additional time
Leave classroom unattended during test
Warn staff if test security monitors are in school
Refuse to allow test security personnel access to testing rooms
Cover doors and windows of testing rooms to prevent monitoring
Give unnecessary accommodations to students without disabilities
AFTER TESTING
Allow students to “make up” portions of the exam they failed to complete
Invite staff to “clean up” answer sheets before transmittal to scoring company
Permit teachers to score own students’ tests
Fill in answers on items left blank
Re-score borderline exams to “find points” on constructed response items
Erase erroneous responses and insert correct ones
Provide false demographic information for test-takers to assign them to wrong categories for the “annual yearly progress” required by No Child Left Behind
Fail to store completed answer sheets securely
Destroy answer sheets from low-scoring students
Report low-scorers as having been absent on testing day
Fraudulently withdraw likely low-scorers from school
Share content with educators/students who have not yet taken the test via e-mail, text, Facebook or Twitter
Fail to perform data forensics on unusual score gains
Ignore “flagged” results from erasure analysis
Refuse to interview personnel with potential knowledge of improper practices
Threaten discipline against testing-impropriety whistleblowers
Fire staff who persist in raising questions
Fabricate test security documentation for state education department investigators
Lie to law enforcement personnel