Assessment

New York Teachers Caught Cheating on State Tests

By David J. Hoff — November 05, 2003 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

New York state caught 21 teachers cheating in its student-assessment program from 1998 through the middle of last year, a number some experts predict will rise along with the stakes of testing.

Teachers have taken actions such as illicitly reviewing tests in advance and tailoring their instruction to match specific questions; improperly giving students passing grades when they score tests for the state; and telling students to correct answers the teachers knew to be wrong.

After the state investigated the cases, districts were given the responsibility of disciplining the cheaters. Punishments have ranged from “simple admonishments” in the least severe cases to termination, according to Jonathan Burman, a spokesman for the state education department.

Most of the incidents involved testing in elementary and middle schools, where the state uses test scores in report cards to chart school progress. Schools that make little or no headway are required to draw up school improvement plans and eventually could face state intervention. Cheating by teachers on the state’s high school Regents exams, which students must pass to graduate, was less common, according to Mr. Burman.

‘Predictable Fallout’

The Associated Press first reported last month the number of teachers caught cheating after obtaining documents from the state education department in a request filed under New York’s freedom-of- information law.

According to Mr. Burman, the amount of deception has not increased appreciably in recent years.

But critics of high-stakes testing say that teachers and students will inevitably try a variety of methods to raise student performance in a state that attaches punishments and rewards to its assessments.

Many teachers take permissible approaches of altering their instruction based on previous years’ tests to result in better test scores, and some will step over the line into cheating, according to Robert Schaeffer, the public education director of the Center for Fair & Open Testing, or FairTest, a Cambridge, Mass.-based group that opposes the concept of high-stakes testing.

“It’s the predictable fallout of turning up the screws on teachers and kids,” Mr. Schaeffer said. “There are some people who take the cheating option.”

Related Tags:

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Equity & Diversity Webinar
Classroom Strategies for Building Equity and Student Confidence
Shape equity, confidence, and success for your middle school students. Join the discussion and Q&A for proven strategies.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Professional Development Webinar
Disrupting PD Day in Schools with Continuous Professional Learning Experiences
Hear how this NC School District achieved district-wide change by shifting from traditional PD days to year-long professional learning cycles
Content provided by BetterLesson
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Assessment A Huge Publisher and a Big Testing Company Are Teaming Up. What This Means for Educators
Four key questions to consider about how the pairing of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NWEA might affect educators.
3 min read
Students testing.
Getty
Assessment Spotlight Spotlight on Assessment
This Spotlight will help you examine updated testing guidance from the U.S. Dept. of Ed, analyze college-placement test scores, and more.

Assessment Opinion We Are More Than Our Grades: A Student's Perspective
Students have come to believe that their GPA and test scores are the ultimate reflection of their self-worth, writes a college senior.
Bailey Striepling
3 min read
Conceptual illustration of Students emerging from a field of giant discarded letter grades.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week and iStock/Getty Images
Assessment Letter to the Editor Grading for Growth Through Competency-Based Education
Competency-based education can better prepare today's children for tomorrow's challenges, writes this letter to the editor.
1 min read
Illustration of an open laptop receiving an email.
iStock/Getty