Why Are Some Teachers Helping Kids Cheat?

Last year, 60% of high school students admitted to cheating on at least one test. According to a report in Reader’s Digest, those students may not be alone because a growing number of teachers are cheating too. In the past year, school districts in New York and New Jersey have uncovered several organized “cheating rings,” where teachers either supplied test answers to students or they purposely changed wrong answers to correct answers while grading tests!

Another investigation red flagged 700 schools in Texas for “suspicious test results.” One of the worst cases of teacher cheating happened at City Day Community School in Dayton, Ohio. That’s where an entire grade FLUNKED the math portion of a statewide assessment test two years ago. One year later, all of those same students earned PASSING grades! As it turned out, teachers had helped rig the results. So why on earth would a teacher want to help kids cheat?

As is often the case, it all boils down to money. Sometimes a teacher’s salary is based on the performance of their students. Also, schools that perform well academically generally get more state funding. Schools with poor test scores often get punished with fewer dollars. That’s been especially true since 2001, when the No Child Left Behind Act became law. Experts say there’s been a surge in teacher cheating since then – because of the pressure educators feel to boost scores.

Professor Gregory Cizek – of the University of North Carolina – is an expert on cheating in schools. He says teacher cheating is “more prevalent than anyone wants to admit.” Since teachers are paid to be role models, their behavior sends a more destructive message to kids – who already see enough in the news about athletes on steroids, or CEOs dodging taxes. That message is: cheating is okay. So what can you do to make sure your school is cheat free? One idea is to force educators to sign a code of ethics and anyone caught cheating would immediately have their license revoked! Bottom line: School districts need to get wise to what’s going on, before your kid picks up cheating habits that could last a lifetime.

Taken from http://www.tesh.com/
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Cheating

http://www.topics-mag.com/readers/cheating-forum.htm Click on this link and read some of the comments others have posted about cheating. What do you think about what others have said. I want you to write a short 5-7 sentences about your ideas and opinions.....Experiences?????? Due next class!!