The state auditor in Ohio found 10 schools in Columbus where thousands of students had mysteriously been removed from the school’s rolls to inflate the scores.
This is the predictable result of high-stakes testing, which has incentivized cheating, score inflation, and gaming the system. This is not the first instance where a district or a state has tried to puff up its results to meet its targets. NCLB has created an era of institutionalized fraud, not better education.
The article says:
In all, the 10 schools had no supporting documents to validate their claims that more than 300 students total had withdrawn that school year. Auditors could not locate supporting files, document the dates that students supposedly left or confirm that students transferred to other districts, were expelled, were truants, were being home-schooled or withdrew for other reasons.
In each of those 10 schools, between 20 percent and about 28 percent of students were excluded from the school’s report-card data for the 2010-11 school year.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
So many ways to profit from this and BTW they prefer to be called capitalists not “spawn”
http://studentslast.blogspot.com/2012/10/invisibility-cloak-for-all-your-testing.html #satire
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We needn’t second guess Dr. Ravitch’s word choice. Nonetheless, it is federally promoted evil spawn. But doesn’t government’s inability to put money where it matters argue for increased privatization? Besides, the superintendent of the cheating district must have made a good impression on the Race to the Top panel.
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When the system is bad, people do bad things. The system is bad.
Diane
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Ohio’s Superintendent of Public Instruction from 1999-2008, Susan Zelman, made progress fixing the system. But she was drummed out of office by a new governor elected with union support in 2006.
Dennis Van Roekel claims (video on C-Span) that he doesn’t understand the system. Whitney Tilson claims the union is adept at sabotage in Albany. If the system is bad, should we expect union lobbyists (and perhaps hedge fund managers) to do bad things?
Agreed, we’ve lost focus on improving the system. That work would take considerable social capital and hence require appropriate civics education. So where does the responsibility lie for the “dangerous state” of civics education that Justice Souter wants fixed?
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This may be the crowing achievement of the reformers–a public education system that is as corrupt and incompetent as they are.
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predictable result of high-stakes testing, … NCLB has created an era of institutionalized fraud, not better education.
This strikes me as poorly reasoned. Are you suggesting that teachers would rather cheat than adopt methods and curricula that address the Ohio Supreme Court’s expectations for public school accountability? Keep in mind that Ohio had NCLB-lite as a result of litigation (DeRolph) before NCLB.
My guess was cheating arose from lack of appropriate professional development, central offices that pushed unrealistic expectations on teachers without proper support, and communities that failed to rally in support of schoolchildren’s needs.
Cheaters should expect more accountability once the cheating is uncovered. You argue for less. Don’t expect that to stand up in court:
“After an exhaustive review of the record, I am also convinced that it is time for the General Assembly to set education standards and to require performance of the education establishment, with rewards when they meet the standards or severe corrective action when they do not. This should include mandates for cost cutting (additional money is not the only answer) and cost containment with clear accountability.”
Ohio’s constitutional mandate for a “thorough and efficient” system of schools is elaborated through ORC 3301.07(D) and OAC 3301-35, which reads, in part:
“The school district or school shall maintain an environment that supports personal and organizational performance excellence by allowing credentialed and classified staff the opportunity to develop and use their full potential to achieve school district and school objectives.”
I doubt you will find a genuine commitment to “performance excellence” (cf Deming) in the districts that opt for cheating.
Neither ALEC, nor the Bill Moyers touted alternaitve, ALICE, find Ohio’s desire for performance excellence in public education worthy of model legislation. Are the lawyers who draw salary from teachers’ union dues not paying attention?
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I’ve been following this (somewhat). It seems that the schools did nothing the state can really nab them with due to ambiguous wording in the law, but our dear governor and his staff is keeping the issue out there and unresolved to show what horrible people work in public schools…..check out Plunderbund, they have the up-to-the-minute stuff on it.
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The teachers in this case were not the ones cheating. Administrators were fixing the school’s enrollment numbers. Administrators are professional cheaters. If the data doesn’t look good, they play around with it until it does. You can’t blame this one on teachers’ unions either.
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Another good satire from Students Last about NCLB spawn:
Invisibility Cloak For All Your Testing Needs
from Students Last (satire)
“Need to hide a few students for upcoming exams? Afraid your school’s test scores will be dragged down by low-performing special education students? Certain the English Language Learners will fail to make annual yearly progress? Will students with poor attendance impact your whole school with their lousy test performance?
Invisibility Cloak (IC) can help.”
http://studentslast.blogspot.com/2012/10/invisibility-cloak-for-all-your-testing.html
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It will be a post soon. Trying not to overwhelm readers.
