If you've heard about the recent jailing of 11 teachers involved in the Atlanta cheating scandal, if you're one of the people out there who is shaming these teachers as being terrible examples to our children for cheating, then you are on the outside and outskirts of an education discussion that is so much more important. How can I put this--- you are staging a two-piece swimwear protest at a global warming conference. Follow me.
I grieve for these fellow teachers, I truly do. My coworkers and I had many discussions about them when the scandal first broke. This is what outsiders-looking-in don't realize: what these teachers did is simply have a broken reaction to a broken system, which is almost natural. Like a spouse who murders their abusive significant other in self-defense.
In this system, testing is all. Why? Because, thanks to No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, the focus of education has shifted from the enlightenment and enrichment of our students to making adequate yearly progress and other such "measurable objectives". It's all about performance on standardized testing--- your students could be brilliant and talented in any number of ways, but if they don't perform on standardized tests, you're a "bad teacher", and your school loses funding. And often, for struggling schools, the state/national standards (it changes so much I don't bother to follow) are too high to meet adequately within the short span of time allotted. With jobs on the line, with funding on the line, and with unreasonable standards to meet, many educators are left with two options--- do the best they can and get anything from fired to transferred to professionally scolded for things beyond their control, or do the "worst thing imaginable" and cheat the broken system. The teachers in this scandal chose the latter.
...Just so we're on the same page here, neither of these options is meant to be seen as acceptable, by the way; all the options range between greater and lesser evils. Emphasis on the word 'evils'.
My coworkers and I had some very somber moments sitting around the teacher's lounge table and trying to wrap our minds around this scandal. Honestly, though at a different school, we faced a lot of the same threats that these teachers in Atlanta faced; we didn't cheat, but our saving grace was that the "new plan coming down the pipe" never lasted more than 2 years at a time, so just as the guillotine would come down, the clock would reset. Thank God for state board inconsistency, huh...
But, ya know, one day I found myself in the position of having to grade some of the tests created by the "people upstairs". Tests full of spelling errors, questions that failed to list the correct answers, illegible/unreadable maps, all sorts of nonsense. And it occurred to me... they're just tests. They're just pieces of paper with printer ink on them. And I had a thought.
"Burn the tests. Those teachers should've burned the tests. Just take the whole stack, put 'em in a basket, and set 'em on fire."
...Why not? If you're gonna break the law, might as well break it in half, right? What's more morally reprehensible: cheating to meet an unrealistic quota in front of and with your students, or exercising civil disobedience and refusing to take part in a broken system that unfairly targets and punishes those who are doing their best with subpar conditions? Sometimes the more radical course is the more respectable course. How do you fix a broken system if you always meet its demands, even symbolically? To fix a broken system, you first stop feeding into it. Stop participating in it. Stop cooperating with it. Whether by burning the tests, trashing the tests, refusing to administer the tests--- the point is, putting the tests back in the tests' proper place--- as an evaluation of student growth and understanding, and not as a tool to merit or demerit educators. I'd rather go to jail for noncompliance than to go to jail for trying too hard to appease the monster.
If you get nothing else from this, understand: these teachers were screwed no matter what. If they had been honest, their students would have fallen short and they would've been punished. Because they cheated, they were jailed. Either way, the 21st Century Classroom wins, because the point is to eventually remove the human element from the classroom in favor of a cheaper, digitally-based education. Private educational consultants love this. Standardized testing companies love this. State school boards love this. Any excuse they can find to say "Teachers are inadequate" works toward the agenda of shifting to a business model of education. Instead, at some point, teachers need to say, "This system is inadequate; greed has no place in the classroom." But, as we see here, the worst thing we can do as teachers is attempt to placate the system in a way that undermines the nobleness of our profession and our personal characters. Cheating is not the way. But I do understand the pressure that makes us want to resort to such things.
Chat with me:
@earlgreysummers on Twitter
earlgreysummers@gmail.com
/earl.g.summers
Thank you for this. I'm not a teacher and I really couldn't understand why they would do something like that. What a shame they had to be put in that position. Like you I do not condone what they did but you've given us a lot to think about. I think the school system in Atlanta and everywhere else should take a closer look at the real problem and not use these people to make a point. Yes, they made a mistake and chose the wrong way but they are human and educators. It is hard to know what kind of pressure they were under. Although, I do wish they had chose another way.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking as an educator myself, I really appreciate your understanding. It truly gives me hope that people will gain perspective and soon see the scope of the battle at hand. This is far bigger than the moral turpitude of a few educators; this is part of a shift in the educational landscape itself, where exploratory learning and personal enrichment take a backseat to standardized testing and numerical performance. These teachers are not being punished for cheating; they're being punished for interfering with the distribution of money BY cheating. The dollar is the priority, not morality and ethics.
