In recent history, 35 constituents were asked to turn themselves into the authorities for what has been known to be a widespread plague of cheating on standardized tests. This all has occurred in Atlanta, Georgia under the Atlanta Public School system (APS). There were charges that at least 178 teachers actually cheated causing unusually high scores on these tests .These indictments include that of former superintendent Beverly Hall (who won Superintendent of the year in 2009 just to leave under investigation in 2010). In many instances, people would call this “justice served”.
This is sad if people actually feel this way.
Personally, I would call this “travesty served in the form of justice”.
What many of us aren’t realizing is that all of this madness could have been avoided. Most people are going to go the way of “they shouldn’t have cheated”. I would absolutely agree with them. However, many people do not understand the causation of the situation. In short, they truly don’t understand how the system built for this scandal to occur in the first place.
Chocolate covered lie: high stakes testing is healthy for our schools in America.
Oh, and trust me on this: I’m a teacher in the Atlanta area. I have FULL understanding of what I am talking about.
Why Testing is Important
I won’t say that testing isn’t important because they actually have “some value”. First of all, you can always use tests as a “snapshot” of what a child understands. It isn’t the most accurate view, yet it can give one some lead-way into knowing where a student stands. Second, it can actually help guide teaching practices towards problems of weakness. By eradicating scholastic confusion, tests can actually help the teacher figure out what the student needs.
The Pressure Cooker
The bigger issue still remains: high stakes testing has done plenty of harm to schools than good.
Think about this: if there were no high stakes testing, would these teachers, administrators, and even the former superintendent felt the need to cheat. Hell no! But, there backs were against the wall. A test being used to measure a child’s productivity is one thing. When testing is used to measure a teacher’s capability to teach, that is an entire dire situation upon itself.
So what do we have? We have the pressure cooker.
It is a good way to cook (make progress). But be careful….
I know many of us should be aware of the pressure cooker. They are used to speedily cook meals and make it happen efficiently. However, there is an issue: having too much pressure. Too much pressure causes explosions and a big mess to clean up. Therefore, “applying pressure” to every situation doesn’t always add up to productivity.
Right here and right now? We are cooking under pressure.
If you don’t think that this “pressure to succeed” doesn’t bother people, then you are delusional. I have a perfect example that happened right here in Georgia: the case of Betty Robinson [1]. A former principal at Simonton in Gwinnett County, her school was failing under the old No Child Left behind law. Due to a new immigrant population, Simonton only improved by 4.9 percent (when it needed 5 percent) [2]. One morning, right before her students were to test again, she committed suicide. Therefore, pressure doesn’t always make diamonds; it can also bust pipes.
The Skinny
If you want to indict the teachers, this nation should also indict the system that promotes this type of behavior. The biggest issue isn’t teachers that have low morale or values. The biggest issue isn’t principals and superintendents that only care about success. The issue is putting too much importance on testing. If we can’t see that, then we are doomed as a nation.
‘Nuff said and ‘Nuff respect!!!
[1] and [2] Collateral Damage: How High Stakes Testing Corrupts America’s Schools by Sharon L. Nichols and David C. Berliner
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