A Teacher’s Take on the Cheating Scandal

I know that wealth equals privilege.  I know that students whose parents are wealthy will get into college more easily since they can afford tutors, SAT prep, personal trainers, you name it.

That is part of the reason why I love working in an urban school where over 70% of my  students are on the free and reduced lunch program.   I strive to help these students to build the tools that they need to make themselves college and career ready.

I love it when the spring arrives and my seniors begin to receive their acceptance letters.  I also love it when former students contact me to thank me for preparing them for their college English courses, or to tell me about their interesting travel abroad experiences.

This week I am particularly excited because a student I taught as a junior last year has been accepted to Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, and now MIT.  This is the student success story that the world loves to hear.  This student is incredibly intelligent, but simultaneously humble.  He is simply a phenomenal human being despite his modest upbringing and I am so happy to have gotten to know him last year.

I have other students who have graduated from Tufts and MIT who are now enrolled in grad school and others who are making the world a better place through their careers.  Teachers are sometimes under-appreciated, but every time I hear from one of these students, I know that I am making a difference.

I have a letter that I give to my students on the first day of school that allows me to introduce myself to them and then I ask them to write a letter back to me as their first assignment of the year.  The last line of my letter reads as follows:

“This year, I seek to teach you not only the components of writing, but also a course in ethics, because ultimately, your grades means nothing if you cannot look yourself in the mirror and be proud of the person you see.”

How fitting that sentence is in light of the recent college admissions cheating scandal.

Today, some of my students were saying how they know that it’s wrong to cheat, but they also know that they would probably do anything they could in order to get their future children into a good college.  They asked if I would do the same.

Now, granted, I’m not a parent, but I really don’t believe that I would.  I don’t want to raise privileged children who simply ask and receive; I want them to know the importance of hard work.  They should get rejected from some colleges they apply to because we all need some degree of failure in order to grow.

These celebrity parents are raising entitled children and no matter how much money I earn, that is not what I want for my kids.

Some people think it’s almost a waste to even fight the recent scandal, saying how there will always be parents who cheat (especially those who have the financial means to do so).  They mention how it’s always been known that some families make massive donations to Ivy League schools with the hopes that their children will then be accepted.

But here’s the thing: I don’t care about the fact that some cheaters aren’t caught.  Sure, there will always be cheaters, but that doesn’t mean we give up. We can’t just wallow in the fact that people will always cheat; rather, we must keep trying our best to eliminate as much of it as possible.

Every college placement that was filled by a student who cheated or whose parent cheated is a spot that a deserving student was unable to attain.

I teach some of those deserving students who are rejected because their family has no high standing in society.  Most of my students have parents who have never attended college, some of whom have never even finished high school.  Many of my students have parents who are not fluent in the English language.  These parents cannot fight for their children as much as they might like to because of language barriers.

These students grew up without tutoring and SAT prep courses.  They had parents who often could not help them with their homework. Many of them came home to empty houses after school, since their parents were working long hours trying to make ends meet.

These are the students who know that hard work pays off.  These students who were able to succeed in high school and enter college are one of my greatest sources of joy as a teacher.

I understand that some of them are upset with the recent scandal (I am upset myself).  They have every right to be angry, but I just keep reminding them that ethics and character still matter.  Students who got into college as a result of a scam don’t understand the value of hard work.  They have no idea what it means to struggle through the daily obstacles of life.  My students do, and I believe that because of that, they will be more prepared for the world they enter upon graduation because they know that everything in life will not simply be handed to them.

My students will be able to live with the confidence that anything they achieve is truly a result of their own perseverance.  They will be able to look themselves in the mirror every day and be proud of the person they see looking back at them.

It may sound naive, but that has to count for something.  I recently read a book entitled The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead by David Callahan.  He examines cheating in all aspects, from lawyers who lie about their billable hours, to pharmaceutical companies knowingly promoting drugs with major side effects, to plagiarism, to athletes who use performance-enhancing drugs.

