Gaming or Cheating? How Teachers and Administrators in Low-Income Schools Adapt to High Stakes Standardized Tests

• In Event: 405 - Section on Sociology of Education Paper Session. Schools as Organizations

Abstract

Cheating on high stakes standardized tests has been discovered in America through quantitative evidence in several large school urban districts like Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. While individual educators have been prosecuted for this crime, there is little qualitative evidence about how and why this cheating occurs, likely because of the legal and professional consequences to admitting to it. Through a three year ethnography of multiple urban schools, this paper documents how adult educators define the line between “cheating” and “gaming a test,” what their cheating strategies are, and the motivations for their actions. In regards to the motivations, most teachers at least report a legitimating rationale of social justice - in other words, they report that they are trying to correct the racial wrongs of standardized testing. Additionally, the paper discusses some of the technological innovations like computerized testing that districts have put into place to hamper cheating, and how teachers have adapted to those innovations. Finally, it documents students’ responses to their teachers’ behaviors, as well as possible limitations and areas for future research.

Author

• Patricia Maloney, Texas Tech University