National Cheating Surge Undermines NCLB Results

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

LEADERS AIM TO CURB CHEATING ON TESTS
CHANGES ARE CONSIDERED FOR NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND DUE TO SUSPICIOUS SCORES 
SUCH AS THOSE IN CAMDEN
   Philadelphia Inquirer -- October 26, 2006
                     by Frank Kummer

Five years after high-stakes school testing swept the nation, some key 
lawmakers now say they want to make sure results remain credible.

They say they are reacting to past reports of cheating from around the 
country, including Boston, Texas and now Camden, where high-flying 
scores from 2005 were the result of "adult interference," state 
investigators found.

Other examples of suspicious scores and outright cheating have emerged 
nationally including teachers who gave answers to students and excluded 
from testing others who were low-performing.

House and Senate leaders on No Child Left Behind said cheating has 
emerged on the radar, with some calling for changes in the law to 
require states to monitor for it.

And academics are entering the fray with studies that they say show 
cheating has gotten out of control as teachers are pressured to improve 
scores, although some still dispute how widespread cheating is, or if 
anything needs to be done.

No Child Left Behind, President Bush's signature education law, comes up 
for renewal next year and hearings already are being held to shape the 
debate. Bush recently said he considers renewal a priority.

The law requires schools to improve scores each year or face ever-severe 
sanctions. Principals can lose jobs; the state can ultimately take over.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D., Mass.), who helped pass the law in 2001, 
said in an e-mail that "we need to take steps to prevent manipulation of 
results on the federal, state and local levels." Kennedy is ranking 
Democrat of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

"Accountability is meaningless if the tests used to measure progress are 
not valid," he wrote. "There is growing concern about this issue."

Kennedy said a new law also needs to "strengthen existing provisions 
requiring valid and reliable assessments."

However, he stopped short of providing specifics.

U.S. Rep. Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), who sits on the House Committee 
on Education and the Workforce, wants states to perform statistical 
audits to look for oddities in test scores to zero in on cheating, 
especially by adults.

"The present law takes an impassive approach. I think we need a more 
proactive approach," Andrews said.

Andrews watched as Camden became embroiled in a test-score scandal now 
under criminal investigation by the state attorney general. He calls the 
situation "unfortunate."

While New Jersey now promises to monitor for cheating, the state began 
investigating only after The Inquirer alerted officials to unusually 
high scores that put Camden elementary schools at the top of the state.

A state Department of Education investigation confirmed that the scores 
were unreasonably high, citing "adult interference."

There is a lot of time for tinkering with the final version of the bill, 
which isn't expected until late next year.

The cheating issue may come up during hearings, said the office of U.S. 
Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R., Calif.), chairman of the House 
Committee on Education and the Workforce.

"Obviously, reliable data is one of the cornerstones of the law. So we 
need to make sure these assessments are going to be done," said Steve 
Forde, a McKeon spokesman. However, Forde said there is no blueprint as 
to how reauthorization will look.

U.S. Rep. George Miller of California, the senior Democrat on the House 
committee, agrees cheating is an issue since accountability is a core 
goal of the law, according to his spokesman, Tom Kiley. "It's one of the 
things that could and should be part of the mix in reauthorization," 
Kiley said.

Despite cheating scandals in Camden and other districts, lawmakers 
disagree on how big the cheating problem is and what should be done to 
prevent it.

Calling for some action are academics who say research paints a problem 
that is bigger than most want to admit.

David C. Berliner, a University of Arizona Regent's Professor, has pored 
over news databases from across the country to document what he sees as 
a growing pattern of cheating.

His soon-to-be-published book cites "hundreds" of examples of cheating, 
cheating allegations, or manipulation of security in standardized 
testing nationwide over the last decade, he said.

Berliner links it to No Child Left Behind: the pressure to perform in 
high-stakes testing turns good people bad.

"Any time an indicator takes on too much value," Berliner said, "it gets 
corrupted and so do the people who work with it."

But many No Child Left Behind supporters dispute that cheating is 
widespread.