What happens is that we see other people getting ahead as a result of cheating and this causes us to justify our own cheating.  He’s cheating, so it’s only fair if I do, too. This leads to a perpetual cycle of cheating, and there is no clear solution.

I try my best to avoid cheating, although Callahan makes it clear how we have all done this from time to time, even in minor ways.  Ever downloaded music illegally?  Gotten extra change and kept it rather than returning it to the cashier? Embellished a resume?  Failed to report under-the-table income?  Re-used a stamp that wasn’t cancelled?

We’re all guilty at times.  But the only way I can see a change happening is by maintaining a high degree of ethics and morals myself.  My students know that I strive to be an overall good person.  I try to instill ethical behavior into them as frequently as possible.  We have conversations about honesty and integrity and they see my disappointment when I catch them plagiarizing.

If my students see many of their parents, teachers, and peers acting in an ethical manner, they will follow suit.  But if they see all of us lying, stealing and cheating our way into success, they will mimic that behavior.

I don’t have the answers, but I do know that character counts, even today when it sometimes seems like all hope is lost.  Because of my faith, I know that my ultimate goal of Heaven will only be fulfilled if I maintain an upright character.  It doesn’t matter how much power people achieve through false means here on earth; that will not help them to inherit the kingdom of God.  And even for those who do not believe in God, they can consider the idea that what goes around comes around.

So I will continue to be proud of the woman I see in the mirror because I know the hard work that was necessary to get to the place I am in today.  I know that I did not get any college admissions, degrees, jobs, or awards as a result of any cheating or fraud.  I do not have to fear the embarrassment and shame that would occur if I had deep dark secrets that I didn’t want to get released.

 

 

 

 

Will Standardized Tests Make Americans Compete in the Global Economy? I Think Not.

You’ve heard the statistics – American students are less intelligent than those in countries like China and Finland.

In America, we’ve decided that the way to combat this issue is to implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and to create a national test so that students in every state are assessed on the same material.

Although that’s already been quite a bit of a failure, we’re still pushing forward.

As a high school English teacher,  I don’t mind the CCSS.  Most of the high school standards seem reasonable.  I have heard complaints from English teachers in lower grades as well as math teachers, but for my students, the standards seem appropriate.  I do, however, have a strong dislike for the standardized tests like the SBAC and PARCC.

I worked in Connecticut last year when the SBAC was being given.  In a school with over 500 juniors who were supposed to take the test, we had fewer than 100 of them actually take it since so many had opted out.  The test was an abysmal failure.

It wasn’t just my school where the test failed.  Most towns either experienced high opt-out rates, or low scores since many students simply clicked through the test without trying.

So Connecticut is considering getting rid of SBAC completely, or shortening it.  According to a Connecticut Post article from February 26, 2016, the SBAC that was set to be given during this current school  year was trimmed down from the one that was given last year.  The language arts section was cut in half.

Many districts in Connecticut did away with the SBAC entirely, opting for the SAT to assess student achievement.  This makes complete sense.  After all, with CCSS, the country wanted a national assessment to assess students from every state.  We already have the ACT and SAT, so why not use one of those?

Instead, we had two companies create tests that were specifically aligned with Common Core.  Thus, the SBAC (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium) and PARCC (The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers).  But this still didn’t solve the problem of creating a national test because different states opted for different assessments.

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2015/02/a_map_of_states_2015_testing_p.html

SBAC states include: Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, and California.

PARCC states include: New Jersey, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Colorado.

Many states opted to keep their own tests or use other alternatives.  These include: New York, Virginia, Texas, Florida, and on and on.

So take a small area as an example.  If a student moves from New Jersey, to New York, to Connecticut (not a long distance to travel), he will face three different state tests.  This is exactly what we had before CCSS existed.

So Common Core definitely did not achieve its goal of creating a national test.  National standards?  Well, mostly.  Except for the states that opted out and those that continue to opt out while these tests continue to fail.  The map of states that have adopted Common Core can be viewed at that link.  While most states are using CCSS, some that are not include Texas, South Carolina, and Virginia.

