Schools have to see exactly what parents are doing at home. This is not difficult information to obtain. Schools have to look at exactly why some kids do well and some kids don't. However, parent-supported kids are the best excuse for schools. They don't want to know this information.
pissed off teacher:
That is the understatement of the year. This term I am teaching geometry to kids with no algebra skills and kids who have trouble reading. The poor kids are frustrated beyond hope.
But, NCLB says every child must take this stuff.
My old principal changed grades of every kid who squeaked by with a 65 on the regents from failing to passing and my school is in a real mess because of this.
Ed is friendly with a former TFA teacher who was formally reprimanded twice for refusing to cheat on the state tests (not in New York state). Robert Cox has a post on How cheating on high-stakes tests works.
I left a post on the Robert Cox post saying this, but what I find incredible is that cheating on these tests is so easy for the school! The test designers appear to have been incredibly innocent - "oh, a high-stakes test that's used to assess the school's performance, no worries there, we'll just let the school administrate it". It never occurred to them that the odd school administrator might cheat? Were these guys hired entirely from small rural communities where everyone knows everything and no one ever locks their doors at night?
ReplyDeleteIf you are assessing the school's performance, you send external people to administer the test, who keep the answer sheets secure afterwards. That's the way it was done when I went through the system in NZ - and that was despite there being no formal accountability for the school.