Cheaters are made, not born. So argues W. James Popham in this Education Week Commentary. And a large number of cheaters in American public schools aren’t students, Popham writes, they’re teachers and administrators motivated by pressure to show improvement on state tests under the No Child Left Behind Act.
While anti-cheating regulations and efforts to help schools improve test results have proven somewhat effective in minimizing cheating, Popham argues the real problem is the tests themselves. Instructionally insensitive tests, he claims, force educators to cheat in order to be successful.
What do you think? Do tests used to measure the accountability requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act effectively gauge instructional quality? Who’s to blame for cheating—the teacher or the test?
