Teachers Give a Lesson in Cheating

What has been described as the largest scandal involving cheating on standardized tests in the nation’s history, has sent shock waves throughout the city, with its shadow looming over three public school teachers in Queens.
In total, 52 Board of Education employees at 32 New York City public schools, including dozens of principals, teachers, and school officials, made conscious decisions to assist students on standardized reading and math tests, going as far in one case as to erase mistakes and pencil in correct answers, Special Schools Investigator Edward Stancik said. When Stancik went public with his 17-month investigation last week, three Queens elementary school teachers at four schools (one was an instructor at two schools) were cited for cheating.
The charges of cheating come at a time when educators are under pressure to improve national reading and math scores. City school teachers in particular have been put under the gun, due to the high number of students performing below grade level in the city system. Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew removed five district superintendents just last summer.
"There are always going to be people who find it necessary to gain some sort of advantage by doing something like this," Crew said at a press conference last week. Although he said that these were strictly isolated incidents, he stressed, "People were feeling the pressure."
Now, along with a tarnished reputation, each educator stands in danger of losing his or her job.
At P.S. 99 in Kew Gardens, where students are considered high performers and most likely would have had little problem with the city and state-wide exams, sixth-grade teacher Robin Smith last year decided to take no chances, the Stancik investigation reported.
According to the investigation, Smith, a recent transfer from Brooklyn’s District 16, handed out scrap paper to students taking the standardized tests and instructed them to copy the choices they had selected in the multiple-choice tests. Smith then would review the paper, and place an "x" or a "dot" next to the wrong answers. She then returned the scrap paper to the students so they could put the correct answers on the official test sheet.
When a parent of a child in Smith’s class heard of the teacher’s new approach to test proctoring, District 28 Superintendent Neil Kreinik said the parent called the principal to ask if this was typical behavior. Smith admitted to investigators that she had asked the students to put their answers on a separate paper, but she said she did it only to "see how they fared." Smith said she pointed to the wrong answers and told the test-taker, "Read it again."
The Stancik report said, "Somewhat arrogantly, Smith asserted that she did not give the students the answers and that she believes that she did not give them an unfair advantage because ‘the students we are talking about are 95 percent kids anyway.’ Moreover, she claimed, ‘Everybody does this and I never had a problem with it before,’ and that no one ever told her it was wrong."
Smith, along with the 51 other implicated employees, has been pulled out of the classroom and reassigned to a Board of Education desk jobs. Those teachers with tenure will be kept on the payroll at least temporarily, while those who are not tenured face immediate dismissal. "At this point things have been turned over to the Board of Ed," said a source close to the investigation. "The ball is in their court now."
At P.S. 62 in Richmond Hill, third grade teacher Dulcelina Sepulveda has come under investigation for her administration of a math test earlier in the year. The report alleges that after one young student was absent the day the class learned about the "line of symmetry," Sepulveda proceeded to explain the concept, which was on the exam, to the entire class during the test. On another occasion, one girl described having problems with one of the test’s final questions. Rather than let the student figure the answer out for herself, Sepulveda told the girl to "write the number 10 four times and then asked what was half of that number," said Stancik’s report.
Sepulveda told investigators that she advised the class "not to ask her questions because she would not give them answers." However, the teacher added that she "would explain the question to them so that they would understand it without giving them the answer." According to investigators, Sepulveda said that it was "possible" that she discussed the line of symmetry on the day of the test, but she "does not remember doing it."
At District 25 in Flushing, children at P.S. 129 and 120 attended "Reading Town," an after-school program that prepared them for the 1999 citywide reading test. Rather than use previous year’s exams or practice tests, Stancik says that Reading Town tutor Haykyung Shin gave the actual current year exam to students.
During the citywide test, a third grade classroom teacher at P.S. 129 noticed a boy answering questions without ever reading the passages. Afterward, the student told the proctor that he had already read the first three stories and seen the corresponding questions during a Reading Town session. Two more third-graders who had also attended the after-school program reported the same experience. Investigators say Shin, a substitute teacher, told the youngsters, "You may see these stories on the test."
The proprietors of Reading Town, Soonho and Seonong Song, said that the program used "Terra Nova" practice material, the name for the new tests
produced by McGraw-Hill for the third graders. The proprietors claim to have obtained the tests through a routine order from the McGraw-Hill Company.
"The chancellor must unequivocally state that the misconduct performed during the administration of the standardized test — whether it is called cheating, interference, tampering, or any other name — is wrong and will not be tolerated," said Stancik’s report. "In fact, those who are caught cheating must face serious disciplinary action, including loss of employment."
In response to Stancik’s report, the United Federation of Teachers, which represents more than 140,000 active and retired educators, announced last week that it had commissioned an independent inquiry to look into the allegations. "The UFT opposes cheating in any form by anyone," said UFT President Randi Weingarten. "But as a representative of teachers, we have significant concerns about the recent investigation…Those concerns lead us to question the validity of the allegations contained in the report." Thomas Thacher, former inspector general of the School Construction Authority, will head the investigation.
UFT members say that investigators sometimes used inappropriate procedures, including failure to properly identify themselves to subjects of the investigation, or relying exclusively on the recollections of young children.
"We welcome all investigations," said Crew’s spokeswoman Margie Feinberg. "We hope it serves as a warning to all teachers considering cheating."
Karen Koslowitz, city councilwoman and member of the council’s Education Committee, believes it’s the students who will ultimately suffer from the cheating. "Cheating is a terrible thing to do," said Koslowitz. "I don’t think it’s fair for the children. You have to wonder what kind of oppressive force they had to be under." Koslowitz recommends severe discipline to all teachers found in the wrong.
At P.S. 99 in Kew Gardens, outraged parents expressed their concern over the investigation’s findings. "I am surprised educated people thought they could get away with this for so long," said a father of a fifth grader who wished to remain anonymous. "I think it should be made perfectly clear that this is a crime."
Although the parent suggests a jail term for the teachers accused, he said he understands that there could be mitigating circumstances. "If the teachers were pressured into it (the cheating), I think they should be given a warning," said the father.
Youngsters at dismissal at P.S. 99 could be heard screaming "It’s not fair," and "bring back Mrs. Smith."
That’s now up to the Board of Education to decide.