California Teachers Helped Students Cheat on Achievement Test

For parents who do not intend to send their children to private schools, one big consideration in buying a house is the location where there is a reputable and good performing school. The Department of Education's website, http://star.cde.ca.gov/ publishes results for every year, and most parents refer to this website for schools they might consider. Through the Academic Performance Index (API), parents are given a relatively good picture of the academic performance of the school.

Sometimes, one could not help but ask if these scores truly reflect the performance of most the students of particular schools. Somehow, the scores become quite questionable when you would hear of news about a number of teachers who became part of cheating on the tests.

Sfgate.com reports that for a number of years now, some California schools are guilty of outright cheating and that some school administrators are involved in cooking the test results for the STAR (Standardized Testing and Research). This covers reading, English/language arts, spelling, and math in grades 2 - 8; reading, English/language arts, math and sciences in grades 9 -11.

Some teachers were reported to have allowed students to use calculators on the math test, while some were given the chance to check out the world maps or other helpful references as they were taking the exams. There were teachers in the cities of San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda, Redwood and San Jose who have helped students answer the questions on the test. In some instances, teachers hinted through body language like nodding or pointing at the paper. Other students were told to check a specific answer or "to look at that again." A student admitted to have been helped to understand the question. The teacher further explained the item and told him to try a technique so he could solve the math problem.

Each year, California scans tests in search of unusually high numbers of erased answers changed from wrong to right. Between 2004 and 2006, the scans found suspicious erasures in 459 classrooms at 162 schools.

One teacher in San Francisco was creative enough to have devised a method in administering the test. She made the students answer on scratch paper, then corrected them. Shortly after, she asked the students to transfer the right answers to the test booklet. Some kids forgot to transfer their answers, and the administrators discovered the blank booklets. They tried to test those students again. When questioned, the teacher claimed that she made the students use scratch paper because she feared that the students would just destroy the test booklets.

It is all right for the teachers to prepare the students for the test. Most help the students get prepared by explaining what the STAR actually is and what students can expect in general. They are given simple tips that any examiner should be aware of. For a few weeks before the date of the STAR, teachers help the students be familiar of the testing style, share some test-taking strategies. Students are guided on how to go about with the shading of the circles to correspond to their answers, or on how not to spend too much time on each item. These are basic tips that teachers are really allowed to give.

But to give practice tests that are nearly identical to those on the actual test is a big no-no. State regulations let teachers give approved practice tests, and to teach subjects that might be on the test. In one middle school in Los Angeles, a teacher gave her students questions almost identical to the actual math test. It is considered a violation if practice tests are lifted from exams from past years or on alternate forms of the test. Moreover, teachers are prohibited to look at the tests in advance, and to teach its content.

Teachers are discouraged to put too much pressure on themselves and the students because of the test. The National Center for Research and Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing at UCLA said that some teachers become too engrossed in raising the test scores. They spend an incredible amount of time and energy focusing their curriculum on what is tested. This attitude of the teachers could be linked to the No Child Left Behind era, when persistently low scores can close down a school, or give way to a takeover. Teachers fear the possibility of being forced to transfer. Because of these fears, teachers tend to bend the rules that they are supposed to adhere.

Principals say that the labor contracts and state laws make it tough to dismiss teachers even if they admitted to or were caught cheating. Most of these teachers were just transferred to different schools, but there are a handful who voluntarily resign.

The scores for this year's STAR would come out in August. The sad news is that all scores, including those affected by cheating or testing errors, are all included in the published results for every grade. And yes, parents would refer to these to see how their students did, or whether the school they are eying for their children are really good schools.