ReplyDeleteReblogged this on The Mind's Eye - Musings of Will Saunders and commented:
ReplyDeleteGreat point of view on standardized testing.
Alright.. as a person who went to school at APS... I know a majority of those educators... they were completely pressured to do things that was sometimes beyond the impossible.... they had expectations to meet with no exceptions.. but at the same time. they did it because they cared about us!
ReplyDeleteI believe you, definitely. I would say SPEAK UP! Teachers need folks who are willing to speak up on their behalves! Many times when we speak, our voices go unheard or we get chastised for speaking. The most powerful voices, in my opinion, are the voices of the students and alumni. Once THEY speak up, I think the wheels of change will begin to turn. Feel free to share this entry!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteThe education system is in trouble, but as teachers and staff there job is to educate, enrich and help them grow as humans. In recent years I have notice educates are not teaching but skimming through the classes and not accually spending the time to teach the information for the students to retain,remember and apply for the future. As for the teachers in the above article, this not news it has been going on for years. This time they got caught and what is sad all of these teachers are African American and just slapped the face of all the African American people who work hard to get where they are. These teachers also added fuel to a already tense and racially fuel situation. Shame on these and any teacher who would asult students by dening an education to our future leaders and heros. With this said you have insulted the great job of teaching.
ReplyDeleteMy heart feels so heavy about this. I will never ever refer to them as convicted criminals, but only has former educators. I along with alot of other people know that these intelligent hardworking people are not criminals, but in a way are victims themselves. Nobody but them probably really cared that these children struggled, but hey with no parental support and pressure from the powers to be, they just made a terrible mistake. My prayer now is for Judge Jerry Baxter, that God will show himself mighty in him. That God will touch his heart and allow him to show those educators the same mercy that God shows us from day day
ReplyDeleteI disagree with your position, although I respect where it's coming from and have heard others say similar. And let me clarify (if I didn't in the article) I do NOT condone cheating--- I just likewise do not condone high-stakes testing and the watered-down classroom experience that high-stakes testing has brought about. Let me share my experience: I'm a very out-of-the-box educator. I have a great relationship with my students and they learn a lot from me because I approach them in a variety of ways. But this is what has happened over the years: the priority has shifted from mastery of subject matter and exploratory learning to test performance and measurability of learning. And yes, there is a difference; especially considering the tests many times aren't even made with professionalism--- I've seen everything from grammatical errors to cultural biases to missing correct answers. So let's say I'm teaching World History, and I know a million ways to make my students embrace the subject matter--- for instance, years ago I used chess in the classroom to keep my students engaged when we were talking about early empires, and they FELL IN LOVE with World History. Well, thanks to high-stakes testing taking priority, I was no longer allowed to use such methods unless they: 1) fit within the approved teaching protocols; 2) stuck strictly to the minimal competency standards and elements, which of course directly reflected the standardized tests. ...Chess wasn't a standard, so chess was out. Teachers are now made to teach the tests instead of teaching the subject. The priority has become student test performance rather than student cognitive and personal development, and most teachers who truly love education hate seeing this transition. Read about Frederick Winslow Taylor and Scientific Management--- his strategies are being applied to education right now. Teachers are being made to teach from scripts and only through "approved methods". But then, when students don't perform to their best abilities on these superficial tests, teachers are then blamed and reprimanded. Which leads us to where we are right now. Again, what they did WAS and IS WRONG. What I'm saying there's more at fault than just these educators.
ReplyDeleteI too am an educator. Yes, there are pressures all around to meet unrealistic targets/measures. However, our children also face pressures and what do we tell them? Think for yourself...you don't have to follow the crowd...you have a mind of your own...yeah, it may be difficult to do what you know to be right when it seems wrong is so present. Well, it is my opinion that the same holds true for those and all educators. We know the all too eager testing-fairies are unrealistic, but we also know that there are consequences if we CHOOSE to do the wrong thing--but then again, right and wrong is defined by the person making the decision.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I appreciate you creating a forum that allows individuals to respectfully voice their opinions!
