Teachers cheating on student tests

The Atlanta Journal Constitution did a big analysis (ala Freakonomics) last year about possible cheating on the statewide high-stakes testing program.  This year, the state department of education is finding evidence that the cheating is widespread.

When the stakes get high enough (e.g., teacher merit pay linked to student performance on those tests), the incentive to cheat becomes enormous.  I wonder what role education research can play in this.  Can we create more opportunities to learn, more teaching methods, more options to improve learning (and bring up scores) of low-performing students?  How do we release the pressure on these teachers so that cheating doesn’t look like the only way out?

One in five Georgia public schools faces accusations of tampering with student answers on last spring’s state standardized tests, officials said Wednesday, throwing the state’s main academic measure into turmoil. The Atlanta district is home to 58 of the 191 schools statewide that are likely to undergo investigations into potential cheating. Another 178 schools will probably see new test security mandates, such as stepped-up monitoring during testing. The findings singled out 69 percent of Atlanta elementary and middle schools — far more than any other district — as needing formal probes into possible tampering.

via Suspicious test scores widespread in state  | ajc.com.