Richard P. Phelps, who wrote Kill the Messenger: The War on Standardized 
Testing, argues that academics and journalists are biased against No 
Child Left Behind and exaggerate cheating.

While people have complained that the tests create a high-pressure 
atmosphere in schools, "we haven't seen evidence that supports 
widespread cheating," said Alex Nock, director of the Commission on No 
Child Left Behind. The commission is a "bipartisan, independent effort" 
to improve the law.

Critics say one of the problems is that few states monitor test results 
for possible cheating, and federal law doesn't require it. About half of 
the 30 states responding to a recent Inquirer survey said they did any 
sort of statistical analysis of scores.

Federal officials say they are hesitant to require expensive auditing 
since districts already complain about the cost of adhering to the law.

But Berliner argues that the punitive nature of No Child Left Behind 
compels otherwise honest people to game the system by excluding students 
from the test, giving teachers advanced copies of tests, and even giving 
students the answers.

He said that is primarily because the law requires that all students, 
including those who are poor, who speak little English, or who have 
learning disabilities, achieve proficiency in reading and math by 2014.

Failing districts such as Camden face such onerous penalties that it's 
almost inevitable they try to pump up scores, Berliner said.

The state Department of Education, and, subsequently the Attorney 
General's Office, began investigations after The Inquirer raised 
questions about how Camden could have schools scoring among the highest 
in the state.

Fourth-grade students at one school, H.B. Wilson, achieved the highest 
average math scores in the state in 2005. Another school, U.S. Wiggins, 
scored not far behind, and had among the highest science scores in the 
state. Scores plunged in 2006.

Meanwhile, Joseph Carruth, the principal of Dr. Charles E. Brimm Medical 
Arts High, said he was pressured by an administrator to rig 11th-grade 
math results. Carruth, since let go by the district for unspecified 
reasons, said school officials are pressured to continually boost 
scores. The district hired a former prosecutor to investigate, but he 
has yet to issue a report. The board must also decide whether 
disciplinary action is necessary against any personnel.

Experts say suspected cheating is easy to spot, given the right tools.

In 2002, economists Brian A. Jacob and Steven D. Levitt applied an 
algorithm they developed to catch cheating to Chicago Public Schools. 
They matched individual student past performance to the disputed test 
after being brought in by Arne Duncan, the school system's chief 
executive officer.

Chicago launched an investigation of 20 schools based on the results.

"Since we issue high-stake tests whose results are very important for 
both students and schools," says Arne Duncan, the Chicago schools' chief 
executive officer who hired Levitt, in a written response to questions. 
"We thought it best to put in place measures to look for potential 
cheating because it is critical to retain the credibility of these tests."

       Test Cheating Around the U.S.

In addition to Camden, cheating allegations have surfaced around the 
country. Here's a sampling:

Chicago, 2002: Two economics professors were brought in by the Chicago 
Public Schools to look for cheating. They found suspicious test results 
in 70 classrooms, suggesting a pattern of cheating that led to a 
district investigation. Teachers were accused of giving tips to 
students, erasing answers, and filling in blank answers.

Boston, 2004: Fourth-grade students told investigators a principal urged 
them to cheat on a high-stakes standardized test because performance had 
been low.

Texas, 2004: Dallas Morning News analysis found 400 of 7,700 Texas 
public schools reported scores with unusually high scores. The state 
hired a test security firm, Caveon, which this month flagged 699 scores 
at schools. A state task force is currently examining the scores.

Pennsylvania, 2005:  A Chester Upland principal was fired after 
allegedly changing test responses. State education officials refused to 
say whether cheating took place, explaining that they could go to jail 
for commenting on the investigation.

SOURCES: Professors Sharon L. Nichols, University of Texas at San 
Antonio and David C. Berliner, Arizona State University in their paper: 
The Inevitable Corruption of Indicators and Educators Through 
High-Stakes Testing; Dallas Morning News; Freakonomics.

    http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/15849330.htm

For Inquirer stories on the Camden cheating scandal, go to 
http://go.philly.com/