Yes, our education system is broken. The current state, teachers can take a lot of credit for it. I have work in a school system. However, I never have been a teacher. How do you propose teachers be evaluate? Exactly what does "teacher punishment" looks like? It most certainly hardly ever means losing your job. As one principal once told me "it is almost impossible to get a teacher fired". Bad teachers are everywhere, but they are part of an system that protect them and make it extremely difficult to fire them. What usually happens to bad teachers? Very simple, they are moved one from one school to the next. Usually, they end up at the worse performing school in the district with the students with the worse behavior problems. That is what "teacher punishment" usually means. Thus you have an toxic mix of bad students being taught by bad teachers. A school that is almost guarantee to fail, but poor parenting, and bad students is what gets all of the credit. I can support getting rid of all these test, if we have a system that immediately fires bad teachers,no matter how long he/she been teacher. What are your thoughts on teacher tenure?
ReplyDeleteLet me begin by saying this, and I will address tenure momentarily: before we can talk about bad teachers in a meaningful way, we have to talk about subpar teaching conditions. Think of it as a baby who won't stop crying--- before you call the baby fussy, you check the baby's diaper. You make sure the baby's fed. You make sure the baby's in his ideal setting. If he's in distress... of course he's going to cry. That doesn't make him whiny, that makes him normal. And the same mentality is required in this discussion: before we label these "bad teachers", are these teachers in their element, or out of their element?
ReplyDeleteI totally understand where you're coming from, and yes, there are bad teachers out there. However, when you consider what an educator has to go through to BECOME an educator, I can safely say that the majority of the "bad" teachers do NOT start off that way; I've literally had talks with teachers on the verge of BECOMING bad teachers, it normally comes down to experiencing frequently moments of helplessness. I've seen it happen so many times: new teachers come in the door optimistic, ready to cross every 't' and dot every 'i' and do their jobs to the best of their abilities. Then they find out that they can't teach according to their instincts, they have to teach according to scripts. Then they find out that when they discipline children, the administrators are going to go over their heads and not support their discipline. Then they find out that the parents are going to place blame on them for their children's wrongdoing. Then they find out that--- like at my former school--- if children don't show up to TAKE tests, or drop out of school, or transfer schools and get miscoded, that the tests they fail to take will still factor into the teacher's professional reports. Bad teachers are birthed from knowing they're in a system that does not support them; they lose hope and withdraw after taking abuse. Only now and then do you find educators who truly don't care and never did care.
But about tenure, I definitely think it can be a problem. I can name some educators right now who have no business being in the classroom because they can't teach and don't care, but they're protected by tenure. But I can number those teachers on one hand between two schools. My thing is, before we can truly identify who the bad teachers are, we have to identify the corrupt circumstances that the teachers are in. I know some tenured teachers right now who simply did not come into the profession ready to deal with the level of disrespect they receive in these times--- I've taught alongside teachers who were MY teachers growing up, and the situation has crushed their love for the classroom, whereas I know years ago, they were FULL of zeal and FULL of ambition and FULL of optimism. So while I agree tenure becomes an issue when bad teachers abuse it, I know that many of the "bad teachers" are being unfairly labeled--- I desire to see recognition of the circumstances under which they're being asked to perform before I see them crucified.
YES!!!! WE ARE ON THE SAME PAGE!!!!
ReplyDeleteI taught in APS in the mid 80's. I left after being there for only half a year due to the fact that I knew cheating on standardized testing was taking place. I reported to my principal that my colleagues provided test answers to students. Well, I got the shock of my life when my principal literally cursed me out. His response was, "Who the ... are you to question what is going on here? Who the .... do you think you are?" Needless to say, I did not report this incident to the district office, because I knew in my heart that they knew what was going on. Besides, we had seventh grade students scoring in the 90th percentile on standardized tests and couldn't read simple words. As a young single parent, I knew that I did not want to get caught up in the mess going on in APS. Therefore, I simply resigned and went to another school district.
ReplyDeleteWOW, now that's VERY telling. I'll say this much--- where I'm from, the more honest the schools are with their test administration and scores, the more trouble they stay in about not meeting adequate yearly progress. The article I wrote was inspired BY the APS scandal, but it's in light of a shift that's waaaay bigger than APS. If APS has made this a decades-long habit, then that's unfortunate; but the timing couldn't be more perfect. I can't help but take the moment to bring a much-needed concern to light, which is standardized testing, performance, and measurability becoming the number one priority in our schools. Think of it this way: what incentive would these educators have to cheat if the tests were used, not to merit or demerit educators, but to help educators know how best to help their students? I think this is a critical moment for us to sit down and reevaluate how we define testing, learning, instruction, school... education itself. Because something has obviously gone TERRIBLY wrong here.
