The Michigan Educational Assessment Program test is used to measure the success of high school students and school districts, but it may be driving schools to cheat to gain the desired results.
State Treasurer Doug Roberts released a list of 71 Michigan schools under investigation for possible cheating on the MEAP test.
The investigation comes after essay answers from eight students from the same school were found to be suspiciously close.
These allegations have angered many superintendents and caused teachers to question what they can and can’t do to prepare the students for the test.
Teachers are given answers to the questions before the test is given out and they format their teaching of the material accordingly. Some teachers choose to teach directly by the test so students will know what it will consist of.
At Warren Consolidated Schools, the district’s elementary school was targeted for using this approach. According to the Detroit Free Press, “(t)he test asked students to list examples of the migratory animals that ice age humans followed into North America. The flagged responses listed six animals each - the same way the teacher presented them back in September ”
While there may be some cheating going on, the 71 schools from different regions of the state are not conspiring against the test. The MEAP test is weighted so heavily that it adds pressure to teachers, who in some cases will all but give the answers.
These allegations will only fuel the debate over standardized testing and its validity. Many say the tests do not give a fair representation of how schools are teaching students. It is hard to compare an inner-city school with limited resources to a school that has the latest technology available.
However, there is no clear alternative that has been found to work. All Michigan public schools should have to follow the same set standards in education.
However, the MEAP test does not seem to meet these standards because of the added pressure that may cause schools to cheat.
When Detroit’s Hampton Middle School math scores went from 16.1 percent satisfactory in 1999 to 64.4 percent in 2000, reading scores jumped from 12.8 percent to 42 percent and writing scores jumped from 17.7 percent to 40.6 percent, it is definitely grounds for suspicion.
There is an unclear line drawn between what students can ask their teachers and what teachers are allowed to tell students in preparation for the test.
There need to be better guidelines for students and teachers going into the test to prevent alleged cheating from happening again. One step would be to not allow the tests to be given to teachers prior to students taking it.
There definitely needs to be a defined reform of the system. Schools that cheat should be penalized, but no severe reprimand should be taken immediately against those who didn’t know they were cheating.
