Reported test cheating tripled under Bloomberg

Annual allegations of test-tampering and grade-changing by educators have more than tripled since Mayor Bloomberg took control of New York City’s school system. Top bureaucrats, Wolcott and Polakow-Suransky go into spin mode.

“People are reporting things, that’s fine; we want people to report things,” Mr. Walcott said. But, he added, “people could be reporting for real and not necessarily real reasons.” -- N.Y. Times

That doesn't sound like it's "fine." Does it?

Loyola Law School prof, Kimberly West-Faulcon has written a strong piece on The Real Cheating Scandal of Standardized Tests, at Miller-McCune.

The truth is that the greater the stakes imposed on standardized test scores, the greater the pressure on educators to do whatever it takes to juice up the scores even if it degrades educational quality. By expressing his dismay and urging schools to increase test scores, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is evading the very important elephant-in-the-room question: “Are American public schools moving in the wrong direction by increasing emphasis on standardized test scores?”