ReplyDeleteWhat an incredibly well-written article! I have been a public school teacher for 10 years and wish people outside the profession understood the pressure facing teachers, to make sure their students "perform" well on standardized tests. I would like to know what has happened to the administrators at the schools involved? I'd bet my salary (remember, I'm a teacher - so not much to lose) they KNEW what was going on...
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for writing this. I am in total agreement with what has been shared!
ReplyDeleteAnother great comment on this system that's failing our children daily!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for reading it!! I'm writing to help provide perspective; pray that we find a way to FIX the problem as a next step!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, that means a lot to me! And to answer your question, I can't say where the administrators are; right now, all I want to do is shed light on the trend so that it can be halted from spreading any further. But yes, I agree that the administrators probably have been in the know about the corruption for some time now.
ReplyDeleteI teach a vocational ed class in my division's Alternate School. In CTE, we place a large emphasis on "21st Century Skills" and "Workplace Readiness Skills." I am struck by the idea of a "21st Century Classroom," which appears to be NOTHING like the curriculum we deliver. Here's a surprise, people: kids *like* hands-on application of the things they're learning. Nobody wantsto spend hours upon hours a day immersed in texts or glued to a computer screen, they want to get out there and DO stuff. Let them.
ReplyDeleteReblogged this on A Teacher's Perspective and commented:
ReplyDeleteGreat blog on the recent cheating scandal.
I really think that people in charge put to much on teacher and testing. They should never make a teacher feel stress about testing losing there jobs and lower there pay if students dont do well on test. The administration go to far with testing students. They need to get away with those test that stop senior in high school from graduating. Testing just hold all students back. However, I do think it need to tests that measure children sucess and level in reading english and math but not to the point where it hold them back. It ok to try to find new ways for students to achieve and improve. However, this problem is connect with parents at home to because they arent taking the time out to reinforce and teach there kids at home and be a support system for there children at school. Most students dont want to learn and dont have moral and values in them about there educational goals. Education first starts at home so dont fully blame the teacher.
ReplyDeletebottom line i think teaching well -educated people as murders rapists or drug dealers in the court room was absurbed ...they would not have treated a little white school teacher like that...see us black folks are still second class citizens and if we messed up a little they will show you how they think of you....
ReplyDeleteIs there anything that can be done, so that these teachers who are taking it all for us, who have not said or done anything to stop the foolishness in our education systems.? Is there some way we can get the judge to see the real problem? Maybe we should all start burning these types of exams.
ReplyDeletePlease listen, hear, and act upon my response: tenure is not the problem, it is the people in the system who don't have the onions to remove ineffectual teachers. There is a process to be followed, that relies on due rights. School administrators are too lazy to fire bad teachers, or they want to be perceived as teachers' allies. Demand school admin. fire bad teachers.
ReplyDeleteWait, it sounded more like you supported her position.
ReplyDeleteBravo and thank you.
ReplyDeleteI am not a teacher; I am a parent of three who came through the Texas system....which had the same sad situation.
I watched my three, inquisitive, traveled, and intelligent young adults stress about the test, while their teachers stressed about "teaching the test". Fortunately, they read and travel and ask questions and seek explanations...they seek knowledge outside of the school.
Our education system is failing.
Reading your piece has given me a different perspective on those educators convicted, and on those still held hostage by these money driven systems.
I don't condone cheating, even if well intended. But the punishment surely does not fit the crime.
Omg! I have been an English teacher for 30 years,(Re-tired in 2011), and I had to administrate" The State Test " for years , but never in my mind I thought to burn the test, and I surely too afraid to cheat!! I do not know how!! Too funny Lol! However, this issue breaks my heart so dearly!!! Because... I could have fallen into this category if I was employed at this Atlanta School... You never know what pressure would make you do!! Even if I were the look out guy, I would have still been involved! Moreover, I like the part of your statement that said( paraphrasing)... " The test is just a piece of paper..)... I never thought about it like that in my past administring :)) . Yet,, I my past , I always prayed and , I always told my self and My Father God if I lose my job over because my students did not do well, then help me to bear it! Now, that was said with a lot of fear , but I stood on my faith with The Lord leading me !! Lastly, and to be truthful, I would have stayed in the school system longer than 30 years if it had not been for the pressure of " State Testing!!!" It is a shame that teaching is no longer a creative and gifted job, but it is now a slave and bondage !! These are my thoughts exactly!!
ReplyDeleteA very well written explanation of "the system". This article is 100% correct! Although I'm not a teacher, I do understand the system as a counselor. I wish this article could be shared with the masses especially for the people who aren't in education. I'm looking forward to your upcoming articles.
