High-stakes testing puts pressure on educators
October 3rd, 2008
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So much rides on public school students’ test scores.
They can make or break a principal’s career. Awards, money and promotions often accompany high scores. Low scores can mean state takeover or intense public scrutiny. They can lessen neighborhoods’ home values and desirability.
The increasing pressure on educators to post strong results on high-stakes tests has created ripe conditions for cheating.


Undercover police detained thirteen people suspected of charging Peruvian students up to $1,200 to help them cheat on the admissions exam to get into the National University of Callao.
In an age where a new cheating/corruption scandal is front-page news nearly every day — think Enron, Barry Bonds, Eliot Spitzer, and Marion Jones for starters — it is perhaps not surprising that dishonesty is a problem on most college campuses.