By Kristin
As Linda Shaw points out in this piece, Washington State officials aren't doing much to catch possible cheating on state tests. Instead of spending $100,000 on "erasure detection," looking for answers that have been erased and replaced, Washington puts its energy into training and making it easy for whistle blowers to report any irregularities or suspected cheating. Should we be doing more to catch cheating?
What is to prevent Washington from experiencing the widespread, administration-driven cheating that Atlanta recently uncovered? Well, a few things, all of them more reliable cheating-prevention strategies than erasure detection.
For one thing, no one in Washington State is currently promised a cash bonus for high test scores. For another, Washington has always been a push-me-pull-you state, where enough people resist any given idea that it's almost impossible to gain the kind of traction required for widespread cheating.
In Seattle, for example, teachers at one entire high school refused to administer a state-mandated test. Parents stood with them, because many parents are sick of testing eating up so many instructional days. And by "eating up so many," I'm using a Washington lens, because testing occurs on about ten instructional days a year, and does not take up the whole day. I would argue that more time is lost to Heads Up 7-up and movies, but as a state we draw the line, and the line is that testing, like quality mass transportation, has its place in the grand scheme of things – a small, relatively contained place. We are not a state that jumps on board with the kind of enthusiastic buy-in necessary for test scores to become the most important measurement of success. I hope it stays that way.
Looking for trends in data, working toward improvement in student outcomes with community partnerships that support the whole child, and evaluating teachers by giving their instructional practice more weight than anything else is the best way to create a quality public education system for our students. It's a slower way, one that requires patience we can barely muster when looking an underserved child in the face, but it results in a system that is reforming from the inside out.
When we see heartbreaking data about the inequalities of student achievement, it's tempting to see the inequality as the dragon. Even the test scores, Atlanta thought, and we slay the dragon and save the children. It doesn't work that way. Some educators in Atlanta figured out that with a locked door, people who wanted to keep their jobs, and a pencil eraser it was pretty easy to eliminate inequality in test scores, but that's not the kind of systemic change our children need. Our children need excellent teachers, a supportive community, fully funded schools, curriculum that engages them, and consistency.
I hope Washington continues to keep testing in its proper place. It is a measurement tool. Results should be used to redirect resources, provide additional support or oversight, and provide transparency to stakeholders – reliable, honest transparency. They shouldn't ever be used for financial gain, rapid promotion earned with test scores alone, or as the only requirement for public recognition and praise.
If we can hang onto that, we won't need erasure-detectors.
The preventive measures you talk about, such the lack of a salary bonus for high test scores, not only are cheaper than investing in “erasure detection,” but also are more effective!
As long as teachers continue taking a strong stand about testing, when and how it is used, and whether it truly benefits students, I think we will not need to invest money in cheating checks. If we succumb to fear–fear that tests will impact our evaluations, our school’s funding, or our family’s livelihood–and teachers turn to cheating, then the test no longer serves its purpose and ought to be eliminated.