Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FYI the juniors and seniors are doing community service projects to make up time they need to make the 100 hour requirement by graduation, and working on senior projects, and the freshman are doing a couple of different class trips. My kid is a sophomore and I'm glad they've given a lot of thought into what will make the kids take it seriously. And as to the "cheating" each test room had two proctors in it with more roaming the halls and checking in. Could all the Wilson haters please give it a rest-it's a great school trying to keep up with the crazy mandates of NCLB.

Yeah... Who wants to bet that they will not show up to community service?

Also, if they are getting payed, they will find a way to cheat.

Paid. The correct spelling is paid.

The concept of schools/school systems paying for grades is nothing new http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-01-27-grades_N.htm

The cheating is not done in advance. It is done after and doing. Really, people think because the test arrive under lock and key that is 200% safety measure. Also, we do have the foxes watching the hen houses in some but not all instances.

Anonymous wrote:It's almost impossible to cheat during testing.
What happens afterwards is another issue. I knew a teacher who would get "sick" after proctoring the DC CAS and since all tests need to be supervised at all times, she would take the tests with her to the bathroom for about 10 minutes. So much can be done during that period of time.
Also, since schools get the tests in advance, teachers can alter details of the questions and drill it to the class as a test preperation. It's more than teaching to the test, it's teaching the test itself, a legal way fo cheating.
And the more controvertial the school is, the more cheating goes on, as they want to show off the good results. No one wants to admit about what goes on because teachers do not want to lose their jobs.

Schools do not get the tests in advance. Where I teach, they are under lock and key, and then literally delivered and unsealed a minute before the test begins.

Why act so surprised, wasn't there a program that paid DCPS middle school students to attend and get good grades. When the SAT/ACT and college acceptance rule is enacted in DC, that will be another reason to offer pay.

Remember, if a school raises their test scores a payday is in order for the teachers too. Desparates times, create desparate measures.

Sure i would have never skipped a big standardized test when i was in school, because there was only one a year and then the sat. Today, I don't think people realize how many times get tested. The baseline assessments shut the classrooms down four days prior to the main cas which is happening now. Some of the younger grades get additional reading assessments even more often. There's a tremendous amount of testing fatigue happening so getting the kids to treat this test as different and more important than all the others is what they have to do. Blame USDOE and all the testing companies who are making millions, for this crazy obsession with tests

How is it community service hours when it happens during school hours? Shouldn't they look for time to support the community during non-school hours?

It's almost impossible to cheat during testing.
What happens afterwards is another issue. I knew a teacher who would get "sick" after proctoring the DC CAS and since all tests need to be supervised at all times, she would take the tests with her to the bathroom for about 10 minutes. So much can be done during that period of time.
Also, since schools get the tests in advance, teachers can alter details of the questions and drill it to the class as a test preperation. It's more than teaching to the test, it's teaching the test itself, a legal way fo cheating.
And the more controvertial the school is, the more cheating goes on, as they want to show off the good results. No one wants to admit about what goes on because teachers do not want to lose their jobs.

This thread makes me feel as old as Methuselah.

It never would have occurred to me to lie my way out of it or cheat my way through it.

I would have killed it, like I did every other standardized test, from the Iowa Basic Skills to the SATs.

I'm the child of upper-middle-class parents, and they never would have wanted me to dodge a test - even if the test was a reflection on my school (not me).

These aren't difficult standards, folks.

Anonymous wrote:

Yeah... Who wants to bet that they will not show up to community service?

Also, if they are getting payed, they will find a way to cheat.

cos YOU cheat at work? or anyplace else that offers you payment?

Anonymous wrote:FYI the juniors and seniors are doing community service projects to make up time they need to make the 100 hour requirement by graduation, and working on senior projects, and the freshman are doing a couple of different class trips. My kid is a sophomore and I'm glad they've given a lot of thought into what will make the kids take it seriously. And as to the "cheating" each test room had two proctors in it with more roaming the halls and checking in. Could all the Wilson haters please give it a rest-it's a great school trying to keep up with the crazy mandates of NCLB.

Yeah... Who wants to bet that they will not show up to community service?

Also, if they are getting payed, they will find a way to cheat.

FYI the juniors and seniors are doing community service projects to make up time they need to make the 100 hour requirement by graduation, and working on senior projects, and the freshman are doing a couple of different class trips. My kid is a sophomore and I'm glad they've given a lot of thought into what will make the kids take it seriously. And as to the "cheating" each test room had two proctors in it with more roaming the halls and checking in. Could all the Wilson haters please give it a rest-it's a great school trying to keep up with the crazy mandates of NCLB.

Anacostia HS is paying kids for performance as well- can't remember how much but they get a certain amount for showing up and more if they are proficient.

Students don't/can't cheat on the DC CAS, but DCPS officials certainly do. The problem is many high school students don't care about the DC CAS and either don't show up, or deliberately fail. $50/kid is a drop in the bucket.

Wilson has decided to pay sophomores $50 each if they pass the DC CAS. They are letting those without testing have the week off. Am I the only one outraged at this? Not only is our tax dollars paying for kids to cheat (what's a better incentive to cheat then money? All you will see is kids trying to cheat more and more because they know if they do well they get cash) and then we disrupt the education of the entire student body at the same time. That means, students in 11th and 12th grades will lose valuable education time, and will lose instruction, period.