they really are,鈥� she said. Baltimore has documented cheating at some of its schools, and the investigation started in part based on parent complaints, she said.
Schools and districts may not be able to stop all cheating on high-stakes tests, but they can devise better practices that allow them to detect suspicious results and thoroughly investigate them, according to experts at a federally hosted symposium here last week on testing integrity.
The sponsor of the event, the National Center for Education Statistics, does not have any direct authority over state testing, though it administers the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as 鈥渢he nation鈥檚 report card,鈥� noted NCES Commissioner Sean P. 鈥淛ack鈥� Buckley.
The NAEP program has not been hit with cheating allegations, Mr. Buckley said, but state testing officials have been asking the U.S. Department of Education for help establishing guidelines to handle test investigations after a recent string of high-profile cases across the country of adults tampering with tests to boost their schools鈥� or districts鈥� scores.
Among the takeaways from the Feb. 28 event: Schools and districts must create a 鈥渃ulture of integrity鈥� where cheating is known to be unacceptable; officials must cut back on test-tampering opportunities and incentives to cheat; and allegations should be investigated thoroughly, even if the details seem hazy.
鈥淔ollow up on gossip,鈥� said Tisha S. Edwards, the chief of staff to Andr茅s A. Alonso, the chief executive officer of the 84,000-student Baltimore school district. Even conversations that aren鈥檛 directly about cheating鈥攆or example, a parent concerned that his or her child鈥檚 test scores seem improbably high鈥攃an be revealing. 鈥淧eople don鈥檛 know they鈥檙e reporting things when they really are,鈥� she said. Baltimore has documented cheating at some of its schools, and the investigation started in part based on parent complaints, she said.
High-Profile Cases
One of the best-known recent cases of widespread test-cheating involved the 48,000-student Atlanta district, where 178 principals and teachers were accused of tampering with the 2009 state test after a Georgia state investigation last year. (鈥淭est-Tampering Found Rampant in Atlanta System,鈥� July 13, 2011.)
The same Georgia investigative team said that teachers and principals in the 16,000-student Dougherty County district, about 170 miles south of Atlanta, confessed to altering their students鈥� answer sheets the same year.
A probe conducted by the Baltimore district found that staff members at three elementary schools appeared to have altered student test booklets in 2008, 2009, and 2010. One of those schools had been praised as a Blue Ribbon School for academic excellence by the federal Education Department.
Last March, the newspaper USA Today printed an analysis of test scores in the District of Columbia, saying that more than half the schools in the 45,000-student system had been flagged by its testing contractor as having an unusually high number of wrong-to-right erasures. City and federal officials are currently investigating those allegations.
District of Columbia Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson, one of the symposium鈥檚 opening speakers, said she was one of the education leaders who went to the federal Education Department looking for help in how to investigate the cheating charges. Newspaper articles had accused the school system of doing only a cursory job of investigating itself, but she said the system brought in outside experts, interviewed school officials, probed every allegation, and punished or terminated employees who were found to have committed wrongdoing.
鈥淎t the same time, it was easy sport for the press to play the what-more-could-be-done game,鈥� Ms. Henderson said.
Role of NCLB
Schools have been under pressure to raise their students鈥� test scores since the advent of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which requires states to set test-score improvement targets for schools and districts鈥攁nd impose sanctions when they fall short. The Education Department is now considering waivers that would allow states to escape some sanctions associated with the NCLB law.
No one at the symposium suggested doing away with high-stakes tests. But Robert E. Wilson, a former county district attorney who oversaw the investigation in Atlanta, said that district鈥檚 former leaders created an atmosphere of intimidation in which high-performing principals were praised and received bonuses and those who did not meet standards faced humiliation and job loss.
鈥淭he end result was absolutely a disaster,鈥� said Mr. Wilson. 鈥淵ou must set reasonable goals.鈥�
Another way to cut back on cheating is to conduct spot checks on test days and to reduce the amount of time test booklets and answer sheets remain at a school, several panelists suggested. They also said teachers and administrators might need better training on appropriate test proctoring and administration.
Computerized Tests
The next frontier for testing, panelists said, will be widespread use of computer-based assessments. Computerized testing eliminates some cheating opportunities, such as lost or stolen test books or copying during the tests.
But it also opens up a new realm of concerns. For example, many schools don鈥檛 have enough computers to test all the students in one grade at the same time. Long testing windows make it easier for students to share answers with one another, and for teachers to see the questions and answers. Technology-assisted cheating may also rise to the forefront, experts said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be an issue we鈥檙e going to have to confront until technology becomes much more broadly proliferated,鈥� said Wesley D. Bruce III, the chief assessment officer for the Indiana education department.
The federal education department plans to compile the information presented from last week鈥檚 event into a resource for states, districts, and schools, said Joanne Weiss, the chief of staff to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