ReplyDeletePlease some of my writing errors ! Typing too fast:)))
ReplyDeleteThere I go again ! Lol! Typing too fast! Please excuse some of my writing errors!!
ReplyDeleteThis is great for us outsiders. I will admit that at the beginning, I too, was one of the ones who condemned the teachers for what they did. It wasn't until I spoke to my Teacher friends that they enlightened me on what really goes on in the School System. The crazy part for me was that it isn't just Atlanta with cheating scandals. I believe there are others doing the same thing as these teachers did...they just haven't gotten caught.
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing this. Outsiders need to know the real deal before forming opinions.
Please understand what tenure is and what tenure is not. Most people assume that tenure is a guaranteed job for life. It is not. It is the right to due process. Period. Before completing a probationary period a teacher may be fired for any reason, or for no reason at all. Tenure simply assures that there is a fair hearing before one is pushed out of their profession. Is this time consuming? Yes. So is a trial before a conviction. Would we want to dispense with trials?
ReplyDeleteAllllmost. The difference is, she's putting the accountability SOLELY on these educators, and I'm proposing that there is an ORDER of accountability that involves MORE than just these educators. Scientific management has taken autonomy from teachers, and high-stakes testing has placed unreasonable demands on them; what I'm saying is before holding these teachers accountable, hold their "managers" accountable--- the ones who tell them what and how they can and cannot teach, the ones who are responsible for the poor environment and poor conditions in WHICH they are made to teach, the ones who place unrealistic test performance expectations on the teachers for the sake of raking in NCLB and Race to the Top funding. Then at the END of that, yes, hold these teachers accountable as well, because what they did was unlawful and unethical--- not 20 years worth, but definitely unethical. At the end of the day, let's not act as if the teachers are the beginning and end of all troubles.
ReplyDeleteThank you for such a well written article. I had a coversation with an Atlanta high school teacher about this last Saturday. He pointed out that the teachers involved are facing long prison sentences whereas the folks on Wall Street who plunged the whole country into a major recession served no jail time. I agree with another commenter that the trend seems to be to make education teacher proof. I can imagine a distopian future in which children are plunked down in front of a computer screen and subjected to canned lessons and canned assessments. The testing companies make big bucks, the children of the 1 % get a real education in spite of everything, and the children of the rest are stuck in a more rigid caste system than ever before.
ReplyDeleteIn stead of moving to shame and vilify teachers, we should be working to find ways to attract the best and the brightest, support them with adequate supplies and ongoing mentoring and training, and fair and respectful treatment. The problem is not so much getting rid of bad teachers as it is retaining good ones. When the work becomes so stultifying and unsafe, who will want to enter this profession? Who will want to devote decades of their lives to teaching as a career?
Well thought out and well said. Unfortunately, these teachers are being imprisoned for the nonviolent crime of trying to make children and schools shine that are depicted as substandard on biased and marginalized tests. While police can kill innocent unarmed Black men and children and walk away Scott free. Congress can egregiously disrespect and undermine the leader of our country and don't even get a slap in the wrist. If you want to talk about cheating lets get to the root of the matter and discuss how we became a country in the first place. Who cheated who? My dad always says if the foundation is crooked it just a matter of time before the floors and walls begin to crack.
ReplyDeleteI can relate but in the end faith counts
ReplyDeletewhat about everybody, who have cheated. To harsh of a sentence . Other States did the same thing. Look http://m.huffpost.com/us/news/school-cheating-scandal/ Not just in atlanta
ReplyDeleteAs a former English professor who taught many APS students, my take on this is a tad different. See, after having students write things like "a women," and tell me they thought "punctuation is optional," my sympathy for these "educators," is slim to none.
ReplyDeleteI had a few of the students tell me they didn't care about whether or not they learned. As long as they passed, they were fine. Still others, many others, told me they didn't write research or term papers at all during their senior year, and many said they hadn't written a paper since the 11th grade.
Still others, all of whom were in Learning Support classes upon entering college, took issue with me because I DID NOT "let them slide." I actually expected them to do their work, and that was an issue.
I understand that under No Child Left Behind teachers are under a tremendous amout of pressure; however, no one who claims to care about the education of our children would cheat them of their futures. Those teachers had a choice because they could have found jobs elsewhere. They chose to stay and cheat students out of a proper education. I have left a few jobs because I didn't agree with the direction of the department. At times, it was difficult finding another job, but it would have been more difficult for me to look at myself in the mirror every morning knowing I had participated in the miseducation of students, ESPECIALLY Black students.
