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Increased Cheating Reported on MCAS
Ohanian Comment: The subhead reads Cases of impropriety are seen for both students and teachers. I admit to being fascinated by this example of "cheating": A Stoughton High student memorized a SparkNotes plot summary of Jane
Eyre for the composition portion of the English MCAS. If he had memorized a passage from the book itself, would that have been OK? How about memorizing a scene from the movie?
I've long thought students should go into the exam with set pieces in their head, things they can write no matter what the question is.
by Tracy Jan
The number of Massachusetts students cheating on the MCAS more than
doubled this year, compared to 2006, and the number of teachers accused
of improperly helping students with the exam continued to increase,
according to new state data.
The Department of Education documented a total of 63 incidents,
including 43 cases involving students who shared answers or brought crib
sheets into the testing room and 20 involving educators, according to a
report given to the Globe yesterday.
Last year, the state reported a total of 34 improprieties, including 15
educators, a marked increase in the number of teachers caught giving
inappropriate assistance on the battery of math, English, and science
tests on which schools are judged each year. Only three educators were
caught cheating in 2005.
In 2006, 19 students were caught cheating; 31 students were caught in 2005.
Despite the increase, state Department of Education and teachers union
officials say the number of cheating incidents remains minuscule
considering that more than 1.2 million tests are given each year.
"Sixty three does not strike me as an alarming finding," said Paul
Reville, chairman of the state Board of Education. "Obviously there is
concern every time there is cheating going on, but I don't see reason
for inordinate concern in light of the hundreds of thousands of possible
ways people could cheat."
A Stoughton High student memorized a SparkNotes plot summary of Jane
Eyre for the composition portion of the English MCAS. In response to an
open-ended writing question, a Barnstable High student copied the text
from a poster left hanging on the classroom wall. A New Bedford
elementary school teacher briefed students on the subjects of the
reading passages they would encounter on the reading MCAS. Other
teachers provided dictionaries or other forbidden tools, or made
mistakes in administering the exam, such as forgetting to remove helpful
material from a visible place in the classroom.
Jeffrey Nellhaus, the state's acting commissioner of education, said the
state trains teachers each year on how to properly administer the tests.
The rise in cheating incidents, he said, could have simply resulted from
more rigorous reporting from schools.
Others, including teachers union leaders, say the increase may have
stemmed from the fact that more of the high-stakes tests are now being
administered.
The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests are given every
year in grades 3 to 8, as well as in high school. Students must pass the
10th-grade math and English exams to graduate, and starting with the
class of 2010, they must also pass one of four science exams. While much
of the cheating occurred in high schools, students as young as third
grade were caught copying answers from one another.
The Globe obtained the data this week as Nellhaus released a report to
the Board of Education on the skyrocketing number of investigations into
teacher misconduct, which ranged from cheating on tests to criminal
convictions and inappropriate relationships with students. The state
investigated 143 serious educator misconduct cases in the 2006-07 school
year, up 43 percent from the previous year.
Since 2003, when the state first required school systems to report
educator misconduct resulting in dismissals or resignations, the number
of incidents requiring investigation has increased at least five-fold;
between 2000 and 2003, there were only 17 such cases, according to the
education commissioner's report to the board.
Of the 63 educators who were disciplined or dismissed between 2001 and
2005, 12 had inappropriate or sexual relationships with students, nine
had been convicted or accused of assault or rape, and six viewed
pornography during school hours or on school computers, according to a
database the state compiled for an Associated Press report.
"Someone engaging in conduct like that doesn't belong in the classroom,"
said Thomas Gosnell, president of the American Federation of Teachers
Massachusetts, a teachers union representing many of the state's urban
school systems. "Even one proven case is too many."
The database also listed six educators convicted of possessing or
selling drugs, and five disciplined for cheating, including
improprieties on the MCAS and the state's teacher licensing exam. The
state has grown so concerned over prospective teachers cheating on the
Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure that it now requires
test-takers to submit their thumbprints to verify their identities if
questions arise.
The state Education Department has two staff members charged with
investigating allegations of teacher misconduct and determining whether
teachers' licenses should be revoked or suspended after schools report
teachers' arrests and other ethical breaches, Nellhaus said.
"This is serious," Nellhaus said. "We want to make sure that our
students are safe in school and that the adults they encounter are
treating them appropriately. We take action when we learn about it."
— Tracy Jan
Boston Globe
2007-11-01
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/11/01/increased_cheating_reported_on_mcas/
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