District Administration - November/December 2011 - (Page 54)

Taking the Helm in Cheating Scandals School District of Philadelphia’s executive director of accountability and assessment. “Before, we’d investigate allegations, but it was hard to go into a school because it looked like a witch hunt.” That doesn’t mean the case is solved. “Now we have the problem of figuring out who’s had access to the tests,” Piotrowski admits. “It may take the next year to sort out the last three years.” In the meantime, Piotrowski’s office will closely monitor the affected schools and tighten security districtwide. But Piotrowski is depending greatly on the new technology to stem the tide of cheating. “Going into this year, the word’s out there,” Piotrowski says. “Now that people know they’ll be an analysis of erasures every year, it will make people think twice before they attempt to change student answers.” Beyond Standardized Testing A number of educational leaders and advocates are suggesting that states and districts think twice about depending on state assessments as the only measure of student achievement and school worthiness. “Setting up zero tolerance policies will only get you so far,” warns Schaeffer. In September, Barge’s office requested “there was statistical evidence on the erasures on the answer documents.” —Kris Ellington, deputy commissioner for accountability, research and measurement, Florida Department of Education How to Avoid Testing Irregularities One administrator uses professional development to steer clear of inadvertent violations of testing protocol. N ANcy DiANA JONes hAs NOt seeN irregulArities iN ADmiNisteriNg the state’s standardized tests in the encinitas (calif.) union school District, which consists of seven elementary schools in san Diego county. Jones, as administrator of support services, has been in charge of standardized testing for seven years. she credits her office’s vigilance and a strong message from superintendent timothy Baird that “puts high-stakes testing into perspective and emphasizes that these tests are only one measure of student achievement.” Jones believes that inadvertent violations of testing protocols, rather than deliberate cheating, pose the greatest threats to test security in many districts. “there are times when people make mistakes and just don’t understand the complexities of what is allowable and what it not allowable,” she explains. Jones recalls an example she heard from an administrator in another district, in which a teacher—concerned that her students would be confused by the short extension at the front of their rulers—cut off that part so the rulers would begin exactly at 0 inches. “she was so proud of it and announced it in the teachers’ lounge,” Jones says. “i remind our teachers that they cannot be creative. When instructions say students may not use scratch paper in the language arts test, you cannot use scratch paper.” Jones takes plenty of steps to make sure that no such breaches occur. “i have to be as knowledgeable as i can about california’s stAr (standardized testing and reporting) program,” says Jones. toward this end, she regularly attends professional development workshops, where she swaps testing methods and concerns with fellow administrators around the state, tunes in to Web seminars, and stays abreast of the 143-page state manual on testing procedures and protocols. Jones takes the additional step of highlighting the most important points in that manual before it goes out to the district’s principals and their testing coordinators. “We clarify it, underline it, and put in notations. And the principals feel comfortable doing that.” those educators also receive a three-hour training each year in which they cover the situations that can lead to testing irregularities, from the discussion of test questions before the test to improper erasures afterward. (After students hand in their answer sheets, proctors are allowed to erase stray marks before forwarding the finished tests to the state.) “One of the things we emphasize is that this [testing procedure] is not art,” explains Jones. “it’s science, and every student has to take the test exactly the same way. this is not the time for teachers to take liberties.” a waiver from NCLB in favor of a College and Career Readiness Performance Index. “Schools and districts receive scores on the entire scope of work for creating readiness,” Barge explains. Those overall scores include the percentage of students passing AP and International Baccalaureate exams and end-ofcourse tests, as well as SAT and ACT scores and completion rates of dual-enrollment and industry-certified courses that prepare graduates for the workforce. Schools receive additional credit for making significant progress on student achievement scores and closing achievement gaps. President Obama announced this fall that alternative assessments would be available to all states. But for now, the preferred way of dealing with cheating—and preventing future incidents—is to take a lawand-order approach. In Connecticut, for example, the state education commissioner has proposed making guilty teachers and principals liable for the thousands of dollars to investigate irregularities and retest. The irony of cheating has not been lost on Piotrowski. “In an attempt to give schools a good reputation in the short run,” he says, “teachers and principals have damaged that reputation in the long run.” DA Ron Schachter is a contributing writer to District Administration. District Administration 54 November/December 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - November/December 2011

District Administration - November/December 2011
Contents
From the Editor
News Update
Inside the Law
Administrator Profile
District Profile
CIO news
How to Update Your Network on a Budget
The Importance of IT Team Unity
Creating an Anti-Bullying Program With the Resources You Have
The Ultimate Empowerment Program for Parents
Taking the Helm in Cheating Scandals
Readers’ Choice: Top 100 Products
New Directions
Professional Opinion
Problem/Solution
Going Mobile

District Administration - November/December 2011

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