Interesting article. I don't condone what they did, but the school system must be re-examined and rebuilt. It is utter anarchy
ReplyDeleteI never thought that measuring human capabilities would stoop to such a low as incarcerating educators. I don't believe there is a test out there to even come close to measuring a person's capabilities, because there are too many variables to consider. If a person is determined to do or to become something - self motivation is going to prevail. All of these worthless tests are just taking away the hope from our children and beating into them that they are worthless. Why do you think there is so much home schooling going on? This country started out on the basics: reading, writing and arithmetic. Why does everything have to be so complicated? Free those teachers and put them back in the classroom. You wonder why the rest of us never considered teaching? Because we don't like the way the system is mandated. But most of us are tax payers and perhaps time we start expressing our concerns to our school boards all over the country.
ReplyDeleteWell written article coming from an educator. America is failing its children and the elders that preceded them by selling the future of students and educators to big Corporations.
ReplyDeleteI figured that out years ago in a Philly schools system but its only in the majority black schools where crime happens the most. I think the answer is turn public schools to private schools. When you pay for things parents take a better partake in what they kids are doing. You have a lot of kids go to school to make friends not to get an education so separate the kids who want to learn from the kids who don't give a shit. Also do like college if your grades not up to par kick them out for a quarter. I understand what you saying I travel a lot doing benefits for teachers and when I see a nice school and the kids bad as hell oh something doesn't add up.
ReplyDeletePunishment too harsh, just suspend them and get rid if those standardized test. This is ridiculous, they were set up to fail
ReplyDeleteI love it; just a no-nonsense, common sense approach to the situation. I'm in total agreement; thanks for reading my entry and sounding off!
ReplyDeletelol, A lot of what you just said sounds exactly like the rhetoric of one of my favorite coworkers. Wherever you are, keep the discussion going! We need as many voices as possible!
ReplyDeletei agree, Anissa...there are consequences, tho some people seem to always escape while others pay a high price. As a non-perfect person who has been shown incredible mercy, I will join you in praying that these educators will be granted the same and certainly a punishment that is more fair and considerate of their years of giving.
ReplyDeleteThe punishment definitely did not fit the crime for these teachers, ridiculously harsh to send them to prison. The analogy of an abused spouse who attacks the abuser makes sense in this case, for they WERE doomed to fail either way.
ReplyDeleteThere are documented cases of educators doing exact same thing in other cities like DC, yet they not only did not go to jail but very little in terms of consequences took place. Not saying this to condone the cheating, but how is it OK in one state and not another?
As an educator of twenty-something years, I could not agree more. I used to teach units of study, where a multitude of objectives (standards now) were met across disciplines through research, application, experimentation....and students actually learned! They took ownership of their learning and remembered everything because they actually experienced it. This would not be possible in today's classroom. The structure of the tests that students must pass (they are retained in third grade if they fail the reading test) dictate that the methodology teachers use be such that the students are "test savvy." Guess what? The learning is so temporary and useless for them. I do not condone cheating, but I do not think that these educators should not be crucified for what they did.
ReplyDelete"Ownership", I like how you used that! The current education system doesn't want students who "own" their knowledge, they want students who merely regurgitate it. Hell, as a teacher, when I come to school, I WANT TO LEARN FROM MY STUDENTS! But it's hard to learn from them when they're only allowed to think within the confines of a standardized curriculum and when I'm forced to approach them with scripted teaching! EDUCATION ITSELF NEEDS TO BE LIBERATED!
ReplyDeleteI agree with this statement 100%. We are damned if we do and damned if we don't. We aren't appreciated or respected by our society. If the USA wants to remain on top then our youth need to be able to think and discern truth from fiction.
ReplyDeleteA group fellow toiler were discussing the daily atrocities faced by teachers. Disrespectful children, unsupportive administration, and parents who are not held accountable for their children's education. Next you are given students who are 2 to 3 grades behind and you are expected to hit some arbitrary score on an assessment that is culturally biased and most like developmentally inappropriate. Finally the teacher is held totally responsible for the sucess of this student. The whole system is ludicrous. Teaching the only profession held responsible for others' actions. How many dentist are threatened to have their license revoked because their patients didn't brush (do homework), didn't floss(no studying), ate only sweets (no parent participation) and wound up with cavities? I would never knowingly jeopardize my certificate for any reason. But we all feel the pressures of meeting unrealistic expectations and all the accountability placed upon our shoulders. I do not agree with what they did (I don't know a student that I would risk my career for) but I understand their situations.
