A three year investigation by the State Education Department revealed 64 incidents of cheating on the Regent Exams in East coast schools, the majority occurring in New York. In 2010 cheating scandals were brought to attention but ignored. Erasure analysis was supposed to expand to six schools in 2010 and to all Regent exams in 2011-2012, but the funds to do this were never authorized. When the school board in New York made proposals to strengthen the system from administrators and teachers from cheating they left out the results of the experiments already taken place. The education commissioner John B King said, “It didn’t rise to the level of a major finding or report.” From the 64 incidents Ruth Raltson, the assistant principle at a high school in New York was the only one held directly accountable for cheating on exams. While left alone with test in 2008, evidence showed that the number of answer erased and changed from wrong to right were 94%. On average only 50% of answers erased are changed from wrong to right.
Although I believe that action should have been taken sooner, it is good that they are doing something about cheating on exams. It doesn’t help the students when administrators and teachers are erasing and changing answers on exams. This shows that some schools care more about the school prestige, and teacher’s job security than the students themselves. Instead of addressing the problem and figuring out a way to prepare students better for state test, they are trying to hide their inability to educate students to a passing level of achievement. Maybe now that this issue is recognized, modernization of systems in more schools will start to prevent further cheating.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/24/nyregion/in-reversal-new-york-state-says-it-used-erasure-analysis-to-detect-cheating.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hpw
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