Diane
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@Eric, teachers love tools and love to be able to do their job better. This game we are talking about has nothing to do with teaching. It’s cheating at a game that no one should be playing in the first place.
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I tried to explain that point to a reporter recently. We get drawn into discussion about whether school grades are calculated correctly, when the larger point is that the grades are absurd. No complex institution should get an A or a B or a C or a D or an F. There are many people, many dimensions of success, many moving parts.
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cheating at a game that no one should be playing in the first place.
Oath-sworn public officials set off to implement the mandate of their state supreme court for increased school accountability. Pick the correct response:
1: Implement model legislation from ALEC
2: Ignore the supreme court and oath of office
3: Blame teacher-bashers for lack of necessary funds
4: Find the accountability program endorsed by past union presidents and build support to implement it
If the lawyers and lobbyists paid via union dues undermine alternative 4, above, then what?
1: Implement model legislation from ALEC
2: Ignore the supreme court and oath of office
3: Blame teacher-bashers for lack of necessary funds
4: Resolve the intransigence of the union’s staff
My guess is the teachers who oversee union operations (state ed association board members) don’t have the time to hold union staffers accountable (option 4).
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Diane, As you say this is more pervasive and insidious than I think we know. I have been informally told by many MS LAUSD foster youth with whom I work that they have been “encouraged” not to show up on test days. The kids say they feel responsible for their teacher’s jobs! These kids tend not to do well due to early trauma, placements, lack of therapy, poverty and/or violent environments which affect their ability to hold attention and focus. Most misdiagnosed and re-shamed by being made to feel slow or stupid when they are anything but! I am working in 12 schools this year and training academic mentors and teachers to help w this. I will try to find out if this kind of thing re testing is going on in a larger way and document. Teachers and principals I have worked with are angels! Totally committed, but absolutely frustrated and angry at the pressure from the narrow testing measures. Just thought I would share this as we need to ask WHICH kids are being shut out? It makes sense that those w most difficulties would be as they bring the scores down. The system is set up for this kind of institutionalized discrimination against our most vulnerable youth. They are “at-risk” because of the selfishness, arrogance, ignorance and greed of grown-ups, not because of lack of intrinsic capabilities! Thanks for your voice and inspiration. Victoria Stevens
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The big question no one is asking- Why are schools held accountable for students who choose never to to come to school? Which is worse? Removing students from class rosters because they never come to school, OR grading schools on students who do not attend school in their building/district?
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Here’s a math question. Please feel free to discuss this when you are in Ohio on Oct. 16. In Ohio, public schools receive $3200 per student from the state. When a student goes to an online or charter school, $5800 is deducted from the public school system. I have tried every equation I know, and can’t figure it out. I have emailed my state representative about this, but he hasn’t replied to me yet. Any insight anybody can give me on this would be greatly appreciated. 🙂
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Someone mentioned Susan Zellman Our former Ohio secretary of education on this blog. She was hired by Strickland . Strickland was no friend of teachers Susan Zalman used stimulus funds ,meant to hire new teachers ,and brought in her retire -rehire friends as “consultants.”One of the companies she brought in Mosaica The corruption knows no party lines. Strickland was and is incompetent and was one of the major reasons teachers did not turn out to vote.
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Dr. Zelman came in with Governor Taft. Governor Strickland pressured the board to bring in Superintendent Delisle, now at US Ed. Some believe Mrs. Strickland was behind the change in Superintendents. Here is one state board member’s defense of Dr. Zelman following Governor Strickland’s initial 2008 attack:
“Dear Governor Strickland,
“This letter is an expression of my opinion and not necessarily the opinion of other State Board of Education members.
“You made brutally critical comments about Dr. Susan Zelman yesterday to the Cincinnati Enquirer. This greatly disturbs me. This approach is not dignified, virtuous or professional.
“Having said this, the State Board of Education, made up of an assortment of Ohio citizens, many of which voted for you including some Rs serving on the board, supports Dr. Zelman. Her last appraisal had 100% board support. There are good reasons for this support. Can we all be wrong?
“We know Dr. Zelman has shortcomings, which we all have, but she has been the single catalyst in improving and moving Ohio public education forward. Ohio was in the middle of the states but is now ranked 7th. May I ask, “How do you think we got there?”
“I’m certain you’ve carefully calculated and decided to make the comments to the newspaper. Your goal is certainly not to establish collaboration with Dr. Zelman or to establish a relationship with the State Board. This is sad because, in my opinion, it could have been favorably productive for you.”
When educators support a candidate who weakens leadership at the state department of education, wouldn’t that move the education doomsday clock closer to midnight?
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