ReplyDeleteI can completely understand that the system is broken and that education is being held hostage by these new standards. I also understand how confined and pressured teachers are by the impending doom looming over their careers based on student performance. All of this tells me that there is a conversation not being had on a big enough platform to get enough people motivated behind it to cause some effective change. At no point can anyone convince me that cheating was the ever a viable option. I'm not an educator but I am a parent. What message were these people teaching the children?
ReplyDeleteIf things aren't looking good for you and your future based on poor outside forces, its okay to do something illegal to give the appearance of achieving in order to maintain a poorly constructed homeostasis?
If the curriculum given doesn't allow the students to learn adequately enough to perform on the standardized testing practices then the data should be collected and shared proving exactly that. Then the community of voters who elect those into office who can change things can make an informed decision. By helping the children cheat they too are just sweeping the kids along without any help to them or future generations. They weren't changing anything. They weren't fixing a problem they were attempting to hide a problem by pulling the wool over everyone's eyes.
If they were doomed to fail then they should have allowed those children to fail and dealt with the consequences of the flawed system on the outside of jail with the potential of fixing it. They aren't martyrs, they are former educators but they are also criminals who should absolutely have the book thrown at them. Blatantly conspiring with children. That is beyond disturbing to me. There are enough external forces yielding poor examples of who these children could potentially be. These teachers should be the second line of defense against those who would lead them down the wrong path, not contributing to their poor choice example list.
I agree that teachers who cheat or commit unethical acts have no place in the classroom. But what about the parents who are cheating their kids, our students? As an educator and a parent, it is frustrating to see how quickly society blames the teachers for students inability to learn. Teachers are being asked to create a masterpiece on a canvas that's not properly prepared for the ink. When we greet our students before we can begin to teach to the test; we have to feed those who haven't had a decent meal, comfort those who spent the night cold bc the gas or electric was turned off, comfort those whose parent was arrested the night before, make sure others have an adequate change of clothes bc mom took them to a shelter to get away from an abusive spouse, encourage others to inform their parent that they are expecting a baby, encourage a few to try and stay awake in class after working a 8 hr shift to help make ends meet at home, persuade another that gang life is not a good life and persuading the other that it's not ok to sell your body. And When We Are Done With All Of THIS Then We Teach. It's not an easy job and for those of us who do it because we want to make a difference, it damn sure doesn't help that higher ups keep shoving standardized testing and more standardized testing in our faces and saying your students performance is a reflection of your teaching ability. When did it become ok to stop teaching the child and focus only on a test. Students nor parents are being asked to held accountable for their learning only the educator. What happened to going home to a parent who checks homework? What happened to school districts with enough funding for students to have up to date textbooks to take home to study? What happened to parents who supported teachers and didn't come to schools ready to fight a teacher bc they disciplined Johnny? Why do we have to coax parents to volunteer or even visit the classrooms? And who the hell came up with this charter school crap that gives a few parents a loud voice but no voice for the kids that really need one. And at the end of the day, administration meets with the faculty and stress that 80% of our students need to be on or above grade level in order for us to keep our funding bc no funding means a reduction in teachers; of course educators shouldn't feel any pressure about job security. Why, bc every student we teach came to us on grade level. They have eager parents willing to extend the learning beyond the classroom. Yes, somewhere in someone's utopia, fantasy land or dreams. If we are going to convict those teachers, then we need to convict the system and the parents as accessories to the crime.
ReplyDeleteChris, you are wrong on so many levels. Why did you have to point out they were African Americans? Do you think it is a secret AA students don't do well on testing? I am a retired educator, and I retired early because of the stress of trying to teach students who didn't want to be taught. Can you guess what race most were? I feel so sorry for teachers who are in this same situation but don't have anyone to understand it takes teacher +parent+administration to educated students. These days the teacher is the only one that has to teach, handle discipline, counsel and listen to kids who come from a home where they are allowed to do what they want. I feel so very sorry for educators. I understand why these teachers did what they did. I chose to leave because I could retire, but some of these teachers don't have that option.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a teacher, the principal used to lock herself in her office with the state tests overnight and nothing ever happened to her. The test scores went from 10 percent passing to 30 percent passing. She was such a bad principal to she would expel kids for having their shirt untucked if she did not like them. Eventually she was promoted to assistant superintendent. She cheated the tests because if she didn't in the school district would have fired her she was literally saving her job.
ReplyDeleteThis such a sad situation .
ReplyDeleteThis was wrong. They could protest standardize testing if that's the case but not falsify documents! I commend the judge for saying its wrong to cheat our black children. They didn't do for our children they did it to keep their jobs! Wrong.. and if someone did that to my children I would want them jailed!