But anyway, back to the reason I decided to write this blog: the chaos that was PARCC testing here in New Jersey on April 20, 2016.

Monday and Tuesday were the first PARCC testing days in our school.  We were scheduled to have 4 total PARCC days where the test would take place in lieu of classes.  One could argue that the 4 days of lost instructional time is too much, but that was the schedule, until today’s chaos ensued.

Monday and Tuesday passed with just a few glitches.  Students took the computerized test.  Hopefully most of them actually tried and put their effort into it.  We’ll know better when we see the scores next year.

Today, however, was a bit different.  When signing out my materials to bring to my room, I was told that I should keep refreshing the Pearson website since it wasn’t yet working.

All of my students got situated.  I passed out the necessary materials.  I repeatedly clicked “refresh” on my computer, but nothing was changing.  Students were starting to get antsy.  After all, they’re not allowed access to much of anything during testing.  No food, water, cell phones, internet.  They just had to sit there while I clicked “refresh.”

Today’s test called for two 110-minute English sections.  As the clock kept ticking, it was clear that it was going to be impossible to give those two sections and still release the students at 12:30pm.

Eventually, our principal came onto the intercom and cancelled testing since it was still not working at 9am (students get to school at 7:30am).

So I had the pleasure of sitting with my class of students for the next 3 hours while we waited to be dismissed.

This is what I learned about today’s testing fiasco from a NJ.com article:

-The problem was due to the Pearson website

-Pearson is attempting to fix the problem (key word: attempting)

-We are told that testing “should be up and running” by Thursday

Well that sure gives me confidence that tomorrow will play out differently than today.  (Don’t mind the sarcasm.)

This is what happens when we fully rely on technology.  As a teacher, I know how technology can fail.  Projector lightbulbs die out, internet connections cut out, power outages happen.  It’s expected.  In those situations, we think on our feet and adapt our lessons so that we don’t waste entire class periods.  This is what is expected of us.  If we are having a lesson observed by an administrator and the projector won’t work, we can’t just say, “Okay, class, just sit there and I’ll try again to teach you tomorrow.  Maybe by then the projector will be working.”  No, I’m expected to be flexible and figure out a plan B.

With PARCC, there is no plan B.  It’s a computer-based test.  If the website is down, then no student in the state of New Jersey can take the test.  The test is given to all freshmen, sophomores, and juniors.  There were hundreds of thousands of students scheduled to test today, but oops!  The website was broken.

Now don’t even get me started on the fact that students must take this test for three years of high school.  I already believe that these students are over-tested.

But if you cannot guarantee that this test will work, then you are wasting my instructional time.  Today was a complete waste.  We were supposed to resume a normal schedule on Friday, but thanks to the glitch, Friday is now another day of testing.

Students have lost 5 school days for the PARCC test, plus portions of the school day when we had 2 prior practice sections to get ready for PARCC.  Plus, we could potentially face more if the website is not fixed by tomorrow morning.

What about this situation makes anyone believe that standardized testing is going to fix American education?

AP exams start the first week of May.  So while teachers could have been preparing for those tests that can really help students for college, they were instead babysitting students today who had nothing to do.

The problem is that many of our lawmakers and politicians who make decisions about education in America have no background in education, minus their own experiences as a student.  They don’t consult teachers before making these major changes.  They let companies like Pearson monopolize the testing, but Pearson’s main goal is not to improve American education.  They are a for-profit organization that wants more states to choose their test.

If we want to improve education in America, we need to listen to the teachers who have their hands and feet inside a classroom every day.  The teachers who know that forcing a student to sit at a computer for hours on end, answering questions about slope and possessive pronouns is not the best way to assess each of them.

I’m not sure if today’s failure will prompt any changes to take place, but gosh I hope so.  Increasing standardized testing is never going to help our students to become more college and career ready young adults.