ReplyDeleteAs a Brit and a fellow teacher I find this thoroughly depressing because our system is moving in exactly the same direction, with testing at age 4 due to start next academic year. Comments about the privatisation of education are equally apt to the uk, but even more so is the continual top down directives from central government, of whatever colour. As to the solution, who knows. Stay and fight the good fight or accept unwilling defeat that our vocations are not what we signed up for and head for the door. I know which way I'm heading and it fills me with sadness, and anger.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this well authored article which reveals an issue which is paralyzing an already broken system. As a teacher of ten years I too have witnessed both the treatment of those who cheat and the crucifixion of those who refuse to. Testing and benchmarking used to be used to drive my instruction and assist individual students where needed. These test no longer even align themselves with what my students are learning. Your examples of questions with no answers, combined with material tested never assigned for instruction is on point! Just last week my seventy-five students took a benchmark which reqired them to write a TDA. The directive ftom the only people with brains in my school was to quickly hand the answer gtids in the next day however, no one was aware that my grade had seventy-five hand scored essays to be graded. We found later that the essays counted for four points of the overall 21 points possible. The scores are then published for everyone to see. My thought process was that had I known I would have given every child a score of a four as opposed ro not sciring the TDA's due to the smart people's lack of planning. (That would have been cheating). The data becomes a weapon instead of a tool! Students with exceptionalities are required to take grade level test while functioning four or five grades below. This only exacerbates the problem. I used to love my job, it has become one of the most disrespected professions of all time. I am constantly told exactly what, when and how to teach but all accountability for growth falls on me. That growth is expected whether I receive text books for my students, whether my class is over burdened with known low performing students and behavior problems or whether a child comes to school. I watch ineffective, novice leaders learn or try to get up to speed on the backs of teachers who have more experience and education than them, they refuse to just ask us peons "what do we think" it is a sad day in education when you walk through a school of 700 plus students and it is quet, the students have already lesrned to walk in prison lines, there is no recess, and the entire philosophy is get ready for the test.
ReplyDeleteThis so perfectly articulates what goes through so many of our minds as these bogus tests are being rolled out, and I LOVE how honest you were about having "that moment" where being unscrupulous crossed your mind. I want people to understand: these unscrupulous responses are being triggered by unscrupulous circumstances--- FIX THE UNFAIR CIRCUMSTANCES, AND THE UNETHICAL RESPONSES WILL NOT HAPPEN. Thank you so much for your response!!
ReplyDeleteI thank you for this and for taking the time to allow God to utilize you with open and candid feedback. Keeping it real on all levels and saying what things truly are behind the closed doors. Although not a teacher, I resided in New Orleans LA most of my life and like Atlanta if not worse the system is and continues to be flawed. Who pays the cost? Our children. Faith,works and the power of prayer must continue to face forward and march to a greater victory. Winning back our schools for our children for they are the future. Many thanks and blessings to you.
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you as well! And definitely keep me in your prayers; although education has been on my mind for over a decade now, taking ACTION to resolve the issues in a tangible is new territory. But I believe the key is first clearing out all the smoke and mirrors and getting to the heart of the matter--- the love of money is controlling the direction of education, and education is being treated as an industry rather than as a ministry. This cannot continue!
ReplyDeleteI'm not an educator but I know many that I graduated with that are now. The standardize testing is load of crap. I can say myself I had decent grades in my course work but like myself done people aren't good test takers. It's possible that these teachers cheated because they know that the student is able to accomplish the work but just can't manage to do the same on test. This is just my personal theory of the events and I don't believe that one test past or fail should keep a child behind if the child had been doing wonderful all year.
ReplyDeleteHere, Here, Brotha!!! You make some excellent points and I agree that the education system is severely broken.
ReplyDeleteBut we must admit when we are wrong, not justify it. I understand the system, I work in the system but I signed an oath stating I would not compromise the testing environment. They hurt children and taught them so many wrongs. My God... Wrong is wrong even if everybody is doing it; right is right even if nobody is doing it. Excuses only explain they don't excuse.
ReplyDeleteI agree...it is a ministry
ReplyDeleteAt no point did I say what these teachers did WASN'T wrong though; all I said is that there are MORE and MORE SIGNIFICANT wrongs to address. In other words, their cheating is the FRUIT of a problem, not the ROOT of a problem.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the support, Brotha!!
ReplyDeleteAs a former educator who has kept up with the issues as our society devolves I totally agree and appreciate your ability to speak out plainly. Good job. Just wish the light on dark was easier to read.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the feedback! And I'll work the font color soon, it is kind of annoying, lol
ReplyDelete